San Francisco 49ers: Despite Loss, Matt Breida Shines Against the Giants

The San Francisco 49ers couldn’t hold on to a lead on Monday night, but they received an excellent effort from running back Matt Breida

Playing in prime time for the second straight week, the San Francisco 49ers couldn’t duplicate their success from Thursday night last week. After blowing the Raiders out, the 49ers were met with more of a challenge with the New York Giants. Quarterback Eli Manning found some of his former magic, leading a late touchdown drive to move the Giants past the 49ers and earn their second win of the season.

Despite the loss, there were still some positive developments for the 49ers, most notably their second-year running back Matt Breida. After being signed as an undrafted free agent out of Georgia Southern last year, Breida has become a playmaker for San Francisco, and Monday night was one of his best efforts yet.

Breida had the heaviest workload of his career against the Giants, carrying the ball a career-high 17 times. He racked up 101 yards on those carries, marking his second career 100-yard game after his monster 11-carry, 138-yard game in the 49ers win against Detroit earlier this year.

He didn’t slow down as the game went on, despite reaching carry numbers he hadn’t yet reached in the NFL. Instead he saved some of his best runs for the final quarter. 36 of his rushing yards came in the fourth quarter, including a 23-yard burst around the left edge that marked his longest run of the evening.

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On Sunday night, Breida showed an intriguing combination of speed, shiftiness, and toughness as runner. He used his speed to hit holes when they opened up, and was able to run right by guys when he needed to. The shiftiness worked to keep defenders off of him, and he wasn’t afraid to lower the shoulder when he needed to. More than once, he shook off tackles to turn what would have been losses into positive runs. He showed that toughness early in the second quarter, running through a couple tackles to score the 49ers’ first touchdown of the night.

Of course, his abilities as a receiver can’t be forgotten either. He had three catches for 31 yards against the Giants. Early in the third quarter he was on the receiving end of a 19-yard strike to convert a third down, and caught a touchdown later on the same drive to put the 49ers up by 10. He caught the touchdown split out in the bunch set, then ran a good route to free himself of coverage.

When the 49ers allowed incumbent starter Carlos Hyde to walk in the offseason, a lot of the burden fell on Breida. Breida has responded with some excellent games, and his 5.5 yards per carry average is best in the NFL among players with at least 100 carries. If he continues at his current pace, he’ll become the first 49ers running back to surpass 1,000 yards in a season since Frank Gore did it in 2014, his last year with the team.

There haven’t been too many bright spots for the 49ers in what has become a lost season, but the continued emergence of Breida in the backfield has been excellent for the team. If the 49ers are to get this ship turned around, he can certainly play a big role.