The first half of the San Francisco 49ers 2024 campaign, in a word, was mediocre. Injuries, mistakes, flashes of brilliance, it all leveled out to a 4-4 record at the (roughly) midway point of the season.
What can fix it? A few things.
Additions + returns
Christian McCaffrey, Dre Greenlaw and... someone, anyone at the trade deadline?
The entire season basically relies on Christian McCaffrey's shoulders Achilles. The offense has been inconsistent and troubled against man coverage, in the red zone, and against stacked boxes because they went into this season with an offense built for McCaffrey. Without him — much more on that below — they have struggled to adapt and teams are copying the Chiefs' man coverage-heavy playbook to great success.
If he doesn't return, as the team is hoping is the case against the Buccaneers, this team cannot pretend it's a Super Bowl contender.
San Francisco also needs Dre Greenlaw back. At least, that's what everyone has said. That comes with some level of assumption that he will be near what he was. Coming off a torn Achilles, that assumption should not be made.
What's evident is that De'Vondre Campbell (who maybe had his best game against Dallas) is not good enough. He's not processing fast enough to make up for his wear and tear. And Dee Winters is quick enough, but his positioning is unreliable, and he's undersized. There is no clear answer there, except a man coming off a torn Achilles.
Do they look to scoop up a linebacker from the Jets, perhaps? They've got two standout veterans in Quincy Williams and C.J. Mosley, and a great up-and-comer in Jamien Sherwood. A bad team with players who played for Robert Saleh? Not a bad place to look.
You could also make a case for a cheap receiver upgrade (Kendrick Bourne?) at your WR4 spot, but more clearly for a defensive tackle. No one is good enough defending the run and that leads to more put on the linebackers, and then teams gash the 49ers at their edges. There is too much being asked of Maliek Collins. Look at my trade piece from earlier this week and consider someone like Jeremiah Ledbetter, a cheap, expiring contract on a terrible team who plugs gaps and holds up against double team blocks all day.
Related
Offensive functionality
I know "offensive functionality" is a highfalutin catch all. But the point (which I will never try obscure with pompous phrasing) is that the 49ers make mistakes constantly and there isn't just one thing wrong with the offense.
This offense is second (only to the Ravens) in yards per game, but eighth in scoring, and it often goes quiet in the second half. The 49ers are far and away the league leader in points lost to penalties, having lost four touchdowns. Only two other teams (Seahawks and Browns) have even lost three touchdowns.
It's not that it's a terrible offense: it's that it is woefully inconsistent, and Brock Purdy has looked way out of sorts against tough defenses.
They have false starts or holds that negate key plays. When they have receivers beat man coverage — the Chiefs' recipe that teams will keep using, especially without Brandon Aiyuk, and until McCaffrey returns — Purdy is either pressured, or misses the read, or the throw.
He's often pressured because the protections are questionable against increasingly common overload blitz looks, or because someone misses their block, or gets beat off the snap. Purdy doesn't trust what he sees in the same way because the protection is inconsistent, and he doesn't have a rapport with anyone, really, but Jauan Jennings... who missed the last two games with a hip injury. Deebo Samuel hasn't looked like himself and does not beat man coverage. A lot relies on Ricky Pearsall, who, to be fair, provides plenty of cause for optimism that he can challenge man coverage-heavy defenses. He's also a rookie. Expectations should be somewhat tempered.
In order for the 49ers' run game and pass game to operate in sync, it takes a delicate balance of execution. If one person misses a block on a crack toss run, the whole operation can collapse. Isaac Guerendo's speed allows more room for error than Jordan Mason, and Guerendo is clearly an upgrade in the pass game. The 49ers might need to ride him a lot more than Mason after the bye.
So, what's the solution? Be more clinical. Make less errors. Hope that McCaffrey comes back and destroys man coverage and defenses play more of the zone that Kyle Shanahan and Purdy love to attack. But if they keep allowing easy pressures, or miss key blocks regularly, there's no reason to believe they'll survive the gauntlet ahead.
And... improved special teams
The fact that Shanahan was asked about the job secuirty of special teams coordinator Brian Schneider this week tells you all you need to know about where the 49ers' special teams unit ranks. They are a bottom-five unit at best. Sunday was a revelation against Kavontae Turpin and arguably the best special teams unit in the league in Dallas. It's exactly one step in the right direction.
Jake Moody is also hoped to return after the bye, and if he can, the lack of kick returns will be important. The coverage on kickoffs and punt returns has been nothing short of woeful, and leaves you holding your breath any time someone opts to take it out of the end zone.
Mitch Wishnowsky has also not been particularly impressive this season (the 49ers worked out some punters over the week, including Pressley Harvin) and when you combine less than dominant punting — bottom half in pinning teams inside the 20, bottom third in net average — with poor coverage, it's a potential recipe for disaster (49ers allow the third-most yards per return) especially in key games with tight margins.
Special teams might be the bane of Shanahan's existence, but when you're less than clinical on offense, and the defense seems to collapse in most second halves, you need to at least be mildly successful, or mediocre in battling for field position. It's an area right now that feels like it will only do more harm than good to the 49ers, and that's not something they've proven they can afford.
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