49ers run game an innovative relic [View all]

San Francisco Chronicle / 11-11-12

Like a teenager examining a typewriter or an eight-track tape, Rams middle linebacker James Laurinaitis scratched his head this past week while studying video of the 49ers' offense.

In today's I-formation era, the 49ers will split running backs Frank Gore and Kendall Hunter at equal depth in the backfield, the NFL equivalent of using a rotary phone. From that formation, they will run double sweeps and two-back traps - X's and O's straight out of a '90s video game.

SNIP

While spread offenses are routinely bringing extra wide receivers onto the field, the 49ers often trot out additional linemen. On Gore's 23-yard touchdown run in a season-opening win at Green Bay, he ran over the right side of a seven-linemen formation that featured 355-pound guard Leonard Davis at tight end and 308-pound center Daniel Kilgore at wing back.

Such jumbo packages can be particularly effective against modern-day defenses, which have shrunk to combat the spread. There has been an influx of smaller and quicker ends and outside linebackers to keep up with the bevy of skill-position players in pass-happy attacks.

READ MORE: http://www.sfgate.com/49ers/article/49ers-run-game-an-innovative-relic-4026982.php

Interesting read ...