49ers Post-Week 5 Under Reaction
When will the pain end? The San Francisco 49ers have no business losing these games. They can’t afford to lose any more games against opponents that are far less talented.
How do the 49ers get out of the hole they dug?
No more Brian Allen
They didn’t lose solely because of Allen but he certainly did not help. On Monday's press conference, head coach Kyle Shanahan sounded optimistic he'd have Cornerback Emmanuel Moseley back for Week 6.
If Moseley is not able to go, then hopefully for the 49ers the former 2017 third-round pick, Ahkello Witherspoon, finds the motivation to start the game this time instead of waiting until the game is out of reach.
Regardless of who is on the other side of Jason Verrett, the 49ers will see an upgrade at corner as it’ll certainly not be Allen this go around.
Runaway with victories
Much of the 49ers' success in 2019 came from the run game. Despite the stacked box by Miami, Raheem Mostert still gained a minimum of 5 yards on 9 of 11 carries on Sunday.
The run game still works.
Last season, San Francisco averaged 31.1 rushes per game. Through 5 games this season, they average just 25. It may not sound like much a difference, but it definitely is in this way -- last season, the 49ers rushed 20 times or less just once in all 16 games. This season, they have already done that twice in just 5 games.
In fact, the 49ers are averaging 5 yards per carry in 2020 as opposed to 4.6 yards per carry in 2019. A lot of it is because of some long runs, but you limit the chance of another long run if you abandon it.
With the pass protection continuing to struggle, I fully expect Shanahan to run the ball more.
The Defense will be better than Sunday
I’m sure after that lopsided loss this past Sunday you are thinking, “Oh, yeah, right. But seriously, it will. Some credit the poor play of Allen for 21 points, I’ll say it’s more around 14 to be fair. Then add in the two interceptions by Garoppolo and that’s another 6 points from two field goals. Translation: the defense honestly surrendered only 10 points at the half instead of the ugly 30.
Despite all the injuries and the play of Allen, this is still a top 10 defense in points, yards, and first downs surrendered.
In a matter of a couple of weeks, the defensive line could add Ronald Blair and Jullian Taylor from the PUP-list. Blair is someone who has sacked Russell Wilson multiple times in his career and Taylor seems to come up with a fourth-down stop or a fumble recovery when he has been able to take the field in his limited playing time.
Get back to the formula
Shanahan built the formula last season and needs to get back to what got them to the Super Bowl. The quarterbacks and pass protection are struggling -- there is no better time to get back to running 30-plus times per game.
Run the ball. No more Brian Allen at corner. And continue to play top 10 defense. Check all those boxes and the 49ers could jump right back into contention as if there was never any doubt.
