Chiefs’ defense plans to match physical 49ers’ running game

There’s something about the running game that captures the essence of football.

In a game where manhood and performance are so closely intertwined, there’s nothing more encouraging to an offensive line than pounding the rock or discouraging to a defensive line than getting gouged on the ground.

The Chiefs know this, and as they prepared this week for their road test Sunday against an old-school San Francisco 49ers team that runs the ball like few others, it became clear that the men up front have embraced the challenge.

“You can’t be the nail,” defensive end Kevin Vickerson said. “Going into a matchup where you know they’re coming in with physicality, you’ve got to be the hammer.”

So they key is to match their physicality, right?

“No,” Vickerson said. “They’ve got to match us.”

On paper, though, the Chiefs would appear to be at a disadvantage. The 49ers rank seventh in the league in rushing at 138 yards per game, while the Chiefs rank 15th in run defense at 116 yards per game.

The Niners might be on an upward trend, too. After largely failing to get star running back Frank Gore adequately involved the first three weeks, Gore rushed for a season-high 119 yards in 24 carries last week to lead a ground attack that churned out 218 yards in a 26-21 win over the Philadelphia Eagles.

“They did some stuff last week that gave them success in the run game,” Vickerson said. “They feel like they got back to themselves. So that’s what they’re going to do.”

The Chiefs, one of two NFL teams that have not given up a rushing touchdown, plan on being ready, though Gore, a massive offensive line and speedy, dynamic quarterback Colin Kaepernick present issues of their own.

“Yeah,” defensive coordinator Bob Sutton said, “you better buckle both chins straps for this game.”

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Sutton says the 49ers have got “about every kind of running play” in football under coach Jim Harbaugh. He is not joking about this.

“This is going to be hard, a hard game defensively,” Sutton said. “They’re a really good football team that knows who they are and they’ve done this pretty consistently since Jim’s been there.”

By this, Sutton means running the ball in gap-blocking scheme, which is about big, strong offensive linemen beating defenders in one-on-one situations as opposed to the zone-blocking scheme that some teams, like the Chiefs, prefer with smaller, quicker linemen.

“Everything is downhill,” Vickerson said. “Zone scheme is more sideways, cutbacks.”

“Things happen quicker,” inside linebacker James-Michael Johnson said. “It’s like boom, boom, go, as opposed to the zone scheme when everything is flowing.”

The 49ers’ starting offensive line, which averages 315 pounds across the board, is equipped to do this well when it’s on its game. Guards Mike Iupati (6 feet 5, 331 pounds) and Alex Boone (6-8) are maulers, as is right tackle Anthony Davis (6-5, 323). Left tackle Joe Staley (6-5, 315) is an elite left tackle.

“Hit-you-in-the-mouth type of linemen, probably one of the best offensive lines in football,” Johnson said. “They’re really good.”

It’s a line that Sutton says is built to their coach’s specifications.

“Yeah, Jim grew up in Michigan, Bo Schembechler,” Sutton said. “He was the quarterback there, running the ball. He understands the running game. It’s about being tough, it’s about being physical. I don’t care what position you play, he’s expecting that out of you.

“A guy like (Anquan) Boldin, to me, is his kind of receiver. He can come in and block anybody that’s around and does a good job. Yes, (the offense) is in the mold of Jim Harbaugh’s personality.”

Thing is, there are indications the Chiefs can turn them into a one-dimensional team. Staley has struggled this season, Davis might not play and his backup, Jonathan Martin, hasn’t been very good, either.

It’s also worth noting the Chiefs fared pretty well against a Denver team that also uses the gap-running scheme. The Chiefs held the Broncos to 88 yards in 19 carries on Sept. 14, a far cry than the 141 yards in 20 carries they allowed the Dolphins (a zone-blocking team) accumulated on Sept. 21.

Johnson prefers to face a team that runs the ball the way the 49ers and Broncos do.

“I like it better than being uncertain with the flowing and the ball cutting back on you (against a zone scheme),” Johnson said. “The ball is going to go downhill — wherever it starts, it’s going. You know what to expect, as opposed to them coming out and doing everything.”

The Chiefs aren’t the only team that feels this way, though stopping the 49ers’ ground-game is easier said than done when Gore and Kaepernick are in a groove.

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For once in an increasingly pass-happy league, let’s start with the running back. Gore’s credentials are legit — five Pro Bowls, 10,225 career rushing yards, and the universal respect of the Chiefs’ defense, despite his age (31).

“Some backs read gaps better, but Frank Gore reads everything, zone, cutback, it doesn’t matter,” Vickerson said. “Frank is a complete back.”

Harbaugh says it has been “a joy” to witness Gore’s career up close, though rookie running back Carlos Hyde has siphoned some of Gore’s carries.

Chiefs coach Andy Reid praised both players, but went out of his way to credit the ageless Gore.

“Gore is as patient as any running back there is in the league and as confident in his o-line in making cut backs as there is,” Reid said. “So you’ve got to stay very disciplined and very aggressive.”

The same, in a way, can be said of the way the Chiefs may try to defend Kaepernick, who can run and has a cannon for an arm, but he is still working to become more comfortable as a pocket passer.

The teams that have had success against Kaepernick, who leads all quarterbacks with 187 rushing yards and has completed 66 percent of his passes for 912 yards, six touchdowns and four interceptions, have kept him from getting outside and forced him to make throws from the pocket.

“I think it’s real critical because when he gets out, one, obviously he can run very fast and very far,” Sutton said. “Two, the other part is he puts great stress on the coverage. The other day he rolled out to his left and I don’t know how he did it but he reached all the way back across and hit Gore over there. And nobody was on Gore.

“You’re in a little bit of a dilemma on defense because when this guy takes off, you’re going to need a lot of people to get him. So obviously we would love to keep him in there. I think all other 31 teams are thinking the same thing.”

If Kaepernick does escape the pocket, Sutton said tackling him will be key, though hauling down a 6-foot-4, 230-pound man who runs a 4.5 40-yard dash is obviously easier said than done.

However, in a game that will test the toughness of the Chiefs’ front seven, tackling is just one of many several key areas they will need to be adept in Sunday if they hope to, in Vickerson’s words, indeed be the hammer and not the nail.

“The bottom line is that you’re going to have to play great technique up front, you’re going to have to be very physical and you’re going to have to tackle,” Sutton said. “You have to tackle these guys because the backs, Boldin and these guys, they don’t go down. We’re going to have to do a great job at that.”

This story was originally published October 4, 2014 at 5:25 PM with the headline "Chiefs’ defense plans to match physical 49ers’ running game."