49ers can't afford to let this lone Patriots offensive weapon beat them

The 49ers run defense is questionable, and the Patriots like to run the ball.

Rhamondre Stevenson is about the only notable offensive weapon the Patriots have who can beat the 49ers in Week 4.

The San Francisco 49ers defense has plenty of issues it needs to figure out in a hurry.

One of the bigger problems has been the run defense. Through three weeks, the Niners have given up an average of 4.5 rush yards per attempt, which is good for 21st in the league. And there have been plenty of miscues and gaffes trying to stop rushing attempts in key situations, including some notable errors against Los Angeles Rams running back Kyren Williams in the Week 3 debacle of a loss San Francisco endured.

Fortunately, the 49ers' next opponent for Week 4, the 1-2 New England Patriots, don't exactly boast a threatening offense.

Coming off a Week 3 Thursday Night Football loss to the New York Jets in which they scored a mere three points, the Pats boast awfully few offensive weapons who'd present a serious challenge to the Niners this Sunday.

One of those few, however, is running back Rhamondre Stevenson.

49ers must focus attention on Patriots' Rhamondre Stevenson in Week 4

Patriots quarterback Jacoby Brissett is a quality backup-caliber signal-caller but not much more. His favorite receiving target, tight end Hunter Henry, is dealing with an ankle issue.

Putting a stamp on the New England passing woes, Brissett is averaging a mere 122.7 pass yards per game this season, and the Patriots' overall offense is second worst in the league with just 39 total points scored.

From New England's perspective, a way to win this game is to feed Stevenson early and often, thereby taking advantage of San Francisco's biggest defensive weakness.

On 52 attempts thus far, Stevenson has notched 224 yards and two touchdowns while averaging 4.3 yards per carry and picking up 11 first downs. In total, he's accounted for 239 of the Patriots' 739 offensive yards on the year, nearly a third of their total offense on the season.

The challenge of stopping Stevenson will be made more difficult in light of defensive tackle Javon Hargrave's season-ending triceps injury, coupled with lackluster third-down defensive-stop numbers that have kept opposing offenses on the field.

Given the shortage of other weapons, though, it might be wise for the 49ers to simply focus the overwhelming bulk of their defensive attention on Stevenson, thereby forcing someone else (anyone else) to beat them when the Pats come to town on Sunday, Sept. 29.