Niners Nation
Week 10 Tape Takeaways: It’s the 2024 Duo nightmare all over again (paywall)
“On Sunday, the Rams ran the ball 27 times, excluding kneels. I tracked 17 of those runs as Duo to the tune of 63 yards.
That 3.7 yards per carry average isn’t staggering, but 11 of those runs went for at least five yards. It’s the type of run that wears on a defense if it has susceptible edges and defensive tackles, and benefits from smaller linebackers.
It’s not a play that always nets explosives, but it’s one which churns away at weak fronts at an efficient clip and keeps an offense on schedule.
Teams haven’t run Duo with the same success this season for a few reasons. Chief among them? Mykel Williams. He has collapsed edges consistently this season, and within the first two minutes of Sunday’s demolition by the Rams, his absence was glaring. Watch Clelin Ferrell get moved here on an early 12-yard run…When you don’t have edge players who can condense space, it allows the offense to climb to the second level and attack your linebackers and safeties, which is exactly what the Rams did.
I keep coming back to this because it represents an existential threat for the 49ers’ defense. They will face the Seahawks and have other challenges from different offenses down the stretch, but they’ll have some answers in the passing game. The Rams are a wagon right now. You’re going to get beat.
But this run game? Without Williams, and even without Collins, I’m not quite sure where you go for respite.
Teams are going to copy this recipe — the same from last season — and regardless of how effective those groups are, I find it difficult to imagine ways for the 49ers to compensate without playing more base or big nickel, and not with Luke Gifford as a fifth defensive lineman.
They need gaps plugged. If they try and do so, that will likely cause coverage liabilities. Gifford is a liability as it stands.“
A Daniel Jones blueprint? A Mac Jones argument? Week 10 film review (paywall)
“Last season was one of experimentation for Purdy as he turned up the aggression dial and played outside of the offense. Jones executes the offense more cleanly and makes his reads exactly as Shanahan wants, and completes throws with great accuracy. Purdy will wait for deeper passes to develop and throw to receivers that will even surprise Shanahan. Purdy balanced executing the system and playing outside of structure well in 2023, but he took a notch too far last season. Jones is showing that if you trust the offense, you can still succeed without your full complement of weapons….A major difference is Jones gets rid of the ball faster than Purdy ever has. Purdy’s average time to throw was only 0.06 higher as a rookie when he was just executing the offense rather than trying to be aggressive. You don’t want Purdy to totally rid himself of that instinct, but...
