San Francisco 49ers: Game breakdown and prediction for Week 5 against Cleveland Browns

Coming off a bye week, the San Francisco 49ers host the 2-2 Cleveland Browns at home. It’s a battle of the much-improved sub-.500 teams from a year ago that are also two of the youngest rosters in football.

The San Francisco 49ers host the Cleveland Browns at home this week in a matchup between two teams that are most successful when they run the ball.

On paper, it should be a matchup that favors the 49ers in that the Browns’ key to success will be feeding Nick Chubb and the Niners are the number one team right now in rushing yards allowed — given they were off last week.

We saw last week how the Browns took apart a very good Baltimore Ravens team by managing the clock and giving Chubb his touches out of the backfield, which resulted in a 165-rushing-yard and three-touchdown afternoon for the second-year running back out of Georgia.

I would say they’re going to try and implement that same strategy this week given how much it worked for them in Baltimore.

Off of that, they should also use utilize quick passes and RPOs that inhibit Baker Mayfield from spending too much time in the pocket, given that the Browns’ offensive line has been pretty bad.

Point being, as a strategy, the Browns are not going to try to push the ball downfield — if we’re going by what they’ve done the past few weeks. They don’t have the offensive line to sustain that game and the Niners’ secondary is too good to get the jump on, especially on the road.

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I like this matchup very much for the 49ers in that they should be able to stymie the Browns on every front of their offense.

The deep ball probably won’t be there as much to worry about and the run game featuring Chubb could at least be slowed down significantly by a very good Niners run defense.

Why I also like the Niners in this game is because what the Browns did last week in Baltimore is exactly what the Niners have done all season on offense.

They’re second in the league in rushing yards per game (175) and if not for the week off, they would most certainly be top-five in rushing attempts. This team loves to run the ball and it has the personnel to sustain it.

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Matt Breida and Raheem Mostert split time in carries. Jeff Wilson Jr. has become their goal-line back. And they may even be getting Tevin Coleman back very soon.

Together, they’ve accumulated 525 rushing yards this year, and if not for the week off, this team would most certainly be number two behind Baltimore in that category.

Between the two teams, San Francisco has the better coach, the better quarterback, the more effective rushing attack, better defensive personnel (and healthier), and they’re at home.

I’ll take the Niners in this game 28-17. They’ll use the clock and pound the run game. Their defense will give Baker Mayfield some trouble. And if they can shut down Nick Chubb, they’ll be golden.

49ers move to 4-0.