5 lessons SF 49ers can apply vs. NY Jets after Week 1 loss
By Peter Panacy
No. 1: SF 49ers’ third-down efficiency vs. Jets should be better
A whopping 2-of-11 on third downs isn’t going to get the job done for San Francisco’s offense.
And it didn’t, prompting many to think that lowly stat in an all-too-important category was one of the prime reasons why the SF 49ers started off their 2020 campaign 0-1 instead of 1-0.
Last year, the Niners converted third downs over 44 percent of the time, ranking fifth best in the league in this particular category. And while Jimmy Garoppolo struggled, as well as his wide receiver corps being banged up and shorthanded, one has to figure the initial troublesome trend won’t continue into Week 2.
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If there’s some solace here, New York gave up seven third-down conversions to the Bills on 14 attempts for a conversion rate of 50 percent. Meshing this statistic against the need for Garoppolo to get the ball out sooner, either to his primary read if he’s open or to a secondary option on third downs without taking up more than 2.5 seconds when possible, suggests there should be some significant improvement upon the two third-down conversions the 49ers struggled to make in Week 1.
This’ll likely have to come against the blitz, though, meaning Garoppolo’s reads must be processed much more efficiently.
Kyle Shanahan’s play-calling on third downs should be better, too, particularly in situations where San Francisco is facing 3rd-and-long.
Next. 5 lessons 49ers learned after losing to Cardinals in Week 1. dark
The 49ers and Jets kick off on Sunday, Sept. 20 at 1 p.m. ET from MetLife Stadium.