The San Francisco 49ers went from 4 wins in 2018 to a Super Bowl appearance in 2019. This type of turnaround is extremely rare in the NFL. The 49ers dominated teams all year with their run game. What was unique about the 49ers rushing attack was the fact that they ran the ball predominantly out of 21 personnel, 2 backs and 1 tight end. What made them so great was that their 21 personnel wasn’t your typical 21 personnel.
The 49ers had a trio of running backs that ran a 4.40 40 yard dash. Their fullback, Kyle Juszczyk, is as versatile a player as there is in the NFL. He excels at blocking but also can be flexed out as a receiver and pass protect. Their tight end, George Kittle is a unicorn. He is the best blocking tight end in football, but also one of the best receiving tight ends in the game. He runs like a wide receiver and catches like one too. Even Rob Gronkowski does not have as many tools as Kittle does. Finally, their 2 receivers are pretty good too. Deebo Samuel is another versatile weapon, who can be used as a running back or as an outside or slot receiver. The second receiver was split between two guys. One, Emmanuel Sanders has had a very long career producing. They also have Kendrick Bourne, a bigger receiver who can also block in space.
The 49ers come from the same school of the Rams and the wide zone, which I broke down in an earlier post. What makes them different from the Rams is they incorporate a lot of gap scheme runs, with pulling guards and tight ends. They also utilize a variety of reverses, running back screens and tight end screens.
First, lets take a look at wide zone. What makes the 49ers run game so hard to stop is the addition of a fullback to their blocking scheme. Very few teams use a fullback, and nobody as much as the 49ers. Below is a clip from Week 5 vs the Browns which goes for an 83 yard TD. The clip is a split zone run that cuts back.
The Browns line up in a 4-3 over front. From left to right, here is how they will block it. The Right tackle will reach the defensive end, lined up in an outside shade. The center and right guard will double the shade up to the plus LB, #53. The left guard and left tackle will double the 3 tech up to the minus LB, #51. The Tight end Kittle will sift up to the safety #38.
The 49ers leave the end unblock initially, until the fullback comes across to kick him out. This leaves a huge cutback lane for Breida, who uses his track speed to take it to the house. A big part of this play was to motion the fullback from his initial alignment in the weak I-formation to the strong I-formation. This forced the linebackers to move over a gap, which created more space for the cutback.
The next clip comes from the NFC Championship Game against the Packers. This play will look exactly the same as the play above, but this time the 49ers hand it off to Deebo Samuel on the end around.
The 49ers do an excellent job of making their plays look the same. Coach Kyle Shanahan, K-Shan as I like to call him, loves to use the same formation and motion one time, and then use it again but run a different play, as shown here with the 2 plays I broke down.
Talkin Ball 