The 49ers struggled against the Packers in this particular area, and they will have further difficulty against the Lions if they don’t make any improvements.
One more win and the San Francisco 49ers are back in the Super Bowl.
The 49ers are currently heavily favored to defeat the Detroit Lions in the NFC championship game. However, after the performance they put in the divisional round against the Green Bay Packers, they aren’t a lock to win.
Many facets of the 49ers against the Packers were well below their standard. But one area that is of major concern, and has relatively been this season, is their run defense. The Packers exposed that area with Aaron Jones who ran for 108 yards on 18 carries. Even with Arik Armstead back, the 49ers’ run defense is still suspect. It’s clear that the loss of Clelin Ferrell is playing a part in it.
It’s tough to envision the run defense getting dramatically better, especially against a much better running offense in the Lions. Still, the 49ers must find a way to shore up that area of defense or they will find themselves in a struggling battle against the Lions. The 49ers’ defense will be a “bend but don’t break” performer again, except the Lions are an overall better offense than the Packers. They will be more likely to convert those chances into touchdowns and not settle for field goals.
“I think it was obviously not good enough,” Kyle Shanahan said of the 49ers’ run defense against the Packers. “We gave up our first 100-yard rusher in a while. Way too many explosives. They got outside on us too many times. We’re going to have a huge challenge this week. The Lions, regardless of who they play, they stick with the run. They do it every game. It’s a big part of what they do. They’re very balanced. I think they’re very similar to our offense. That’ll be a huge challenge this week.”
This is where the 49ers can make their day significantly easier. It is by slowing down the running game and forcing Jared Goff to be the hero. Even though Goff has been playing extremely well, the 49ers should like their chances of him having to win the game on his arm than have a balancing act with his stout running backs in David Montgomery and Jahmyr Gibbs. So, how on earth can the 49ers improve in their run defense?
“We have to do a much better job containing the edges, and it’s not really the defensive ends, it’s the second level,” said defensive coordinator Steve Wilks. “We’re getting too wide where we’ve got to get vertical, and that’s the key thing. We had a point of emphasis with that as we watched tape this week. And most importantly, the same thing in practice yesterday, and really work on perimeter run game and doing the things we’ve got to do to make sure we set edges on the defense.”
Plenty of times, especially early in the game, Nick Bosa of all people and Chase Young were being walled off by wide receivers. That is unacceptable. These two have monstrous strength that should be able to mow down receivers, yet they are allowing themselves to get pinned so easily. It starts there, then as Wilks cited it goes to the second level of the defense. That all sounds like a great way to try to improve, but it’s going to be tough when the Lions operate using a two-back system.
Both Montgomery and Gibbs compliment each other because of how their styles differ. Montgomery gets downhill, while Gibbs will juke and sprint past others. It can create problems for the 49ers. Rather, it most likely will. They had problems with just one running back last week in Jones and he isn’t as great as these two are right now. The 49ers do not have to render the running game useless. They probably aren’t capable of that, but if they can just keep them from generating explosives, then they will put themselves in prime position to hold strong as a defense.
