The drive that changed the 49ers' season
Game opening possessions in Week 10 delivered major blows to the Rams' defense
Receiver Deebo Samuel had carried the ball six times in the first eight games entering a Week 10 matchup with the visiting Rams. San Francisco, at 3-5 and coming off a meager 39-yard rushing effort in a loss to Arizona, was a postseason afterthought.
The 49ers opened Week 10 with two of their most dominant drives of the season, first punishing the Rams’ defense with an 18-play mauling that showcased Samuel in a way fans would become familiar with over the second half of the season.
After an Elijah Mitchell run to open the first offensive series, which started on San Francisco’s 7-yard line after a Jimmie Ward interception, Samuel made his presence felt. Lining up as a running back, Samuel caught a pitch from Jimmy Garoppolo, eluded a scrum at the line of scrimmage and ran over cornerback Darious Williams for the first down. On the next play, Garoppolo faked an end-around to receiver Jauan Jennings, with Samuel feigning action as a lead blocker. Instead, Mitchell took the counter handoff up the middle for five yards.
Later in the series, Samuel took a handoff up the middle for 9 yards and another off left tackle for 8 more as the 49ers ran 13 times in taking a 7-0 lead.
The three carries were Samuel’s first in over a month; the receiver has carried the ball at least five times in every game since. The opening drive ended with an 8-yard strike to George Kittle, with Samuel drawing defenders on a quick slant.
San Francisco’s second possession was just as punishing, with Mitchell taking four consecutive handoffs to start the series (one negated by an offsides). Samuel caught a slant for 20 yards and finished the drive with an 8-yard touchdown run, bouncing off left tackle after an interior handoff.
Through two drives, the 49ers had rushed 21 times and thrown eight passes, eating up nearly 19 minutes of clock. The Rams defense had seen Samuel run left, run right and run up the middle, off pitches and handoffs.
After rushing the ball only 11 times the previous week, San Francisco finished with a season-high 44 carries for 156 yards against the Rams. In the following week’s victory over Jacksonville, Samuel carried eight times for a season-high 79 yards.
San Francisco opened that game with their longest drive of these season, a 20-play, 13-carry, 13-minute assault that set the tone for a 30-10 win over the lowly Jaguars. The next week against Minnesota, the 49ers rushed for more than 200 yards with Samuel scoring twice on the ground.
The 49ers had a new backfield threat in Samuel, who could stretch the defense sideline to sideline and punish defenders with runs up the gut. Three of the 49ers’ 10 longest drives of the season have come against the Rams, according to stathead.com, with the opening two in Week 10 falling in the top five.