:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/23900983/20131119_kkt_ah7_649.0.jpg)
Only a handful of yards separate the top teams when it comes to average yards rushing per game. The San Francisco 49ers held the top spot for awhile, but only by a few yards. Currently, the Washington Redskins boast the No. 1 rushing attack in the NFL, putting up 155.2 rushing yards per game on average.
San Francisco isn't in the top three, but they come in at an impressive 141.0 yards per game on average, good for fifth in the NFL. The difference is negligible, as is the way either team gets the yardage.
Washington has a feature back in Alfred Morris, a second-year player out of Florida Atlantic (and who should have been named offensive rookie of the year a season ago) and a dual-threat quarterback by the name of Robert Griffin III carries the ball a good amount as well.
That's very similar to what the 49ers have going for them as well with running back Frank Gore and quarterback Colin Kaepernick.
Morris has carried the ball 181 times for 918 yards with five touchdowns, good for a per-carry average of 5.1 yards. He's rushed for under 70 yards just once, in the season opener. He's on pace to finish below his rookie year, in which he carried 335 times for 1,613 yards and 13 touchdowns, but he's been effective nonetheless.
His primary backup is Roy Helu, who has carried 43 times for 210 yards and four touchdowns, but it's RGIII who holds the No. 2 spot in rushing. Griffin has 66 official rushes for 345 yards, and no touchdowns carrying the football.
Those stats are all very similar to the 49er counterparts. Gore has carried 175 times for 748 yards and seven touchdowns, good for a per-carry average of 4.3 yards. Kendall Hunter is his backup with 50 carries for 219 yards and three touchdowns, while Kaepernick has added 56 carries for 335 yards and three touchdowns.
In total, Washington has 142 yards more than the 49ers do, but three fewer touchdowns.
As it happens, both teams feature similar rush defenses as well. San Francisco allows 103.8 rushing yards per game, good for No. 12 in the NFL. Washington allows 115.0 yards per game on average, good for No. 19 in the league. This game could easily come down to which team runs the ball better, but the stats say its equally likely that either team find success.