Heading into the NFC Championship game, there were a number of things on the to-do list for Los Angeles Rams defensive coordinator Raheem Morris. He needed to confuse Jimmy Garoppolo, and perhaps force the one big mistake. He had to come up with a plan for the talented Deebo Samuel. He also needed to have an answer for the diverse San Francisco rushing attack.
As the Rams begin thinking about Super Bowl preparations, you could say he accomplished the bulk of those goals.
Los Angeles held the 49ers running game largely in check during their 20-17 win, holding San Francisco to just 50 rushing yards on 20 carries. Samuel was the 49ers’ leading rusher, carrying the ball seven times for 26 yards, while Elijah Mitchell got the most carries for the 49ers, being held to 20 yards on 11 attempts.
How did they manage to slow down the San Francisco run game? After the loss, tight end George Kittle had an idea:
kittle said the 49ers struggled to run the ball cause whenever they’d go in motion the rams would blitz through the A or B-gaps. he said the rams didn’t do that in the other games.
“it’s hard to run the ball when there are 9 guys in the box.”
— KP (@KP_Show) January 31, 2022
That was part of the plan, a plan that focused on downhill aggression from second- and third-level defenders, penetration into the backfield, and denying the runners a shot at getting to the edge.
Take this play from late in the first quarter:
The 49ers try and run Mitchell to the left side using zone blocking up front. Kittle comes across the formation in motion just prior to the snap, moving left-to-right. As Mitchell takes the handoff, Von Miller sets a hard edge over left tackle Trent Williams, preventing Mitchell from bouncing this run to the outside, and as he is doing so cornerback David Long, who is down in the box, angles behind him to the outside, putting himself in place should Mitchell still try to bounce the run around the edge.
The backside of the plan is just as important. First there is linebacker Troy Reeder, who is charging downhill right at the snap. As right tackle Tom Compton slides to his left, Reeder knifes into the backfield off his backside, crashing into fullback Kyle Juszczyk. That gives linebacker Justin Hollins a clear path to Mitchell as well.
Oh, and right in the middle of all of this there is the world-destroying defensive tackle, Aaron Donald, driving left guard Laken Tomlinson a yard into the backfield, forcing Mitchell to try and cut behind the line of scrimmage.
In the third quarter, the 49ers tried to run Mitchell again to the left side, using zone blocking up front. Once again, penetration from the defensive line coupled with downhill aggression from second- and third-level defenders stopped the play before it could get going:
This time it is Brandon Aiyuk in motion at the snap, as the 49ers try and run Mitchell to the left using zone blocking. Jusczcyk, who aligns in a wing to the left, executes the sift block across the formation.
The first component to this run stop, the interior penetration, is delivered by defensive tackle Marquise Copeland, who staggers Tomlinson as the left guard is sliding to the outside, pushing Tomlinson two yards into the backfield. This drives the guard into Mitchell’s path, cutting off a potential bounce to the edge and forcing the running back to consider a cutback to the right.
One small problem. Well, three big ones to be exact. First is Leonard Floyd, who has avoided the fullback’s sift block and is in position to crash down on Mitchell. Second is Long, who again begins the play in the backfield and, after avoiding a stumbling block attempt from center Alex Mack who was tripped up trying to get to the second level, is in position to stop Mitchell. Third is Reeder. Who has sifted through the traffic up front and found a path towards Mitchell. The three defenders crash into the running back simultaneously, holding him to a gain of one yard to force third and long.
Later in the third quarter, San Francisco again tried to run Mitchell to the left side on a zone blocking design. Again, the Rams were ready:
This run stop starts with linebacker Ogbonnia Okoronkwo, on the edge across from Williams, the talented left tackle. As Williams opens to his left and starts to fan outside, Okoronkwo rolls the dice and dips inside of him, evading Williams and getting into the backfield quickly. Okoronkwo feels comfortable taking that chance, because Long — again aligned in the box — is in position as a secondary force player.
Okoronkwo’s cut to the inside pays off, as Mitchell is forced to make a cut behind the line of scrimmage. Unfortunately for him, there is no clean path downfield. Defensive tackle A’Shawn Robinson is working down the line of scrimmage, and with Reeder crashing downhill once more, Mitchell has nowhere to go.
The final play we will look at is one of the wrinkles the 49ers used this season, a toss play aiming inside with zone blocking concepts up front. While this is an example of the Rams blitzing through the A-Gap as Kittle pointed out after the game, as Reeder comes crashing inside, this play stands more for the idea that Los Angeles has some talented players up front.
Because on this play, Miller’s ability to avoid a block on the edge stops this before it gets going:
As the play unfolds, Compton fans to his right to take on Miller. The defender initially looks like he is going to square up and take the tackle on head up, but at the last second Miller jumps to the outside, and Compton is left waving at air. The defender’s cat-like reflexes pay off, as he is in position to force Mitchell to make a decision again behind the line of scrimmage. The running back tries to evade Miller by bouncing around to the outside, but the defender is having none of it, and the play goes for a one-yard loss.
The Rams defenders were tasked this week with slowing down a running game that had posed some problems for them in the regular season. When these two teams met in the regular season — both of which were 49ers wins — – San Francisco rushed for 156 yards and 135 yards in those two games.
Los Angeles was not going to let that happen again, and in the NFC Championship game they took the fight to the 49ers and played it on their terms, behind the line of scrimmage. The result? A trip to Super Bowl LVI.