The 49ers calling 12 straight runs shows how smothering they can be in the playoffs

Jimmy Garoppolo‘s first playoff start began on a high note. He was responsible for 57 of his team’s first 61 yards as the 49ers took a 7-0 lead. The touchdown came on a strike to Kendrick Bourne. Garoppolo even threw a block that knocked Pro Bowl linebacker Anthony Barr on his ass.

But the 49ers‘ 27-10 win over the Vikings wasn’t defined by what Garoppolo did in the pocket. Instead, San Francisco put this game away when it took the ball out of its quarterback’s hands and rode its deep tailback rotation to the franchise’s first playoff victory since the 2013 season.

Tevin Coleman ran for 105 yards and two touchdowns. Raheem Mostert added 58 more. As a group, the Niners gained 164 more yards than Dalvin Cook and the Vikings’ rush-heavy offense. It was the third-biggest rushing differential in NFL postseason history.

And it all happened because Garoppolo’s struggles downfield had an easy fix.

The flaws that Garoppolo displayed throughout his first full season as an NFL starter cropped up again against the Vikings. He threw 13 interceptions in 16 regular season games, four of which went to linebackers rather than defensive backs. That 30 percent linebacker interception rate was more than double the league average of 14.5 percent.

On Saturday, Garoppolo’s targets were forced to play defensive back against players like Barr and Eric Kendricks throughout the first half.

Garoppolo’s interception led to a Vikings field goal just before the half. As a result, Kyle Shanahan decided to steer as far away from a momentum-swinging turnover as he could while nursing a 14-10 lead. Garoppolo threw 16 passes in the first 35 minutes of the game, and just three over his final 25.

The 49ers effectively shut the door on the Vikings with a 44-yard touchdown drive in the third quarter in which Garoppolo didn’t drop back to pass once. San Francisco chewed up more than nine minutes of game time across that drive and the two that followed, all without attempting a single throw.

Instead, the 49ers opted for 12 straight runs in the third quarter:

They only gained 55 yards in that stretch, but because of great field position off Vikings miscues, those drives netted 10 points and a 27-10 advantage.

A reduced role didn’t bother the rising QB because his team was winning.

“It was awesome,” Garoppolo told reporters after the game. “There was one drive where we didn’t pass at all and [I] came off the sideline smiling.”

Garoppolo had no reason to throw the ball in an offense that was protecting a 17-point fourth-quarter lead. He handed the reins to a key free agent acquisition (Coleman) and a former practice squad vagabond who has taken on a starring role despite earning just seven carries in his first three years in the league (Mostert). Matt Breida, whose 2019 was marred by a late-season injury, also showed up for eight carries against a Vikings defense that was increasingly stacking the box.

In the end, the 49ers comfortably won a playoff game against the league’s eighth-ranked scoring offense on a day when their starting quarterback threw for just 131 yards. That’s because Shanahan knew his running backs could pick up the slack his passing game had left.

The gambit worked like a charm against Minnesota, even if it also raised questions about how the 49ers will perform in a come-from-behind scenario.

But great teams find ways to win. The 49ers kicked the Vikings off their home field by shutting down the risky play of a good, but unproven quarterback and putting the ball in the hands of a trustworthy platoon. They made precisely the right adjustment, and now they’re one game away from the Super Bowl.