A Healthy Frank Gore Is Key to 49ers' Second Half
The San Francisco 49ers' Week 8 bye could not have come any sooner for a team struggling to get back to health in time for a stretch run that will hopefully propel this franchise deep into the postseason.
We could make the argument that the entire 49ers franchise needs to take this extra break and use it to the best of their abilities when it comes to the overall health of the team.
It would be hard to argue against anything else.
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But perhaps the most critical 49ers player to benefit from the added rest will be running back Frank Gore.
At 31 years old, keeping Gore fresh is obviously a much-needed factor when determining the effectiveness of the offense and San Francisco as a whole. We realize how much the team still revolves around the veteran back.
Things shouldn't change, at least very much, for the remaining nine weeks of the regular season.
But how does a team, so reliant upon the running game, keep a player like Gore fresh for the home stretch and into the postseason?
More importantly, how do the 49ers retain an offensive presence while effectively balancing Gore's efforts into the equation?
Whatever the solution may be, San Francisco's offense will need Gore to be at his best down the stretch. It's a simple yet ever-so vital statement at the halfway point of the 49ers' season.
The First Half
Gore's numbers in the first have have provided us with a number of interesting dilemmas and possibilities.
On one side of the equation, we can see how effective Gore still is, and subsequently how valuable he remains, to San Francisco's offense.
Take his 24-carry, 119-yard performance against the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 4 and his 18-carry, 107-yard showing against the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 5 as two perfect examples of his ongoing offensive prowess.
But at the same time, we can look at some of the other 49ers games this season that scantly saw Gore grace the stat sheet.
| Week 1 | @ Dallas | 16 | 66 | 4.13 |
| Week 2 | vs. Chicago | 13 | 63 | 4.85 |
| Week 3 | @ Arizona | 6 | 10 | 1.67 |
| Week 4 | vs. Philadephia | 24 | 119 | 4.96 |
| Week 5 | vs. Kansas City | 18 | 107 | 5.94 |
| Week 6 | @ St. Louis | 16 | 38 | 2.38 |
| Week 7 | @ Denver | 9 | 20 | 2.22 |
In Weeks 3 and 7, Gore was unable to net double-digit carries. San Francisco lost both games. Is this a direct correlation?
No, absolutely not. The losses are the results of a variety of factors. We know this.
But keeping Gore fresh remains a key in those factors that inevitably decide the outcome of games. This is easier done with younger backs, of which Gore is not.
Therefore, we might expect offensive coordinator Greg Roman to dial up plays that involve San Francisco's talented rookie, Carlos Hyde. Hyde has 48 rushing attempts on the season—just under half of Gore's 102 attempts, halfway through the year.
One might also speculate the 49ers would get a little more pass-happy given the added weapons in the receiving corps. This is also within reason. San Francisco has made 229 attempted passes on the year compared to 210 rushing attempts.
But does this matter moving forward?
You bet.
The Approach
Just like the rest of the team, one might argue the first half of the 49ers' season was simply an effort to "weather the storm." Considering the myriad of injuries and setbacks suffered by the franchise, a 4-3 record cannot entirely be viewed as bad.
Even Gore felt this way, as stated via Taylor Price of 49ers.com shortly after San Francisco's embarrassing Week 7 loss to the Denver Broncos:
"We’ve got a great team. We’ve got a bunch of great guys in the locker room, who play hard and we will bounce back. We still have to try and get positive yards on the ground and help our quarterback [Colin Kaepernick] out. ... When everybody gets back, we’ll be fine.
"
Gore is obviously referring to how banged up San Francisco is. Certainly this aspect will benefit not only his quarterback, but the 49ers offense in general.
We can make countless cases about how important health will be to the 49ers in the second half. But we already know the legitimacy of this argument. It's that simple.
But we also need to stress the need to keep Gore just as healthy and rested.
The simple solution is this: let Gore rest as needed and run Hyde more frequently.
Sound good enough? Sure, why wouldn't it?
Hyde has been a pleasant surprise this season, accounting for 161 rushing yards on 48 attempts and two of San Francisco's three rushing touchdowns on the year.
On top of Hyde's backup capabilities, the 49ers offense will unquestionably benefit from the NFL debut of Marcus Lattimore—he is set to be activated per Matt Maiocco of CSN Bay Area.
This trio of Gore, Hyde and Lattimore should hopefully give San Francisco the flexibility and depth to keep the running game competing at a high-enough level. Oh, and it helps to give opposing defenses three different skill sets to evaluate.
How It Plays Out
The bye week has hopefully given San Francisco, Roman and the flurry of coaches and players sufficient time to determine and evaluate which offensive approaches have worked and which ones do not.
As the 49ers enter the second half, one might speculate that they return to the offensive strength we have come to know and expect in recent seasons, but perhaps may have missed at times this season.
This is the same argument made by James Brady of Niners Nation, who writes:
"They've been doing some different things on the offensive side of the ball, particularly with trying to, you know, throw the ball for a change. But I expect, as the season goes on, the 49ers will throw the ball less and go back to their comfort zone. They'll get creative again when the playoffs come and hopefully that pays off. But I honestly feel like Gore, and by extension Hyde, will get more carries down the stretch than they did in the first half of the season.
"
OK, so the 49ers need to rest Gore while returning to the run-first philosophy suggested by Brady and this author.
How?
We've touted on one approach: Hyde and Lattimore.
The other is simple as well, but even more crucial: pick the opportunities.
Let's take a look at the remaining 49ers schedule.
| Week 9 | vs. St. Louis | 870 | No. 24 |
| Week 10 | @ New Orleans | 619 | No. 10 |
| Week 11 | @ New York Giants | 854 | No. 22 |
| Week 12 | vs. Washington | 723 | No. 13 |
| Week 13 | vs. Seattle | 513 | No. 3 |
| Week 14 | @ Oakland | 872 | No. 25 |
| Week 15 | @ Seattle | 513 | No. 3 |
| Week 16 | vs. San Diego | 887 | No. 28 |
| Week 17 | vs. Arizona | 435 | No. 1 |
The Arizona Cardinals and Seattle Seahawks present the toughest rushing defenses San Francisco will have to face in the second half. Arizona is currently ranked No. 1 in fewest rushing yards allowed (435), while Seattle is No. 3 at 513.
We might see a drop in carries for the 49ers' backs. Perhaps the 49ers' coaching staff elects to limit Gore's touches against these tough, physically gifted run defenses. Hyde and Lattimore could see the bulk of the 49ers' run-game efforts here.
But at the same time, we might see teams sell out to stop the run—much like the St. Louis Rams, who tried this approach in Week 6 against San Francisco. Considering their less-than-adequate run defense, it makes sense to try and take away one of the 49ers' preeminent offensive strengths.
The New York Giants, Washington Redskins, Oakland Raiders and San Diego Chargers may also fall into this category of teams struggling to contain running games.
One might think these matchups would provide the opportunity for Gore to continue his prowess and stack onto the lofty numbers he has generated over the course of the year.
But with the addition of Lattimore, San Francisco's depth at this position should be considerably stronger, allowing head coach Jim Harbaugh to employ a varied approach over the remainder of the year.
Remember, a fresh Gore is best-suited for a playoff run. The 49ers will need his capabilities to be 100 percent if they hope to strike it deep into the postseason.
Hopefully, they can reward him with that coveted ring as the ultimate prize.
All statistics, records and accolades courtesy of Pro-Football-Reference.com and ESPN.com unless otherwise indicated.
Peter Panacy is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report, covering the San Francisco 49ers. Be sure to check out his entire archive on 49ers' news, insight and analysis.
Follow him @PeterPanacy on Twitter.
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