Juszczyk is doing it all on offense
After Kyle Juszczyk caught a short, over-the-middle pass in the red zone Sunday, the 49ers’ Pro Bowl fullback turned upfield and encountered a problem: Vikings linebacker Nick Vigil, cornerback Mackensie Alexander and safeties Harrison Smith and Josh Metellus were waiting for him in a cluster around the 5-yard line.
What to do? The Harvard graduate surveyed the four-defender pileup, made a quick calculation that would have disappointed his physics professor in Cambridge and left his feet, attempting a Walter Payton leap into the end zone. Spoiler alert: It didn’t work. Juszczyk crashed into a midair wall and was dropped at the 4-yard line.
When asked a tongue-incheek question Monday about Juszczyk’s confidence in his athleticism, head coach Kyle Shanahan sounded amused on his weekly conference call.
“I love when he tries so hard — that’s what Juice is made out of,” Shanahan said. “But on that one, in particular, there’s a very small chance of jumping over eight people in front of you for six more yards. I’d rather him eliminate the risk of a fumble. Just cover it up with every point of pressure and lower his head and go forward. But I’m not going to be that mad at him for trying.”
Of course Shanahan isn’t going to get angry. Juszczyk can’t clear a defense in a single bound, but he’s banked endless goodwill with his ability to do just about everything else in the 49ers’ offense.
The fullback who can effectively block, run and catch put on his typical, under-the-radar display of versatility and value
in the 49ers’ 34-26 win over the Vikings. Spend a game trained on Juszczyk and it becomes easy to see why he’s been the NFL’s highest-paid fullback since the 49ers signed him in 2017.
Against Minnesota, Juszczyk played 44 snaps, but was rarely in the same spot on consecutive plays: He spent 18 plays at fullback, 10 at tight end, nine at running back and seven at wide receiver.
Juszczyk touched the ball just twice — he had two catches for 37 yards — but he had key blocks on the 49ers’ two longest plays, gains of 49 and 37 yards that were part of touchdown drives. He also had the lead block as a running back on the 49ers’ first touchdown, wide receiver Deebo Samuel’s 20-yard run, and he helped clear the way as a fullback on their final TD, running back Elijah Mitchell’s 2-yard plunge.
There was more: On three snaps, Juszczyk used cut blocks to drop defensive end D.J. Wonnum, defensive lineman Sheldon Richardson and linebacker Blake Lynch. Those blocks, all on runs by Mitchell, led to gains of 4, 4 and 9 yards.
Juszczyk’s first big play came at a key moment in the first quarter. The 49ers were trailing 7-0 and faced 3rdand-13 on their 22-yard line. Juszczyk, lined up at running back, picked up Smith, who was blitzing off the right side, squared him up and redirected him toward the Vikings’ sideline. With a clean pocket, quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo tossed a 37-yard completion to wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk.
“After we hit that 3rdand-13,” Shanahan said, “they didn’t blitz the rest of the game on third down.”
Juszczyk’s last big play came at a key moment in the fourth quarter. Leading 34-26 with about six minutes left, the 49ers were early in a crucial clock-eating drive. On 2ndand-10 from their 15, Juszczyk, lined up right at offset tight end, broke free over the middle, caught Garoppolo’s pass at the 34-yard line and dragged Smith seven yards to complete a 26-yard catch-and-carry.
“That,” Shanahan said, “was a huge play in the game.”
Samuel’s two longest runs were made possible by Juszczyk. On the 20-yard TD, Garoppolo was in shotgun with Samuel to his left and Juszczyk in the same spot to his right. As Samuel swept right, Juszczyk cleared a path with a seal block on linebacker Anthony Barr.
Juszczyk’s block on Samuel’s 49-yard run, on the third play of the third quarter, wasn’t quite as textbook, but it was just as effective. Lined up at wide receiver, in the slot to the right, Juszczyk peeled back as Samuel swept to his side and shoved Vigil just before he was able to drop Samuel for a loss, springing him down the sideline.
Even Richardson, a fellow Pro Bowl player, seemed to appreciate Juszczyk. Or at least his ability to take him out with a clean, legal block. After Juszczyk dropped Richardson with a cut block around his ankles, Richardson gave him a respectful slap on the shoulder pad on his way back to the defensive huddle.
Other observations:
⏩ Cornerback Josh Norman’s he-giveth-and-he-taketh-away season continued.
Norman committed a holding penalty, was flagged for pass interference and missed a tackle on running back Alexander Mattison’s 6-yard touchdown run.
However, Norman also forced a fumble inside the 49ers’ 10 (the Vikings recovered) and was in coverage on Minnesota’s best wide receiver, Justin Jefferson, on two fourthdown, fourth-quarter incompletions.
First, Norman and free safety Jimmie Ward had Jefferson bracketed in the back of the end zone on Kirk Cousins’ incompletion on 4th-and-goal at the 3 with about nine minutes left. Later, Norman had solid coverage on Jefferson over the middle when Cousins’ 4th-and-8 pass from the 49ers’ 38 was off the mark in the final minute.
Norman has been called for nine penalties (six accepted) this season, second most in the NFL among cornerbacks. However, he also leads the league with seven forced fumbles, which second in franchise history behind defensive end Roy Barker (eight in 1996).
⏩ Linebacker Dre Greenlaw aggravated his groin injury that required surgery and caused him to miss nine games when he blitzed in the second quarter and engaged right tackle Brian O’Neill. Greenlaw crumpled to the ground and writhed in pain before slowly walking off the field. Shanahan said Monday that Greenlaw is day-to-day with his injury after he lasted just 13 snaps in his return.
Meanwhile, linebacker Fred Warner appeared to suffer his hamstring injury when he sprinted back in coverage on a 15-yard completion to Jefferson in the third quarter. Warner, who reached for his left hamstring after the play, stayed in for two more snaps before exiting.
⏩ Garoppolo’s best pass was his most dangerous. In fact, it was close to a disaster.
With the 49ers leading 3426, they faced 3rd-and-4 at their 10 with just under eight minutes left. Garoppolo dropped back, appeared to nearly stumble due to heavy pressure and threw off his back foot to wide receiver Trent Sherfield. The result: Sherfield caught a 5-yard slant between cornerback Bashaud Breeland and Smith, who couldn’t dislodge the ball with a mid-catch whack.