Adrian Peterson and the Washington Redskins haven't exactly had a great start to the 2019 NFL season. After going 0-5 to begin the year, the Redskins fired head coach Jay Gruden.
However, things might be back on the right track, as they won their Week 6 matchup against the Miami Dolphins to move to 1-5.
One thing was very apparent in that game – interim head coach Bill Callahan was serious when he said he wanted the offense to be heavily focused on the run.
Before Week 6, Peterson's season-high in carries was 12 and his high in yardage was 37. Then he proceeded to run the ball 23 times for 118 yards against the Dolphins.
Now though, Washington faces the 5-0 San Francisco 49ers in Week 7. What should you expect from Peterson in this much more difficult matchup?
The first thing you should look at is the opposing defense. Going up against the Dolphins in Week 6 was a gift. No one will deny that their defense — and the entire team if we're being honest– has a ridiculous amount of issues.
Meanwhile, the 49ers present a much harder challenge. They have one of the best defenses in the NFL. In fact, they're allowing just 87.2 rushing yards per game (sixth in the NFL) and that's somehow the weakest part of their defense.
Here's what you have to remember about Washington — it's not like the Redskins are going to be able to light it up against the 49ers by passing the ball. Due to that, they likely won't abandon the game plan of running the ball as much as possible.
That means Peterson's still going to get a lot of runs. This is especially true because of the other side of the ball.
San Francisco isn't going to kill you with their offense. Quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo has been OK this year and that's prevented the offense from doing all that much.
Meanwhile, the Washington defense has been bad this year. However, they've shown life in each of the past few weeks. They have an incredible amount of talent – especially in the trenches along the defensive line. So if they continue their turnaround, the 49ers shouldn't score too much.
This will keep the Redskins in the game. Again, this points towards the idea of them not abandoning the run.
Even if Peterson's not averaging over five yards a carry again like he did last week, he should get enough carries to put up decent numbers.
Expecting 100 yards from him isn't crazy, as he could easily surpass 25 carries. Meanwhile, with Chris Thompson likely out, he might even see a few more targets (although Wendell Smallwood will fill the receiving role for the most part).
Something else you should expect this week is a touchdown. Peterson got dangerously close on a bunch of occasions in Week 6. This week, he'll get a few more chances and with his incredibly hard running style, it's hard to deny him the end zone for too long.
Although it might not be the prettiest performance, you can still expect solid overall numbers from Peterson simply due to the fact that he's going to be an absolute workhorse as the Redskins try to get back on track.
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