49er defense expecting Panthers QB Cam Newton to run more on Sunday

The San Francisco 49ers are coming off a performance in which their quarterback burned the Green Bay Packers to the tune of 98 rushing yards, including a critical 11-yard run that all but decided the game.

Now, as they prepare for the Carolina Panthers in the divisional round of the playoffs, the 49ers don't want to see the same thing happen to them.

49ers defensive coordinator Vic Fangio spoke about just that on Thursday. This via The Sacramento Bee.

“When you have a quarterback of Cam Newton’s ability in this type of game, I think he’ll be apt to run maybe a little bit more than he would normally. They may even call more of the quarterback runs for him, the quarterback powers and lead draws – anticipating more of them from them.”

49ers linebacker NaVorro Bowman is expected to spend a large portion of his time spying Newton to ensure he doesn't escape the pocket and hurt the team with his feet. He spoke with reporters about the team's strategy for limiting Newton's scrambling ability on Thursday.

“It starts up front and those guys doing their job. And then if he gets away from those guys, it trickles down. But he’s a guy that has to be paid attention to when it comes to his scrambling. So for us as a defense, we have to keep that in mind the whole game.”

Asked about the previous meeting between these teams in Week 10 in which the 49ers limited Newton to his second-lowest quarterback rating of the season, Bowman noted that the Panthers have had two weeks to prepare so "we're expecting some different looks that we haven't seen."

Newton ran for 585 yards during the regular season, most among quarterbacks.