Hyde up to speed but still looking for touchdowns
SANTA CLARA >> Carlos Hyde topped out at 19.96 mph Sunday when he raced southbound on Seattle’s CenturyLink Field. His sleeker, redesigned body style was on full display and it produced a career-long, 61-yard run.
Only 14 players have run faster in the NFL this season, according to the league’s “Next
Gen Stats.”
But no matter how fast he looked or timed, Hyde never made it across the finish line. The end zone eluded him just as it has all other 49ers in their 0-2 start.
“Next time I break a run like that, I’ve got to get in the end zone. Can’t get tackled,” Hyde said after the 12-9 defeat to the Seahawks. “It wasn’t enough, so it doesn’t really matter.”
This is the first time the 49ers
haven’t scored a touchdown through their first two games. If they fail to do so Thursday night at home against the Los Angeles Rams, they’ll match a franchise-record threegame drought. That was set in 2005, when Ken Dorsey and Cody Pickett quarterbacked in place of injured rookie Alex Smith.
Hyde, who turns 27 on Wednesday, insisted the 49ers’ latest loss be “put on my shoulders” because he never found paydirt.
On that 61-yard run sprung by Kyle Juszczyk’s lead block, Hyde got chased down from behind by cornerback Jeremy Lane at the Seattle 22. The 49ers settled for a field goal.
On a 27-yard run next possession, Hyde broke free on a spin move, dashed to his right and got pushed out of bounds by Richard Sherman at the Seattle 28. The 49ers settled for a field goal.
“We just have to get more points on the board,” Hyde added. “Not field goals. We’ve got to get touchdowns on the board.”
Touchdowns are sparse in Hyde’s career. He hasn’t run for one in his last 10 games. He has 13 career rushing touchdowns, including two in last season’s opening win over the Rams, a 28-0 shutout at Levi’s Stadium. All three of his career receiving touchdowns came last season.
In comparison — as unfair it may be based on their supporting casts — fellow Ohio State product Ezekiel Elliott had 15 rushing touchdowns last season alone as a Dallas Cowboys rookie.
So what are the chances Hyde runs for a touchdown Thursday against the Rams, who last week welcomed back run-stuffer Aaron Donald but still allowed two rushing touchdowns in a 27-20 loss to Washington?
“Kyle Shanahan does a great job scheming up and coming up with some unique runs, and he’s done that for a long time in Washington and Atlanta obviously,” the Seahawks’ Sherman said Sunday of the 49ers’ 159 rushing yards. “So you got to give them credit, too, and Hyde did a great job reading it and making big plays.”
Hyde, for his efforts in a losing cause, is among six players nominated for the FedEx Air & Ground NFL Player of the Week, which is determined by fans’ online voting.
Hyde has only 24 carries through two games, and with an average of 7 yards per carry, it’s fair to wonder why he hasn’t been fed more. His understudy, rookie Matt Breida, is not stealing carries, with just eight for 46 yards.
“In order to run the ball more, you don’t just call more runs,” Shanahan said. “You have to get first downs and stay on the field.”
The 49ers converted on only 2-of-12 third-down plays Sunday. That included a third-and-1 run Hyde got stopped for no gain, but there were other short-yardage plays that resulted in a pass. On third-and-1 from the Seattle 25 with a timeout remaining, a Brian Hoyer pass fell incomplete to Trent Taylor.
Hyde, known best as a power back, arrived at training camp 228 pounds, his lightest since high school. Such a svelte frame was to enhance his speed for a team being rebuilt around the notion of playing faster than ever.
“I know Carlos lost a bunch of weight since last year, and I’ve seen that during OTAs and training camp, how much faster he got,” Breida said. “People don’t realize he’s got some speed behind him.”
Hyde, a 2014 secondround draft pick, is in the final year of his contract. He might have only 14 games left until free agency, where he might be the most coveted running back behind Le’Veon Bell, Pittsburgh’s 2017 franchisetagged player.
Hyde declared on Day 1 of training camp that he wants to win the league’s rushing title. Two games in, Hyde has the fourth-most yards (169). He trails the Kansas City Chiefs’ Kareem Hunt (229 yards), the Denver Broncos’ C.J. Anderson (199 yards) and the Minnesota Vikings’ Dalvin Cook (191).
Hyde’s counterpart Thursday night, the Rams’ Todd Gurley, ranks eighth with 128 yards, and he’s run for a touchdown in each game so far.
• The 49ers defense is allowing the 10th-fewest points (17.5 per game) and yards (299.5). Defensive coordinator Robert Saleh’s response: “The results are not what we want. Yards and all that, we don’t look at it. The bottom line is points, trying to keep them off the board and give us a chance to win every week.
“The thing I’m excited about,” Saleh added, “is our style was represented last week, all across the board for the entire team. … The violence, the speed, attacking the ball.”
• The 49ers offense ranks last in yards (232.5 per game) and time of possession (24:21). Quarterback Brian Hoyer said: “When you watch the film and see you’re an inch off here or there, it drives you to be that much better. An inch better. One play better. One play can change a game. That’s what’s driven us.”
• Left tackle Joe Staley said the 49ers’ rushing performance in Seattle (159 yards, 8.4 yards per carry) was the best there in his 11 seasons. “We’re definitely making strides,” Staley said. “Guys are feeling a lot more comfortable on where our targets are. You’re seeing that we’re able to break some runs about really strong defenses, but it’s all about consistency.”
• The Pro Football Hall of Fame added to its display 49ers assistant coach Katie Sowers’ game-day shirt and playbook binder. She is the league’s first openly gay coach and second-ever fulltime female assistant.
• Safeties Jaquiski Tartt (neck) and Jimmie Ward (hamstring) and tight end George Kittle (hip) were all limited in practice Tuesday, according to the 49ers’ injury report. That represents some progress for Tartt and Kittle, who would not have been on the field had the 49ers practiced Monday.
Linebacker Reuben Foster (ankle) and Eric Reid (knee) did not practice and will not play Thursday. Foster was inside the 49ers’ locker room for a brief time Tuesday, walking around without a boot or any noticeable limp. Reid was ruled out Monday by Shanahan after he injured his left posterior cruciate ligament Sunday.