49ers ground game has no excuses against New York Giants

LIterally zero excuses.

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The San Francisco 49ers' rushing offense has not been quite the same this season. Some of this has to do with the offensive line, some of it has to do with Christian McCaffrey, and some of it has to do with the defenses that they are playing.

While Sunday may not be a revival of the run game, it should be the best that we see from this group, and if not, the 49ers have serious problems. 

San Francisco 49ers should be able to run the ball on the New York Giants

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When looking at expected points added per rush, the 49ers have only played one defense that is below average in that area. The Seahawks rank first, and the Buccaneers were third. New Orleans ranks sixth, and Arizona ranks ninth, meaning half of their games this season are against top ten run defenses. 

Jacksonville is 11th, Los Angeles is 12th, and Houston is 15th in run defense. The only run defense below average this year was Atlanta, and they ranked 24th. We all know that the Atlanta game was the one game where the 49ers' rushing attack looked somewhat competent. 

The bad news is that San Francisco may only be able to run on bad defenses, and you will not see them in the playoffs. The good news is that San Francisco is not taking on a playoff defense next week.

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The Giants have the worst run defense in the NFL, and right now, it is not close. Their EPA allowed is 0.143, while Cincinnati is 31st at 0.082. No defense allows more rushes to go ten or more yards as well. It is surprising to see with Dexter Lawrence, but the other edge rushers they boast are much better at rushing the passer than setting the edge. The linebackers and safeties in New York have been awful, leading to massive runs into the second level, and the unit tends to get outschemed every week, which should be the 49ers' greatest strength. 

San Francisco has not had a great run game this year, but they still has the best run playcaller in the NFL right now. Kyle Shanahan made a wise decision to switch things up and run power against Atlanta, more than their traditional zone concepts. Shanahan may have also been wise to not force the run against better defenses. This week, he should. 

If San Francisco does not have a strong game running the ball, they will be in big trouble moving forward.