San Francisco 49ers: What worked, what didn’t from the offense in Week 1
What didn’t work
The offensive line
This one stat is all you need to see what the major offensive problem will be:
PFF pass protection numbers for the 49ers jumbled front were ugly: Vikings pressured Garoppolo on 19 of 38 drop backs. 50% pressure rate (league average was 34.9%).
— David Lombardi (@LombardiHimself) September 10, 2018
Backup RT Garry Gilliam wasn’t good — 1 sack, 1 hit, 3 hurries in limited action
Now it should be noted the 49ers were playing away from home against an elite defense, and injuries decimated the right hand side of the line. So it won’t be time to panic too much yet early on.
But the offensive line still earns the hated F-grade for Week 1. It had to do better to get a chance to win but hadn’t a hope with swing Garry Gilliam in the lineup, who is simply not a good football player.
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The running game
Alfred Morris fumbled the ball at the 1-yard line.
There, we got that out of the way, which we all heard a million times and we don’t need to see again.
The 49ers opted with a platoon system for Week 1, Morris got 12 carries and Matt Breida got 11.
Breida outgained Morris and didn’t fumble, so I suppose he was the winner. But neither was very effective.
It was a hard opener and the offensive line wasn’t very good after injuries forced some reshuffling, so don’t read too much into it overall.
Drops and turnovers
Those drops.
Those damned drops.
Not to mention those turnovers.
Wide receiver Pierre Garcon had a drop in the end zone. So did Pettis at one point, and the Kittle would-be catch was already pointed out. Even if just one of those drops would have been caught, this Week 1 bout could have had a vastly different outcome.
At the end of the day, the 49ers were just not very tidy when they had the ball. If they had been, there might have been a different scoreline.
dark. Next. 49ers vs. Vikings: The good, bad and ugly from Week 1 loss
There’s time to tidy it up, but while the defense held up its end on the weekend the offense has to take the rap for this one.