Week 2 Preview - 49ers vs Dolphins
The San Francisco 49ers(1-0) are facing the Miami Dolphins(0-1) for their home opener at Levi's Stadium on Sunday. The game is at 1:25 PST.
Injury Report
Dolphins:
LB Ronnie Harrison is OUT with a hamstring injury.
DE Chop Robinson is OUT with a concussion.
LS Tucker Addington is listed as questionable with a shoulder issue. He was limited in practice all week.
TE Seydou Traore was limited in practice on Friday, but has no injury designation. All other Dolphins practiced in full and are expected to play.
49ers:
WR De'Zhaun Stribling is OUT with an ankle injury. He is expected to be placed on IR.
RB Kaelon Black is listed as questionable with a groin issue. He was limited in practice all week.
K Eddy Pineiro is listed as questionable with an illness. He did not practice all week.
All other 49ers practiced in full and are expected to play.
Matchups to Watch:
Dolphins Run Game
Miami's run game will dictate the entire game on Sunday. Allow me to attempt to explain why that is.
The Dolphins run game should be the strength of their offense, or even their team as a whole. They signed Malik Willis at QB, Devon Achane is one of the most dynamic runners in the league, and Aaron Brewer is perhaps the best run blocking, or at least most athletic, center in the NFL. They also have Patrick Paul at LT and rookie Kadyn Proctor at LG, two massive men who are good athletes for their size.
The strength of the offensive line showed in Week 1, as they didn't attempt a single run to the right side of their line.
The Miami run game as a whole wasn't great, and they really just did not run the ball a whole lot. Only 18 attempts the entire game, as they were trailing from the first time they touched the ball.
It didn't help that Miami did not convert a 1st down on 5 out of their 10 drives in Week 1. And out of those 5 failed drives, only two began with a run. Miami was forced into passing situations by Las Vegas, but they put themselves in those situations as well.
Considering the run game should be the strength of this team, I expect Miami to attempt to establish the run in Week 2. It's their best chance at winning.
The 49ers were largely eaten alive by the 2025 NFL's best run game in the Rams, but new DC Raheem Morris had some tricks up his sleeve to create enough negative runs, and force Los Angeles into more passing situations. Having Nick Bosa and Fred Warner create TFLs helps a lot.
But San Francisco is fairly weak on the interior defensive line. It's very possible to run the ball against them. Despite this, the passing looks are often appetizing in the 49ers new two high defense.
In this 49ers defense, they were not great in base defense against the Rams' 13 personnel. Miami was exclusively in either 11 or 21 personnel against the Raiders in Week 1. Will Morris trust his defense to be better against heavy 21 personnel, or will he rotate a safety down to give a more classic 49ers Cover 3 look?
The 49ers also played dime on 14% of snaps against the Rams. With Miami being a weaker passing team, as they trot out Malik Washington and two rookies at WR, maybe San Francisco does stay in base. Why sacrifice size in the box against a (hypothetically) good run game to defend what we know is a weaker passing game?
It's also worth noting that, in the past, the 49ers have struggled against mobile quarterbacks. Look at their matchups against Lamar Jackson, Patrick Mahomes, and Kyler Murray. They've had a hard time containing this group. How much do rookies LB Jaden Dugger and EDGE Romello Height help out with this issue? What can Raheem Morris do to eliminate this factor?
How much with Miami emphasize getting their ground game going, and how much is San Francisco willing to sacrifice to stop it?
Of course, none of this matters if the Dolphins fall behind.
Miami's ability to establish the run will dictate how close this game is, because they will fall behind if they aren't able to run the ball.
Raheem Morris was able to erase a Rams run game in Week 1 that was actually effective. The Dolphins can not afford to let this happen.
Dolphins Linebackers
In the 49ers Week 1 preview, I had the Rams linebackers as a matchup to watch, because they were so bad. It is the opposite for Miami.
Kyle Shanahan did not classically expose the middle of the field against the Rams weak backers in Week 1, but he did move them so easily. Brock Purdy really only had one throw over the middle of the field against L.A. The screen game was what benefitted from the manipulation of the linebackers. It helps that the 49ers ran more of their classic wide zone run game in Week 1.
Regardless, the Rams linebackers did not pose any issues for the 49ers at all.
I think that could be different against Miami.
The Dolphins have been trashed for their weak roster all offseason, and the criticism is fair. Nearly an entire third of their snaps came from rookies in Week 1. Overall, the roster is weak and lacks star power.
However, they do have a star level player at LB in Jordyn Brooks, an All-Pro. And they may have another budding star in 2nd round pick Jacob Rodriguez, who put up fantastic tape for a Week 1 debut, wearing the green dot.
Miami ran their base defense on 70% of snaps. This includes three backers, with Brooks and Rodriguez joined by Willie Gay. A good chunk of those snaps include one of Brooks or Gay lining up on the line of scrimmage, with new Miami head coach Jeff Hafley running 5-man fronts.
Let's discuss the positives first.
Rodriguez and Brooks have fantastic instincts on the second level. In both the run and passing game, this duo covers ground.
I loved the way Rodriguez looked patrolling the middle of the field. He doesn't give up free passing lanes, having effective depth in his coverage drops. He sniffs out screens and wide runs well. This is a true NFL MIKE backer.
Jordyn Brooks looked like himself, in all the positive and negative ways. But with Brooks, it is mostly positive. He's athletic and nimble, but a very physical tackler.
And when it comes to Brooks and Gay on the line of scrimmage, while they are not the prototype for that role, both are a dense 240lbs, which is rare for a modern linebacker. That's the weight of some edge rushers these days.
Now, there are still ways for the 49ers to win up the middle.
While the instincts are great, these backers can be washed out in the run game. They are slippery downhill, but there were many plays where they never got downhill. It's tough as a linebacker when there is not a defensive lineman who can effectively occupy double teams in front of you. If the offensive line reached the second level, Miami's backers were easy to block and displace from the middle of the field.
I think all of Brooks, Rodriguez, and especially Gay, along with the Dolphins general defensive gameplan, will be effected by Christian McCaffrey. Meaning they will be extra drawn towards him out of the backfield. This opens up easy reads for Brock Purdy. I expect McCaffrey's usage to be up out of the backfield, as he ran 18 routes in Week 1 on 34 dropbacks.
While Brooks and Gay aren't the smallest on the line of scrimmage, but Raiders TEs Ian Thomas and Michael Mayer had a fairly easy time handling them when Las Vegas ran their way. We will see how George Kittle and Luke Farrell fair in Week 2. It's time for Luke Farrell to really earn his contract, especially with Jake Tonges out.
I was very encouraged by Jacob Rodriguez, but he still had his rookie moments, with a couple bad bites against play-action. It's natural, as it was his NFL debut. But I doubt they get corrected 7 days later.
The Dolphins linebackers should pose a more difficult challenge against the 49ers, which is a rare thing in the NFL. But, as noted, the 49ers do have a chance at negating them, particularly in the run game.
49ers Offensive Line
Specifically the interior of the line.
The 49ers definitely passed the test against the Rams in Week 1, will it continue into the rest of the season?
With the Dolphins plus linebackers, the way the 49ers run game has to function is winning quickly at the line of scrimmage so there is a clear path to block the backers. With both of the linebackers having great instincts, especially when given space, it's important to close the gap.
Fortunately for San Francisco, the Dolphins appear to be fairly weak up front. There is a clear opportunity for the offensive line to dominate, allowing the 49ers to establish a casual and effective game on the ground.
In Week 1, the Dolphins allowed just 3.5 yards per carry. But when you take away Kirk Cousins' kneel downs, it goes up to 4.25 yards per carry.
The Raiders were very positive running in between the tackles on 23 attempts, averaging 5.1 yards per carry.
Las Vegas ran heavy personnel, 21, 22, or 12, 70% of the time. The 49ers had the exact same split in Week 1. This makes sense, as Klint Kubiak and Kyle Shanahan have overlapped in their coaching careers.
And Miami matched the Raiders' heavy personnel, with 70% base defense. So expect Miami to run their three linebackers out on the field quite often.
I do think the 49ers should be able to manage the Miami linebackers in the run game with their consistent wide zone blocking. Continuously showing the same look in the run game, but having different running lanes open up across the line of scrimmage gives Christian McCaffrey flexibility, as he has elite vision and processing.
By showing the same blocking look, the linebackers can't afford to commit to where the blocks are flowing, because that will open up a massive hole in the middle of the defense. So they'll have to wait, which should allow Trent Williams and Colton McKivitz work their way up to the second level.
Kyle Shanahan is a genius for many reasons, and this is just one of them. Assuming we see a similar run philosophy for the 49ers in Week 1, I expect the run game to be just fine.
The 49ers offensive line does benefit a certain amount from getting to play under Kyle Shanahan. But the scheme isn't the one moving around ground men on Sundays. The 49ers offensive line still has to execute for these wide zone runs to result in positive gains.
San Francisco's O-Line showed massive potential in Week 1. I do not believe this position group has ever been considered a true strength under Kyle Shanahan. This is a matchup to watch as we monitor whether or not the 49ers offensive line can be one of the most impactful groups in the NFL, or if they're closer to average. This unit can swing the offense game to game.
Prediction:
49ers 30, Dolphins 16
I find it hard to believe the Dolphins will beat the 49ers after watching their offense against Las Vegas. We discussed the run game, but the drop back passing game was pretty rough. Receiver Malik Washington is a good player, and rookie WR Caleb Douglas looked solid in his debut, but Malik Willis did not appear to be super comfortable in the pocket.
I believe Raheem Morris will be able to contain Willis enough to limit his legs, and the 49ers will be able to generate pressure against Miami.
And I don't expect the Dolphins to have success if they decide to protect with seven or eight men, electing to only have two to three receivers running routes. I think the 49ers back seven will be too disciplined to allow that.
While I think the 49ers offense has questions to answer throughout the season to determine how high they can rise, the Miami defense in Week 2 will likely not be a defense to cause a headache.
San Francisco's offense should be balanced and I anticipate the 49ers eating a lot of clock throughout this game. They should convert long drives into touchdowns and force Miami to play catch-up, which may even increase the score gap.
Again, Miami's best shot at winning on Sunday is to start with the ball, establish success on the ground, and not fall behind early.
That does it for our 49ers Week 2 preview!
Let me know your thoughts on this Week 2 matchup, which matchups you think will have the biggest impact on Sunday, and your Week 2 predictions!
I have posted my full Week 2 predictions for the entire NFL slate on my Twitter/X, @GridironGoldM_.
Stay tuned for more NFL and 49ers articles, news, and opinions!
Comments