Offensive line shows off powerful moves
Raheem Mostert had not even reached the end zone for the third time when tackles Joe Staley and Mike McGlinchey and guard Laken Tomlinson, standing near the line of scrimmage, launched into an impromptu, animated, armsflailing … dance?
At least this vaguely resembled dancing.
“I don’t know what that was,” Staley said later, smiling, as music blared loudly in the 49ers’ exuberant locker room. “I saw it on the video screen afterward, and I didn’t remember doing that . ... I was pumped.”
McGlinchey added: “I saw Joe moving, so I started moving.”
To suggest Staley and McGlinchey reveled in Mostert’s superb first half would be putting it mildly. The 49ers unleashed the power and fury of their running game in Sunday’s 3720 victory over Green Bay in the NFC Championship Game, starring Mostert but starting with his oversized friends on the line of scrimmage.
The 49ers gained 185 yards rushing in the first half and 285 for the game. Staley, McGlinchey and Co. — with help from tight end/blocking machine George Kittle and fullback Kyle Juszczyk — repeatedly crushed their Green Bay counterparts, often opening massive holes.
So when Mostert zoomed into the end zone on an 18yard touchdown run late in the first half, stretching San Francisco’s lead to 270, Staley and McGlinchey let loose. This was an offensive lineman’s fantasy, steaming into the Super Bowl on the strength of an overpowering running game.
It also counted as little surprise, given the way these teams performed in the regular season. The 49ers ranked second in the NFL in rushing. The Packers ranked No. 23 in run defense. That seemed like an open invitation.
Plus, as Kittle bluntly put it last week, “We’ll run power down your throat if we want to.”
So they did, turning quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo’s right arm into an expensive afterthought.
“We have the ability to throw the ball, with weapons all over the place,” McGlinchey said. “But it’s the easiest formula to keep the ball on the ground, block your ass off and control the game the way we did today.”
The 49ers can talk boldly because they back it up on the field. Their offensive line — Staley and McGlinchey at tackle, Tomlinson and Mike Person at guard, Ben Garland at center — is ruthlessly productive. Kittle and Juszczyk also are punishing blockers.
This whole equation resulted in a stream of efficient plays.
The 49ers averaged 8.4 yards per attempt in the first half and 6.8 for the game.
At some point, this does more than simply advance the ball downfield.
“You get 6 or 8 yards a clip, that kind of hurts a defensive coordinator’s pride,” McGlinchey said. “You do that and you start making guys panic, and they start doing things they’re not comfortable doing.”
Or, as Person said of head coach Kyle Shanahan and his game plan, “When things start clicking, Kyle sticks with it. He doesn’t try to reinvent the wheel. He goes with it and puts a lot of trust in us.”
Mostert took full advantage against the Packers, setting a 49ers postseason record with 220 rushing yards. He needed only the slimmest of openings, given his lightningquick acceleration and elite speed.
And when Mostert scored his fourth touchdown of the day, on a 22yard run midway through the third quarter, the linemen again exulted. Amid the celebration, the football eventually found its way to Garland, a 31yearold journeyman with 10 regularseason starts in his career — and he emphatically and exuberantly spiked it in the end zone.
Next stop: Super Bowl.