Differences Exist Despite 49ers 2015 and 2016 Similarities
By Peter Panacy
Chip Kelly’s Offense Is More Innovative and Aggressive
Statistically, we’re not seeing what head coach Chip Kelly was supposed to do with this offense. Through three weeks, the Niners are back towards the bottom in total yards gained (876) and average yards per play (4.4).
Not a major difference from where San Francisco was in 2015.
This has led some, like the Santa Rosa Press Democrat’s Grant Cohn, to suggest Kelly isn’t much of an improvement over former head coach Jim Tomsula at all.
Likely not. Tomsula’s game plan was largely influenced by then-offensive coordinator Geep Chryst who, historically, had one of the worst red-zone offenses in recent history. San Francisco’s current red-zone offense ranks No. 6 in the NFL with a 70 percent touchdown conversion rate, per TeamRankings.com.
The trick might simply be getting the ball inside opponents’ 20-yard lines.
Kelly is much more aggressive too. A year ago, San Francisco attempted 19 conversions out of 110 fourth-down plays — 17.3 percent. Three weeks into 2016, Kelly’s Niners have gone for it four times on fourth down, which amounts to just 16 precent on 25 total fourth downs.
This doesn’t lead us to believe Kelly is more aggressive. But when we factor in the Niners have already tied last year’s attempt mark on fourth-down plays between four and six yards, one can get the point. San Francisco has already done that twice this year. Tomsula and Chryst’s offense did it only twice last year.
And who could forget the number of times Tomsula elected to punt on fourth downs when the 49ers weren’t exactly out of games in the fourth quarter last year?