5 trends 49ers are showing after starting 2-3 to open season

Trend No. 5: 49ers’ inconsistent offense

Outside of the 31 points the 49ers’ offense scored in the opening half of the Week 1 contest in Detroit, the output from quarterbacks Jimmy Garoppolo and Trey Lance and the rest of the offense has been less than inspiring.

They managed just 10 points in the second half of Week 1, as the Lions clawed their way back into the game, allowing the final score to look closer than the game was throughout much of the afternoon.

Then, the unit scored only 17 points in Week 2 at the Philadelphia Eagles, including no points for all but the final 12 seconds of the first half, then nothing in the third quarter and just one more touchdown and a field goal in the fourth to eke out a victory.

Things were similarly dire for the home opener in Week 3 against the Packers, who jumped out to a 17-7 lead before the offense finally scored touchdowns on either end of halftime to make an early blowout turn out into a game.

Two fourth-quarter touchdowns gave the Niners a late lead, but the defense couldn’t hold and the 49ers lost 30-28 in the waning seconds of the Sunday Night Football contest.

Week 4 saw a dominant first half by the Niners, but the offense only mustered a single touchdown leading to a 7-7 tie at halftime. Garoppolo injured his calf during that half and after the Seahawks took a 21-7 lead late in the third quarter, Lance led two touchdown drives but it wasn’t enough.

It was the same story during Lance’s first start last week in Arizona, as the defense held the high-powered Cardinals offense to 17 points, but the offense only managed 10 of its own, leading to a third straight loss.

The struggles are bizarre because some of the metrics suggest that the 49ers’ offense isn’t that bad (such as Football Outsiders’ offensive DVoA which, through Week 5, has the offense at 11th in the league at 7.3 percent, 12th in passing at 24.2 percent, and 14th in rushing at minus-9.8 percent), but scoring more points than the opposing team — which is the ultimate goal of the game — has been an issue.

So, while they’ve still scored more points than eight of the league’s offenses, six of which have played one more game, the offense surely needs to find a way to do better if the 49ers have any chance at making the playoffs.