49ers Must Avoid 2015 Mistakes After Another Week 1 Blowout

The 49ers repeated their exploits from Week 1 of 2015 with another blowout win, but they cannot afford to replicate the subsequent mistakes of last year.

It is a familiar feeling for the San Francisco 49ers who – after a blowout win on Monday Night Football in Week 1 – now face a gauntlet of some of the best the NFL has to offer.

The Los Angeles Rams proved feeble opposition in a 28-0 win but the Carolina Panthers, Seattle Seahawks, Dallas Cowboys and Arizona Cardinals should serve as more formidable foes.

It is a strikingly similar situation to the last season when, after disposing of the Minnesota Vikings, faced the Pittsburgh Steelers, Arizona Cardinals, Green Bay Packers and New York Giants.

San Francisco won none of those games, suffering emphatic defeats to the Steelers and Cardinals and a last-gasp heart-breaker at the hands of the Giants.

That streak of losses set the tone for a miserable 5-11 season and linebacker NaVorro Bowman knows a similar run of results must be avoided in 2016:

"We’re trying to forget this one as quick as possible. A lot of guys that was on this team last year understand what we did last year after the first game, we’re trying not to let that happen again."

The 49ers will likely be underdogs in all of their next four games and their first defeats of the new season should arrive in that stretch.

But this is not necessarily about the record, it is about the 49ers being more competitive and avoid a morale-sapping sequence of results. Here is how they do that.

Stay Aggressive

While the 49ers offense was far from a juggernaut in Week 1, it was aggressive. Chip Kelly went for it twice from first down, converting once, and if San Francisco is to contend over the coming weeks, he will have to maintain that mindset.

The Niners were unable to keep pace with the Steelers and the Cardinals in Weeks 2 and Week 3 of last year and their conservative nature and lack of faith in a defense keeping the Packers in check in Week 4 was costly in a 17-3 loss.

Carolina is an excellent front-running team as are the Seahawks and Cardinals and, if the 49ers fall behind in any of those matchups, they will need to continue to take risks in order to have a hope of keeping things close.

Spell Carlos Hyde

Three of the 49ers’ next four opponents showed in Week 1 that they are susceptible to the ground game.

Carolina gave up 148 yards on the ground in their defeat in Denver, while the Cardinals and the Cowboys allowed over 100 yards to the mediocre backfields of the New England Patriots and New York Giants.

That should provide plenty of encouragement for Carlos Hyde, who averaged 9.2 yards per carry on his last visit to CenturyLink Field to take on the Seahawks in 2014.

And, after putting up 150 yards on the ground against a talented Rams defensive front, the 49ers can afford to have faith in their rushing attack even going into a gruelling set of fixtures.

Sep 12, 2016; Santa Clara, CA, USA; San Francisco 49ers running back Carlos Hyde (28) rushes for a touchdown against the Los Angeles Rams during the first half of an NFL game at Levi /

But, with Hyde’s injury history and his running style, the Niners cannot afford to overwork their starting tailback.

Hyde only featured in seven games in 2015 before succumbing to a stress fracture in his foot and met with the trainer during his 23-carry, two-touchdown night in the opener.

It is clear the 49ers’ offense runs through Hyde and he is the offense’s best hopes for putting up points on the tough defenses boasted by the Panthers, Seahawks and Cardinals.

Doubts remain over whether he can hold up, yet Shaun Draughn demonstrated he can be a decent backup with an impressive touchdown run against the Rams while Mike Davis had a strong preseason.

The 49ers need Hyde to stay healthy to compete in the coming weeks and the best way to ensure he does that is to give Draughn and Davis plenty of opportunities to spell him.

Keep Blaine Gabbert’s confidence up

After his double pick-six meltdown against the Cardinals in the desert in Week 3, Colin Kaepernick’s confidence was shattered.

Kaepernick was a shadow of his of former self, unwilling to push the ball downfield and into tight windows before eventually being benched for Blaine Gabbert.

None of the defenses Gabbert will face in the coming weeks will fear him, though they would be wise to respect his running ability.

And, given his lack of accuracy, there is a distinct possibility Gabbert could endure a nightmarish outing akin to the one Kaepernick suffered through last year.

Should he do so then the Niners need to make sure Gabbert’s confidence does not dip and make him a more tentative quarterback than he already is.

At home San Francisco’s defense has shown itself capable of keeping teams in check but, in order to take advantage of any strong defensive showings the 49ers will need Gabbert to have the confidence to deliver and make impressive throws like his touchdown pass to Vance McDonald and this connection with Garrett Celek in the opener.

Gabbert's best throw from Monday night. Need to see more of this kind of confidence tomorrow. pic.twitter.com/hCiac9jeVb
— Nicholas McGee (@nicholasmcgee24) September 17, 2016

The Niners appear improved on both sides of the trenches and should be more competitive than in 2015

But, for the strides they have made to garner results, Kelly must ensure his team approaches the next few games aggressively and manage both the morale of Gabbert and workload of Hyde to avoid another tone-setting slump in 2016.

Next: San Francisco 49ers: DEs DeForest Buckner and Arik Armstead Already Highlighting Niners Defense

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