Last week, three days after so many Dolphins played well and so many 49ers played poorly in San Francisco’s 43-17 loss to Miami, Kyle Shanahan said something surprising: The team that stunk had the game’s MVP, running back Raheem Mostert.
“I thought he was probably the best football player on the field on Sunday,” Shanahan said, “and I wish we could have got the ball to him more.”
The head coach wasn’t kidding.
On Sunday, in a 24-16 win over the Rams the wobbly 49ers desperately needed, Shanahan showed how valuable he thinks Mostert is by giving him the ball at a dizzying pace.
The 49ers took a 21-6 halftime lead while giving Mostert 16 carries in the first two quarters. That was three fewer than Mostert’s career high in a regular-season game, and it spoke to the game’s must-win vibe.
The only time Shanahan has given Mostert more than 20 carries came in a true must-win situation: Mostert had 29 carries in his 220-yard, four-touchdown performance in last season’s NFC Championship Game against Green Bay.
Unfortunately for the 49ers, who are 3-3 and in the early stages of their difficult season-ending schedule, they won’t have Mostert to lean on for the foreseeable future.
The news Shanahan delivered Monday that Mostert suffered a high ankle sprain and will be placed on injured reserve, meaning he will miss a minimum of three games, was the latest crushing injury in an attrition-filled season.
Mostert has become one of the NFL’s most electrifying players since assuming lead-back duties in December, leading NFL running backs by averaging 5.7 yards per carry since 2019. And the current options to fill the void aren’t appealing. Consider: Jerick McKinnon is likely to start at New England on Sunday after he was replaced by JaMycal Hasty, an undrafted rookie who had two career carries before Sunday, in the fourth quarter against the Rams.
The drop-off from Mostert to his backups was evident Sunday.
Mostert, who left after the 49ers’ first play of the third quarter, finished with 65 yards on 17 carries and was the centerpiece of an offense that had 291 yards in the first half. Mostert had 52 of those yards on 12 carries on touchdown drives of 76, 87 and 75 yards that used 29 plays and allowed the 49ers to dominate time of possession (21:22 to 8:38).
Without Mostert, the 49ers mustered three points and 99 yards in the final two quarters. They had four punts and a field goal on their five full drives, and Shanahan pointed to their run-game struggles as a reason they didn’t seal the game until less than two minutes were left.
“I thought we had a number of times there in the fourth quarter that we could have kind of finished them and we didn't,” Shanahan said.
Ground game
49ers’ 2020 rushing leaders:
|
Player |
Car |
Yds |
TD |
|
Raheem Mostert |
51 |
303 |
1 |
|
Jerick McKinnon |
41 |
211 |
3 |
|
Brandon Aiyuk |
4 |
69 |
2 |
|
Jeff Wilson Jr. |
21 |
51 |
1 |
|
JaMycal Hasty |
11 |
46 |
|
|
Tevin Coleman |
18 |
30 |
|
|
Kyle Juszczyk |
3 |
18 |
1 |
Shanahan often has highlighted the importance of an effective high-volume running game, which has multiple benefits beyond providing offensive balance: It sets up play-action passes, take pressure of the quarterback and keeps the 49ers’ defense rested while having the opposite effect on the opponent’s defense.
“To get that many runs sometimes, you don't get as many explosive runs because you're going on longer drives, which also slows down the team and rests our team. I just think when you look at the number of carries, it's a very good team stat.”
On Sunday, in his postgame locker-room message captured on the team’s Twitter account, Shanahan announced a key stat.
“We talked about whichever team got 30 runs would win,” Shanahan said. “All right, we had 37 and they had 19.”
The 49ers figure to be hard-pressed to repeat that feat against New England.
McKinnon, who missed the previous two seasons with a knee injury, has lacked the explosion needed to effectively get outside this season. And he has been just OK in the passing game, which was viewed as his strong suit: He has 117 yards on 17 receptions with a touchdown.
Meanwhile, running back Tevin Coleman (knee) isn’t expected to come off injured reserve until next week, at the earliest, and Jeff Wilson missed Sunday’s game with a calf injury.
The situation suggests Hasty will get plenty of work against the Patriots after he flashed quickness and burst while gaining 37 yards on nine fourth-quarter carries.
“Hasty was up for the challenge,” Shanahan said. “Got some fresh legs in there, and I thought he gave us some juice.”
Eric Branch covers the 49ers for The San Francisco Chronicle. Email: ebranch@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @Eric_Branch
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