49ers will beat Cardinals if they win these matchups on Monday
By Peter Panacy
49ers vs. Cardinals matchup No. 2: Niners run defense vs. James Conner
Arizona made a questionable move by parting ways with one of its more promising running backs, Eno Benjamin, which effectively leaves veteran tailback James Conner as the bell-cow rusher in head coach Kliff Kingsbury’s offense.
Conner earned his paycheck with 15 rushing touchdowns a year ago, but his 3.7 yards-per-carry average from 2021 suggests he was more of a short-yardage, goal-line tailback than anything else.
Still, San Francisco can recall Conner’s three-touchdown performance way back in that Week 9 game in which Colt McCoy started. While McCoy was good in that bout, Conner was even better.
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This year, though, the 49ers boast the NFL’s No. 1 defense against the run, and it’s still the case despite coordinator DeMeco Ryans’ unit leaking some proverbial “oil” for a few weeks before the bye week.
The Niners are still giving up an average of only 3.4 rush yards per attempt on the season, and that might be the tipping point against Conner’s average of 3.8 yards per carry this year.
As long as Conner isn’t solely in goal-line situations.