The strength of the 49ers’ offense was their running game. Everything they tried to do offensively was set up by the run, whether it was inside rushes, tosses or jet sweeps. That opened things up for the passing game with play action, which made life easier for Jimmy Garoppolo.
Knowing how limited Garoppolo is as a passer, the Rams completely changed their defensive game plan in the NFC Championship Game, breaking tendency and shifting how they defended the run. After primarily being a two-high-safety defense, the Rams utilized significantly more single-high looks to get an extra defender in the box.
In other words, they sold out to stop the run and forced Garoppolo to beat them, which he couldn’t.
They loaded the box 49% of the time after using a heavy box only 24% of the time since 2020 – the lowest rate in the NFL. They also used a single-high safety 18% of the time in the last two seasons, less than any other team.
According to Next Gen Stats, this was the first time in the last two years that the Rams used more single-high shells than two-high looks in a single game.
The #Rams defense broke tendency in their NFC Championship win over the 49ers by showing more single-high safety looks, and loading the box to stop the run (i.e. box defenders > blockers):
🔹 63% Single-High (season-high)
🔹 49% Loaded Box (season-high)#SFvsLAR | #RamsHouse pic.twitter.com/oBbiqyZzps— Next Gen Stats (@NextGenStats) February 1, 2022
The results were obvious. The 49ers rushed for 50 yards on 20 carries and Garoppolo crumbled late when they had to throw the ball, completing only one of his last six passes for minus-3 yards and a pick.
The 49ers had just two successful runs out of those 20 carries, according to Next Gen Stats, which was the second-lowest rushing success rate allowed by any defense this year.
The Rams defensive strategy limited the 49ers to just two successful runs on 20 carries.
» 2nd-lowest rushing success rate (10.0%) allowed by any defense in a game this season#SFvsLAR | #RamsHouse pic.twitter.com/Wb4dymJzzl
— Next Gen Stats (@NextGenStats) February 1, 2022
What helped make this shift in defensive philosophy possible is Nick Scott. He’s been a star at safety since Jordan Fuller and Taylor Rapp went down, patroling the deep part of the field. And with his experience as a centerfield safety, it allowed the Rams to load the box with Eric Weddle coming down near the line of scrimmage.
It’s plays like this that make a centerfield safety successful.
huge hit on Deebo pic.twitter.com/Jlf1P2yxvk
— alex (@highlghtheaven) January 31, 2022
The Rams are likely to go back to their two-high defense against the Bengals in the Super Bowl, especially considering Cincinnati’s downfield passing attack. The Bengals do have a good running game with Joe Mixon, but the Rams’ first priority has to be to rush Joe Burrow and keep the passing attack in check.
Raheem Morris and Sean McVay deserve credit for changing things up in the biggest game of the season, betting that Scott, Weddle and the rest of the defense could handle the shift and shut down San Francisco’s ground game.
