SF 49ers: Why JaMycal Hasty goes off against Seahawks in Week 8

Niner Noise looks at SF 49ers running back JaMycal Hasty and why he’s poised for a big game in Week 8 against the Seahawks.

For the SF 49ers, their Week 8 bout against the Seattle Seahawks could be a pivotal game in the crowded division that is the NFC West. There’s no social distancing in this division, the teams are all settling in nicely with winning records and are the best division in the entire NFL.

With a crowded divisional and potential playoff ramifications, the battered Niners are looking to pull off yet another upset when they face a Seahawks outfit still stinging over their overtime loss to the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday Night Football a week ago.

The SF 49ers need a masterful gameplan, and it could center around their potential advantage in the trenches and their ability to block for undrafted rookie running back JaMycal Hasty.

With all the injuries in the running back rotation, Hasty has found himself on a journey from promising camp standout to practice squad body to (potentially) San Francisco’s new starting running back. Head coach Kyle Shanahan has a knack for finding running backs nobody thinks can make it in the NFL and get them to stand out, it’s almost a game for him. Last week, he even used a running back from a similar situation in Jeff Wilson to trample all over the New England Patriots.

While the SF 49ers have had some teething issues with the offensive line, they’ve been blocking exceptionally well as of late. True, the Seahawks are a formidable team with a 5-1 record heading into this game, they’re a relatively poor 13th, in terms of running yards allowed, with an average of 110.5 yards per game. For comparison, the Niners are ninth with 106.3 yards allowed on average despite a badly banged-up defense.

If you look at the last three games alone, the Seahawks average bumps up to a staggering 154.3 yards per game. Only the Philadelphia Eagles, Dallas Cowboys and Buffalo Bills have a worse ground defense in that time.

San Francisco needs to control the clock and prevent Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson from having too many chances to score to be able to get the upset. The SF 49ers dominated time of possession against the Patriots and were able to take their opportunities on offense to get it out of reach.

To control the clock, you need to run. Luckily for the 49ers and for Hasty, the matchup is right for the Niners to do this.

Should the 49ers win, they improve to 5-3 and are players both in the Wild Card race and the race for the competitive NFC West.

It wouldn’t be a bad spot to be in, given the team’s injury woes and the state of the division, and Hasty is the player who can have a big game to make that possibility a reality.