© Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
Raheem Mostert has gone untouched into the end zone before, just not in the NFL. Mostert’s first touch of the 49ers’ penultimate drive, handed to him by the also-in-relief Nick Mullens, resulted in a 41-yard quick stroll into the end zone. It was something he told KNBR he hadn’t experienced since his Boilermaker days at Purdue.
Mostert and Tevin Coleman both had touchdown runs in which they were untouched, or at worst, grazed on their way in to score against the Carolina Panthers. Coleman had four touchdowns, on two of which he went untouched (one a receiving touchdown) and a third, a run from the 19-yard-line, in which he wasn’t hit until just as he dove in to score.
The 49ers ran the ball for 38 times for 232 yards against Carolina. It just about classified as one of those “backbreaking” games defensive coordinator Robert Saleh talks about despising so much. He said he’d rather get passed on for 500 yards than run on for 250, and the 49ers, now at 7-0, have at least reached a pain-in-the-back status on average—if you’re using Saleh’s scale.
They trail only the Baltimore Ravens (204.1 yards per game) with a rushing yards per game average of 181.1, more than 20 yards above the third-ranked Minnesota Vikings. The vast majority of that ground assault has been waged without Joe Staley, and for the past three weeks, it’s also been without Mike McGlinchey and Kyle Juszczyk.
After an immediate decline in the first game that McGlinchey and Juszcyzk were out, there has been steady improvement in the rushing attack. Against the Los Angeles Rams, who allow the 11th-fewest rushing yards per game (96.9 yards), the 49ers ran for 99 yards, their second-fewest since their 98-yard Week 1 total against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who allow the fewest rushing yards per game (68.6 yards) in the NFL.
The 49ers ran for 137 yards in the Redskins mud bowl before their 232-yard outburst on Sunday. Well before that, they tormented all of the Cincinnati Bengals (259 yards), Pittsburgh Steelers (168 yards) and Cleveland Browns (279 yards) in their second, third and fourth games, respectively, the second two of which Staley was out for.
This is all to say it doesn’t much matter who the 49ers face. They are always good for just about 100 yards on the ground, and more often than not, much more than that.
Most of this has been accomplished with replacements who are probably given less credit than they deserve due to the ingenuitive play-calling they’re beneficiaries of. While those replacements are unheralded, that lack of attention fits their capable, but understated nature.
Sixth-round draft pick Justin Skule has started at left tackle for Staley since Week 3. Daniel Brunskill, who was scooped up from the now-defunct American Alliance of Football, has started for McGlinchey since Week 5. Tight end Ross Dwelley, who was an undrafted free agent signing a year ago, has become Juzczyk’s replacement at fullback.
All three of those players are 25 years of age or younger (a 24.5 year-old average) and entered this season with a combined 39 offensive snaps (all Dwelley). There has been an increase in sacks (1 and 0 in the first game, 1 against the Steelers, 2 in each of the previous three games and 3 against the Panthers), but the run game has remained tremendous, and many of the interceptions thrown by Jimmy Garoppolo have been his fault, rather than caused by pressure. He’s admitted as much, and generally in a way that explains what he did wrong, rather than blindly accepting the blame.
As Shanahan said following the 51-13 win over the Panthers, the talent is there, despite the lack of experience.
“I know it sounds like a huge challenge when you are down to your fourth and fifth tackles, but that’s kind of an insult to those guys, because those guys definitely haven’t been playing like fourth or fifth tackles,” Shanahan said. “They’ve made it a lot easier to put game plans together because they’ve been impressive.”
This is not to say that Skule and Brunskill and Dwelley are All-Pros. They’re simply capable, which is a lot more than most teams have, even at their starting positions. It’s understandable if you’re not completely sold on the young tackles and makeshift fullback because you believe they’ve succeeded due to the effectiveness of Shanahan’s scheme. But the fact is that they’ve grasped that scheme—no simple feat—and helped the 49ers stay undefeated in the starters’ stead.
That’s as much a credit to Laken Tomlinson, Weston Richburg and Mike Person as it is Skule and Brunskill. All three have been healthy this season, which has been far from a given in the past. Their veteran standing and health has quietly propelled the Shanahan-led offense to a level it couldn’t reach last season, with Richburg playing most of that season with a severe knee injury, and Person battling through pain that he maybe shouldn’t have.
Matt Breida told KNBR he credits Shanahan and general manager John Lynch for identifying that talent, saying Skule and Brunskill, “could be a starter on every other team.” (Side note: Breida said he could have returned to the game after injuring his ankle on the final play of the first half, but after consulting with the team’s trainers and checking the scoreboard, they decided against a return. As he put it, it was “Like a mercy type of thing.”)
Mostert told KNBR there’s a genuine level of trust within the offense for the young tackles.
“People on the outside see it as backups, but we’re all talented. We’re all here for a reason,” Mostert said. “If we didn’t trust anybody, they wouldn’t be out here. I mean, this game was one of those where you had to build up trust and Skule and Brunskill, they did a great job throughout this time and obviously it’s paying off.”
But what about that tantalizing Shanahan scheme and on-the-fly shrewdness?
Yes, it’s a bit more than just good personnel on the offensive line. Shanahan’s scheme and adaptability do mask clear flaws and utilize specific skillsets, and are at the crux of why this offense hasn’t missed a step without three key starters.
All three of Tevin Coleman, Matt Breida and Raheem Mostert praised Shanahan for his play-calling, which is something that comes together throughout the week with an open-eared approach to player feedback.
“I’ve been telling people, Kyle is by far the smartest guy scheming that I’ve been around ever, my whole life,” Breida said. “The way that he’s able to do that. Not [just] that, but then he asks us for feedback. What do we think about the play or is it too much for us this week or whatever and he just feeds off of us. So when we’re getting hot, you know he’s gonna call whatever he wants call.”
Mostert said Shanahan tends to run out new plays on a weekly basis, but if he’s not sold on their viability, he’ll cut them, or try them again in upcoming weeks until they do work.
“We visualize it. Kyle comes in, he’s like, ‘Hey guess what I got this week?’ And then we visualize it, they’ll draw it up for us and then we go out to practice and run it,” Mostert said. “And if it doesn’t work, he’ll scratch it out. But if it does work, we’re going to see how it is in the game. They should play this way, that way. Kyle is very clever with that type of stuff.”
Breida and Coleman pointed to Shanahan’s ability to assess defensive personnel and identify weaknesses, figuring out how to use the pass and play-action to understand and exploit when there will be natural gaps left open. When those gaps are open on expected pass plays, he takes advantage of them with creative, and well-executed blocking schemes to create massive running holes. That was the case on Sunday.
“It’s very valuable,” Coleman said. “He listens to his players. If we come off the field and we have an issue, he listens and tries to fix that during the game. It helps a lot.”
Tevin Coleman on Kyle Shanahan taking in player’s advice: “It’s very valuable. He listens to his players. If we come off the field and we have an issue, he listens and tries to fix that during the game. It helps a lot.” #49ers pic.twitter.com/5rbqIrYUHZ
— Jake Hutchinson (@hutchdiesel) October 28, 2019
