4 reasons why 49ers coordinator DeMeco Ryans impressed us in 2021
By Peter Panacy
Reason No. 1: DeMeco Ryans turned around 49ers run defense
Even when San Francisco got off to a 2-0 start to the regular season, it wasn’t hard to see a glaring weakness: defending against the run, especially in the middle of the front seven.
Over the 49ers’ first eight games of the regular season, opponents rushed for at least 100 yards in seven of those contests, the lone exception being the Arizona Cardinals in Week 5, and they nevertheless came close with 94 total rush yards.
During that stretch, DeMeco Ryans’ defense was surrendering an average of 131.6 rush yards per game.
Not good.
However, some defensive tweaks and adjustments (we’ll get to some of those in a moment) played a key role in the Niners turning this glaring weakness around and into a bona fide strength.
Over San Francisco’s final nine games, following an abysmal 163 rush yards allowed to the Cardinals in Week 9, the 49ers gave up just one 100-yard rush game (Week 13 at the Seattle Seahawks) and allowed an average of only 78.6 yards on the ground per game over that final stretch.
Putting a stamp on all of it, the Niners also contained the Cowboys’ vaunted rushing attack, led by running backs Ezekiel Elliott and Tony Pollard, to a mere 77 yards and an average of 3.7 yards per carry.
Forcing opponents to get one-dimensional on offense has been a big reason behind San Francisco’s turnaround.