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5 Realistic Goals for the San Francisco 49ers in 2016

By Peter Panacy

Oct 18, 2015; Santa Clara, CA, USA; San Francisco 49ers strong safety Antoine Bethea (41) celebrates after making a tackle for a loss against the Baltimore Ravens during the fourth quarter at Levi's Stadium. The 49ers defeated the Ravens 25-20. Mandatory Credit: Ed Szczepanski-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 18, 2015; Santa Clara, CA, USA; San Francisco 49ers strong safety Antoine Bethea (41) celebrates after making a tackle for a loss against the Baltimore Ravens during the fourth quarter at Levi's Stadium. The 49ers defeated the Ravens 25-20. Mandatory Credit: Ed Szczepanski-USA TODAY Sports /
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Nov 1, 2015; St. Louis, MO, USA; San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick (7) passes the ball under pressure from St. Louis Rams defensive end William Hayes (95) during the second half at the Edward Jones Dome. Mandatory Credit: Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 1, 2015; St. Louis, MO, USA; San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick (7) passes the ball under pressure from St. Louis Rams defensive end William Hayes (95) during the second half at the Edward Jones Dome. Mandatory Credit: Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports /

No. 2: Stay Within Striking Distance for Every Game

OK, so we’re finally onto a more concrete goal for the 2016 season.

All too often last year, the 49ers were out of games entering halftime. Just look at some of the halftime scores San Francisco had last season:

  • Week 2 at Pittsburgh Steelers — 29-3
  • Week 3 at Arizona Cardinals — 31-7
  • Week 7 vs. Seattle Seahawks — 17-0
  • Week 8 at St. Louis Rams — 20-6
  • Week 11 at Seattle Seahawks — 20-7

The 49ers did manage to shore up their defense a bit towards the latter half of the year, which kept the league’s worst-ranked offense in contention a bit. But it isn’t as if San Francisco was able to answer back effectively enough.

And who could forget former head coach Jim Tomsula’s decisions to punt when trailing by two or three scores in the fourth quarter?

San Francisco may not win a lot of games this season. The 49ers are tied with the Atlanta Falcons for the NFL’s toughest schedule in 2016, and playing in the vaunted NFC West doesn’t bode well for the Niners’ chances.

Still, the 49ers should try to make it a point to keep any margins of defeat to less than 10 points as often as possible over the course of the year.

And any win is nearly a bonus.

To be blunt, San Francisco should look to dramatically improve it’s minus-149 point differential from 2015, which ranked 31st in the NFL.

Next: Be a Middle-of-the-Pack Team, Statistically