After gaining 119 yards on the ground in their season-opening win over the Seattle Seahawks, the San Francisco 49ers saw their running game go stagnant over the next five weeks, as they posted an abysmal 74.8 rushing yards per game over that stretch, averaging just 3 yards per carry.
Truth be told, even that Week 1 performance wasn't all that impressive, as the Niners needed 36 attempts to get those 119 yards, which averages out to roughly 3.3 yards per carry.
It just didn't make such sense, seeing as Christian McCaffrey has been healthy throughout the season, which has obviously been a big issue for so many others on San Francisco's roster, but it's not as if the 49ers weren't trying. Through the first six weeks of the season, CMC actually ranked second in the league in rushing attempts with 108, trailing only the Indianapolis Colts' Jonathan Taylor (115). But, as he was averaging a career-worst 3.1 yards per carry, McCaffrey ranked just 20th in rushing yards with 336.
Last Sunday against the Atlanta Falcons, however, the Niners turned things around in a big way, tallying 174 yards on 39 carries, with McCaffrey leading the way by averaging 5.4 yards per attempt en route to a season-high 129 yards in a 20-10 victory.
Now, it's not as if the Falcons have the best run defense in the world, as they came into Week 7 ranked 16th in the NFL in that regard and had allowed an average of 140.5 rushing yards in their previous two games. But it's still something for San Francisco to build on, as the offensive line looked as good as it has all season. And the return of George Kittle certainly helped, as he's arguably the best blocking tight end in football and did a tremendous job of creating space against Atlanta.
This week, however, could be a bit different, as McCaffrey & Co. are set to square off with former San Francisco defensive coordinator DeMeco Ryans and the Houston Texans, who've boasted one of the best overall defenses in the NFL thus far and have been strong against the run—at least for the most part.
49ers are set to face a Texans defense that held Derrick Henry to 33 yards
In four of their six games, the Texans have held the opposing offense to 86 rushing yards or fewer. And this includes a Week 5 matchup in which they held the Baltimore Ravens to 44 yards on the ground as a whole and specifically held Derrick Henry to just 33 yards on 15 carries.
That's not the easiest thing to do, is it?
But it's not as if nobody has found success against Houston. The Seahawks rushed for 118 yards in a win over the Texans this past Monday night, but it should be noted that they needed 33 attempts to do so.
The biggest blueprint given on how to beat the Texans on the ground came in Week 2 from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who racked up 169 rushing yards and averaged 5.6 yards per carry in a 20-19 victory. So, one can assume Kyle Shanahan has looked at that tape quite a bit this week.
Despite those two games, however, the Texans have still only allowed an average of 95.2 rushing yards per game, good for 10th in the NFL.
So, the 49ers will undoubtedly have to hope they can find the same magic they did against Atlanta.