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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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Oct 18, 2015; Santa Clara, CA, USA; San Francisco 49ers running back Carlos Hyde (28) carries the ball against Baltimore Ravens outside linebacker Courtney Upshaw (91) during the first quarter at Levi's Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 18, 2015; Santa Clara, CA, USA; San Francisco 49ers running back Carlos Hyde (28) carries the ball against Baltimore Ravens outside linebacker Courtney Upshaw (91) during the first quarter at Levi’s Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports /

No. 1: Aim for the Median, Statistically

Oh, it would be nice of the 49ers were a top-five team on either the offensive or defensive sides of the ball.

Realistically, this isn’t going to happen. But that doesn’t mean there is no room for improvement.

Let’s take a look at some of the stats and league ranks from 2015:

  • Points scored: 238, No. 32 (365)
  • Points allowed: 387, No. 18
  • Yards gained: 4,860, No. 31 (5,642.7)
  • Yards allowed: 6,199, No. 29
  • Passing yards: 3,316, No. 29 (3,901.5)
  • Passing yards allowed: 4,179, No. 27
  • Rushing yards: 1,544, No. 21 (1,741.2)
  • Rushing yards allowed: 2,020, No. 29

Note: League averages for each stat are in parenthesis. And the defensive averages allowed are the same as offensive averages… duh.

Being “average” doesn’t exactly sound like a lofty goal, and you’re probably not going to stick around as a head coach for very long if you’re aiming for the middle of the pack.

But, in head coach Chip Kelly’s case, going from a last- or near last-place ranking in any particular category would be a major boost and sign of improvement out of this Niner squad in his first year at the help.

Remember, this team is nowhere close to being where it needs to be in order to contend for a playoff spot, let alone a Super Bowl.

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Kelly’s offense should get the 49ers close to the 365-point mark. And the total yards gained should be somewhere close to the aforementioned average. Defensively, San Francisco may give up a lot of yards — remember, no team can be perfect everywhere — but a strong red-zone defense may be enough to thwart that stat concern.

The numbers will also be indicative of each and every goal previously listed. Good stats will show the Niners have cornerstone pieces. The bad numbers may help reveal the needs for 2017 and beyond.

One should also be able to draw conclusions about San Francisco’s identity based off the statistics as well. And, hopefully, a good margin of improvement will reveal how the 49ers were still in ballgames late during the contests.

Those would be significantly better signs of improvement, which makes these goals worthy of reaching.

Next: Talking 49ers Offense in 2016

All statistics, records and accolades courtesy of Pro-Football-Reference.com and Sports-Reference.com unless otherwise indicated.