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4 keys for the San Francisco 49ers to beat Dolphins without leaning on Jimmy Garoppolo

The 49ers face a tall order against the Dolphins in Week 13. Here are four crucial ways to find victory.

NFL: New Orleans Saints at San Francisco 49ers

The San Francisco 49ers are winners of four in a row, having upped their record to 7-4 and now sit in first place in the NFC West all by themselves. At this point in the season, the team with the only realistic threat to challenge for the division title is the Seattle Seahawks.

The 49ers’ latest victory on Sunday came against the New Orleans Saints, a 13-0 triumph anchored almost entirely by a San Francisco defense that has given up a total of zero points in the second half during this four-game winning streak.

While quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo has certainly been having a great season and making far fewer mistakes than in years prior — 16 touchdowns to just four interceptions — a less-than-stellar performance on Sunday against the Saints that relied on the defense to bail them out didn’t exactly shock the world.

Remember, this is a 49ers group that holds an awful 11-10 loss to the inept Denver Broncos, a bizarre defeat to the Atlanta Falcons in Week 6, and a supremely ugly season-opening loss in Chicago that was more or less played underwater.

To be able to say Garoppolo and the San Francisco 49ers have now won six of their last eight games despite all of that speaks volumes to a resilient team managing to find its stride at the ideal time, despite an abundance of injuries to key cogs in the offensive wheel, like running back Elijah Mitchell. More on him later.

But standing in the way of San Francisco’s winning ways in Week 13 will be Tua Tagovailoa and the high-scoring Miami Dolphins, winners of five straight. As if this weren’t already a lofty challenge given the incredible receiving duo of Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle stretching defenses with relative ease, the 49ers will be doing so against their former offensive coordinator and current Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel.

Below are four keys to San Francisco getting a win against Miami and its head coach who is well-versed in their complex offensive schemes.

Related: San Francisco 49ers schedule and game-by-game predictions

Kyle Shanahan needs to rip up the script for the San Francisco 49ers

san francisco 49ers head coach kyle shanahan
Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan is known to script the first 24 plays of each game. Mike McDaniel obviously knows this and happens to know it in great detail. While it is one thing to know it, it is a whole other thing to stop it.

With that said, it would be rather alarming if Shanahan and Co. were not making a concerted effort to come up with a special recipe of plays, both scripted and not, ahead of Sunday’s game at Levi’s Stadium with McDaniel on the opposite sideline.

While no one is expecting “Shanny” to completely flip the game plan upside down, it would be maniacal to expect Shanahan to stray too far outside the lane and rely on Garoppolo to keep pace with a potent Dolphins offense averaging nearly 34 points over their last four games.

But given that imposing number, it also means the dire need to stray away from the safe, conservative play-calling in the red zone is vital. Routinely turning to chip-shot field goals from kicker Robbie Gould on those short-yardage fourth-down situations we so often see with the 49ers on the brink of scoring just cannot be the go-to move.

Time of possession will also be essential, which naturally leads us to the state of the 49ers’ rushing attack.

Related: San Francisco 49ers’ Christian McCaffrey and top NFL RBs of 2022

Rookie running backs Jordan Mason and Tyrion Davis-Price

san francisco 49ers running back jordan mason
Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports

With the aforementioned Elijah Mitchell back on the shelf again and looking at a crushing recovery time frame of six to eight weeks, some combination of rookie running backs Jordan Mason and Tyrion Davis-Price will need to step up. Christian McCaffrey will more than likely be on the field too, but one would expect he’ll be doing so on a pitch count under the tag of “load management” due to a banged-up knee.

If anything, McCaffrey lining up more frequently at receiver instead of the backfield would be the ideal scenario, so as to avoid getting beat up at the line. But that’s assuming Mason or Davis-Price are effective enough in the running game. Although, it’s not all too crazy of a thought to think they won’t be.

One thing the 49ers have proven under Shanahan is that the “next man up” mentality at the running back position has worked out very well given the dynamic ways in which they run the football.

Also, and this is pretty significant, “wideback” Deebo Samuel will absolutely be there to support the rookies in the running game provided his lingering hamstring issue does not become a factor heading into Sunday.

Related: San Francisco 49ers standing in Sportsnaut’s NFL defense rankings

Charvarius Ward vs Dolphins’ explosive receiving corps

NFL: San Francisco 49ers at Carolina Panthers
Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports

It’s probably not a realistic thought for any NFL team to waltz into a game against the 2022 Miami Dolphins with the line of thinking ever being, “we are shutting down Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle.”

However, putting the clamps on one of the two is hardly out of the question and is precisely the reason the 49ers signed cornerback Charvarius Ward in the offseason. He’s hardly been afraid of a good challenge and quarterbacks have been sporting a lowly 60.2 QB rating when Ward’s been targeted.

If “Mooney” Ward can keep things in check to a reasonable degree and prevent those big play opportunities when Tagovailoa throws in his direction, that’s a victory all by itself.

Related: Sportsnaut’s updated NFL power rankings

Nick Bosa and the San Francisco 49ers’ defensive line taking advantage of Miami’s injuries

San-Francisco-49ers-Nick-Bosa
Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

With Dolphins All-Pro left tackle Terron Armstead already having been ruled out for Week 13, the Niners’ defensive line led by the havoc-wreaking Nick Bosa has an exceptional opportunity to feast. To pile on top of that weakness for Miami, right tackle Austin Jackson injured his ankle against the Texans and his status remains uncertain for this Sunday.

Unless Miami can somehow get above and beyond play from its backups, this means even less time for Tagovailoa to get through his reads against a relentless defense that’s already proven to be a major problem against healthy offensive lines.

Provided that both teams can limit the number of turnovers, the performance of the 49ers’ defensive line will be playing a monumental role in how this game will be decided.

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