SF 49ers: 5 Dolphins weaknesses Kyle Shanahan must expose

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The Miami Dolphins against the San Francisco 49ers (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images) /

No. 4: SF 49ers must keep Dolphins run game from being effective

Like most quarterbacks, play action is a great friend to Ryan Fitzpatrick. His passer rating on play-action plays is 106.5 compared to 77.3 on standard dropbacks, per Pro Football Focus.

Also feeding into the aforementioned weakness, forcing Fitzpatrick to carry the Dolphins offense on his shoulders would be a wise move for San Francisco’s defense. In order to do that, the SF 49ers will need to shut down Miami’s run game.

It’s not overly potent. To date, the Dolphins have 427 rush yards (21st) and are averaging 4.0 yards per carry (22nd). Their starting running back, Myles Gaskin, has just 192 rush yards on the season and is averaging 4.0 yards per carry, while No. 2 tailback and former Niners star, Matt Breida, is also managing just 4.0 yards per rush.

Stopping the run shouldn’t be too hard for a SF 49ers defense allowing 4.1 yards per rush attempt, which is 11th best.

Look for the Niners defensive line, particularly defensive tackles D.J. Jones and Kevin Givens, to be prime factors working against Miami’s tendency to run between the tackles.

If that can be shut down, San Francisco should have little trouble forcing the Dolphins to be one-dimensional.