George Kittle and Kyle Juszczyk have given the San Francisco 49ers’ evolving run-game package a name as they prepare to face the Miami Dolphins on Sunday.
Kittle said Thursday that he and the veteran fullback are calling themselves the “Dash Bros,” a reference to the pre-snap Dash motion San Francisco used repeatedly in its Week 1 victory over the Los Angeles Rams. The label nods to the club’s 2020-era “YAC Bros” nickname while emphasizing the blocking-heavy work Kittle and Juszczyk are doing to create lanes for Christian McCaffrey and Kaelon Black.
How the Dash motion works
- Kittle or Juszczyk begins aligned at the line of scrimmage.
- Before the snap, the player shifts into the backfield.
- He then alters his path or changes direction just before the ball is snapped, forcing defenders to adjust their leverage and assignments.
The movement has put pressure on defensive fronts and helped San Francisco manufacture favorable looks in the ground game. The 49ers used some form of pre-snap motion on 22 of their 24 designed rushing attempts against the Rams, producing an average of 6.1 yards per carry on those plays.
Kittle acknowledged that the role is productive even if it does not perfectly match his preferred style of blocking.
“They’re not my favorite, but they’re very effective,” Kittle said. “So I just put my pride aside and just do them. … I just don’t like cutting and running that much. I like lining up and hitting people in the face. That’s kind of what I do.”
49ers run game meets Miami’s front
San Francisco enters Week 2 with the NFL’s best rushing success rate on designed runs at 52.0 percent. Miami, however, opened the season with a solid performance against the Las Vegas Raiders’ running attack.
- The Dolphins held Las Vegas to 4.1 yards per designed rushing attempt, below the league-wide average of 4.4.
- That average fell to 3.8 yards per carry when the Raiders used pre-snap motion.
- Miami allowed a rushing success rate of 42.2 percent in Week 1.
The matchup will test whether the Dash Bros can again help McCaffrey and Black find room against a defense that handled motion-based runs effectively in its opener.
The 49ers and Dolphins are scheduled to kick off Sunday at 4:25 p.m. ET at Levi’s Stadium.
