Rushing defense much improved
At his introductory news conference in April, 49ers rookie defensive coordinator Robert Saleh made a prediction.
“We will,” he declared, “stop the run on this defense.”
The reaction from those who had closely observed the 2016 49ers? Good luck, new guy. Saleh, of course, inherited a historic mess: Last year, the 49ers set a franchise record for rushing yards allowed (2,654), which was the sixth-most in the NFL since 1990, and established a league record by allowing a 100-yard rusher in seven straight games.
In the offseason, after the players arrived, Saleh had the holdovers relive the nightmare.
“He showed clips of last year,” defensive tackle DeForest Buckner said. “Things that we did well, and things we didn’t do well … We took it to heart. It was embarrassing last year being 32nd in the league against the run.”
Eight months after Saleh’s bold proclamation, it’s safe to say this: The 49ers aren’t humiliated by their performance this season.
Entering Sunday’s game against the Titans, they are ranked seventh in the NFL in yards allowed per attempt (3.9) after ranking 32nd last year (4.8). They are 24th in yards allowed per game (121.3), which is a significant drop from last year’s league-worst performance (165.9).
And they are getting stronger as they get deeper into the season. They have held three straight opponents to under 100 yards rushing for the first time since September 2014, and rank fourth in the NFL in rushing yards allowed per game (89.0) since Week 10.
On Thursday, Saleh was asked if he was really as confident as he sounded in April. In response, he pointed to the 4-3 defense he learned from his time as Jacksonville’s linebackers coach (2014-16) and a Seahawks assistant (2011-13). His teams ranked among the top 14 in run defense in all but one of those six seasons.
“The first thing you do in the scheme is to stop the run,” Saleh said. “Everything is designed to stop the run. Since I’ve been blessed to be a part of the scheme however many years ago, we’ve always had a very successful run defense. The way the scheme is built, the philosophy behind it, the detail at which we go over run fits and gap integrity, I felt very confident that we’d be able to improve in the run game.”
Indeed, the design of the defense often provides an extra run defender: Strong safety Eric Reid has routinely played close to the line of the scrimmage instead of patrolling the back end.
“It’s a tremendous help, having an eight-man box,” Buckner said. “It doesn’t matter what offense you are: It’s hard to run against an eight-man box.”
It’s also helped that the 49ers spent their two first-round picks on front-seven players, defensive tackle Solomon Thomas and inside linebacker Reuben Foster, the latter whom didn’t finish his first NFL game until Nov. 5. Finally healthy, Foster has a team-best 45 tackles in the past five games.
On Sunday, the improved unit will be tested by a powerrunning team. The Titans rank 10th in the NFL in rushing (117.7) and second in rushing scores (17) led by DeMarco Murray (6-1, 220 pounds) and Derrick Henry (6-3, 247). In addition, quarterback Marcus Mariota (6-4, 222) has 224 yards and five touchdowns.
“They’ve got an outside linebacker playing running back,” Reid said, referring to Henry. “We’ve got to get him on the ground. It’ll take multiple people to get him down.”
Said Saleh: “They have a large — probably the biggest — run-game playbook I’ve ever seen on tape,” Saleh said. “They come at you many different ways.”
Saleh understands the challenge, but expects his defense to meet it: It’s what he’s expected all along.