49ers Post-Week 6 Under Reaction

The San Francisco 49ers bounced back in outstanding fashion this past Sunday. Here are a few things to keep your eye on moving forward.

Finally! 

It is about time we see the same swag that got this 49ers team to the Super Bowl last year. Dancing all over the field, running the ball into the ground and playing great defense.

In my under reaction column last week, I stated the 49ers will get back on track by not playing Brian Allen and running the ball to a victory. And I said not to stress about the defense because it will be better. Well, I hit the jackpot, and so did the 49ers.

Don’t get away from running the ball

The 49ers will place Raheem Mostert on Injured Reserve eventually this week, meaning Mostert will miss a minimum of three games. Mostert is the 49ers best running back and it isn’t even close. The drop off is essentially the distance between the earth and the moon. But, that shouldn’t discourage Kyle Shanahan from running the ball.

I’m not sold on the team turning Jerick McKinnon into the bell cow running back and I don’t expect them to do so. McKinnon is an excellent athlete and a contributor to this team but, in games McKinnon ran the ball more than ten times, he averaging only 3.29 yards per carry.

San Francisco will see a successful running game without Mostert by implementing more carries for JaMycal Hasty. The undrafted rookie looked similar to Devonta Freeman when Shanahan coached Freeman in Atlanta. Shanahan tried his best to hide Hasty on the practice squad but he was forced to give Hasty nine carries on national television once Mostert went down. It’s clear Shanahan can not hold onto Hasty anymore and he should have a big role over the next three weeks in Mostert’s absence.

Don’t talk to me about the air yards

I said all week San Francisco needs to get the ball into the hands of George Kittle, Brandon Aiyuk, and Deebo Samuel or also known as the “YAC Bros” and let them run free and use their elite ability to create yards after the catch. Well, Shanahan did exactly that, so why would I knock it?

Of Jimmy Garoppolo’s 268 passing yards 226 of those came after the catch. Garoppolo attempted 8 of his 33 passes past the 10 yards, he completed 50% of those attempts including an absolute dime to Kittle that allowed Kittle to have enough momentum to break the tackle and take it all the way to the house with a little Deion Sanders strut to cap it off.

There will be scenarios when Garoppolo will have to air it out that’s obvious. But there’s no reason to make this a discussion in a game they won by allowing Kittle, Aiyuk, and Samuel to do what they do best.

The defense has to contain its kryptonite

After six weeks the 49ers are ranked as the ninth-best defense on third down. They are going to need that same kind of success when facing a mobile quarterback like Cam Newton.

While the 49ers defense has seen success on third downs, New England’s offense has not. The Patriots are ranked 20th in third-down conversions and San Francisco must continue to cause the Patriots’ third-down woes and not let Newton extend drives.

Continue the recipe

Normally I would expect this game to be a blowout but with Belichick masterminding the defense this game could be closer than we expect.

If San Francisco can run the ball, let the “YAC Boys” do their thing, and contain Newton from extending drives then the 49ers should have no issue in pulling out the victory. I’m sure Garoppolo would love that in his return back to Gillette Stadium.