San Francisco 49ers: Joe Staley and Mike Iupati Lead the Way to Rushing Success

Much has been made of the San Francisco 49ers’ return to the ground game during their current two-game winning streak.  Frank Gore has gone over 100 yards in back-to-back games for the first time since 2011, and the team as a whole is averaging 4.7 yards over the last two weeks.

While the sheer volume of carries—82 in the last two weeks, most in the league—is a function of the team taking the lead toward the end of games, the efficiency is something to be lauded.  Even when other teams know the run is coming, the 49ers are still effective on the ground.

While Frank Gore is to be commended for a lot of this, still running hard at age 31, he couldn’t do it alone.  The left side of the line, with Joe Staley and Mike Iupati leading the way, has been phenomenal the past two games:

Direction	Carries	Yards	Avg
Left End	14	72	5.14
Left Tackle	5	31	6.20
Left Guard	3	18	6.00
Middle Left	12	46	3.83
Middle Right	12	54	4.50
Right Guard	6	8	1.33
Right Tackle	5	23	4.60
Right End	8	25	3.13

The 49ers had 106 of their 168 rushing yards go to the left against Kansas City, attacking Tamba Hali and Allen Bailey over and over again.  Challenging Hali has been a poor decision so far this season—coming into the game, Pro Football Focus (subscription required) had Hali graded at +2.8 in run defense.  However, Staley and Iupati were able to absolutely dominate the line of scrimmage against Kansas City, giving plenty of lanes for Gore to burst into the second level of defense.

Take this 13-yard run in the third quarter, for example.  It’s a 2nd-and-1 play from the Kansas City 33 with the 49ers down 17-13:

NFL Game Rewind

Look at the huge seam up on the right side of the picture—the left side of the line.  Daniel Kilgore holds up Vance Walker, and then Iupati just clears out a huge lane.  He catches the inside linebacker, Josh Mauga, and practically knocks him to the floor.  Staley makes a good move inside to get positioning on the end, Allen Bailey, and he keeps him from sliding in to close the gap.

The end result is a good six yards of running lane for Gore.  Any back in football is going to turn that into a large gain, and Gore is able to burst into the secondary—the strong safety Husain Abdullah is forced to make the tackle.

Here’s another 13-yard run, this time in the fourth quarter.  It’s a key 2nd-and-10 play as the 49ers try to drain clock, up 19-17 with seven minutes left to go in the game:

NFL Game Rewind

Staley, Iupati and fullback Bruce Miller just crush the right side of the Chiefs’ defensive line, slamming a huge hole for Gore to run through.  Together, they take out Dontari Poe, Jaye Howard and James-Michael Johnson, evacuating the right side of Kansas City’s defense.  The only defender left unaccounted for is Tamba Hali, and he’s frozen by the threat of the Bruce Ellington end-around.

NFL Game Rewind

This is as close to an impenetrable wall as you’ll see in the NFL.  It gives Gore a full five yards past the line of scrimmage before he’s even challenged by a defender, and he uses that gap to put on the speed.  He’s not tackled until well after the first-down marker.

Here’s one final example: Later that same drive, facing a 2nd-and-7 from just outside the red zone with three-and-a-half minutes to play:

NFL Game Rewind

On this play, Iupati pulls out to take the outside linebacker, while Staley crashes in to seal the inside edge of the gap.  Iupati does a stellar job, stopping Poe in his tracks, while Staley gets just enough of Kevin Vickerson to allow Gore time to squeeze through.  Add in Bruce Miller’s block on Johnson, and you have another first down for the 49ers after an eight-yard gain.

This run basically ends the game—it’s the second play after Kansas City’s crucial 12-men on the field penalty.  Because the 49ers were able to get another first down, Kansas City had to start calling its time outs.

Had San Francisco gone three-and-out after the gifted first down, Kansas City could have had the ball back with 2:20, all three time-outs and the two-minute warning.  If they had chosen to use their time-outs, they could have gotten the ball back with about four minutes left in the game.  Either way, they can take their time on their final drive, and Alex Smith isn’t forced into a game-ending interception.

Marcio Jose Sanchez/Associated Press

That’s the power of an effective run game.  Everyone knew the 49ers were going to be pounding the rock in that situation, but because of the incredible blocking by Staley and Iupati, with help from a solid overall day by the offensive line, the 49ers were able to continue to pick up chunks of yardage.

That’s not to say the line was perfect on the day—they did allow seven quarterback hurries and three sacks, according to Pro Football Focus (subscription required), and that needs to be cleaned up.  In the run game, however, they were exemplary, and they had their best game of the year to show for it.

The run game ended up controlling the ball for 36:04 throughout the game, keeping the 49ers’ defense on the field for only 50 snaps—that keeps them fresh.  The success of the run game shifted the balance of power in this one.

Gore gave his line credit after the game:

"

We some dogs. Our o-line, they played great. We have to give it up to them. Like I said, 49er football, do whatever it takes. We knew that we had to eat up the clock and we did. Me and Carlos did a great job on the ground, and like I said earlier, Kap did a great job in the air. So, we just played great team ball.

"

As the 49ers prepare for the St. Louis Rams on Monday, they can look at the matchups and feel enthused.  The Rams have given up notable yards on the right side of their defense over the past few weeks.  Philadelphia had 53 yards on runs marked as being to the left, Dallas had 94 and Tampa Bay had 58.  If Staley, Iupati and the 49ers’ offensive line can continue to play at a high level, we could see a third-straight 100-yard game for Frank Gore on Monday night.

Bryan Knowles is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report, covering the San Francisco 49ers.  Follow him @BryKno on Twitter.