49ers vs. Chargers: 5 bold predictions for Sunday Night Football
By Peter Panacy
49ers vs. Chargers bold prediction No. 4: Niners rush for over 200 yards
Christian McCaffrey might net 150 all-purpose yards, but let’s go ahead and predict the Niners, as a team, rush for over 200 yards.
Not only are the Bolts allowing a league-worst 5.7 yards per carry, but they’ve also given up a smashing 1,164 rush yards on the season, which equates to 145.5 rush yards per contest.
And considering Los Angeles has given up at least 200 yards rushing in three of its last four games, a run-happy San Francisco team should have no trouble at least attempting to reach that kind of feat.
On the surface, the 49ers don’t appear to be having the same kind of rushing success one would expect from a Kyle Shanahan-led offense, averaging a middle-of-the-pack 4.5 yards per carry and boasting another mid-level 956 rush yards on the year to date.
However, the bulk of those stats was of the pre-McCaffrey variety, and Shanahan would love nothing more than to go back to that kind of “run it again” offense that helped his 2019 Niners pummel their way through the playoffs.
Too bad the Chargers can’t stop that kind of approach.