5 key stats where 49ers offense dramatically improves in 2022

The 49ers falling short in the NFC Championship game last year revealed some pain points where improvement is needed, and here’s where it happens in 2022.

Towards the end of the 2021 regular season and into the playoffs, the San Francisco 49ers were largely carried by two separate elements.

The defense and All-Pro wide receiver Deebo Samuel.

Samuel’s prowess as a “wide back” garnered national attention, yet the Niners offense largely floundered down the stretch. Over its final six games, including three postseason bouts, San Francisco averaged just 20 points per contest.

More shockingly, the 49ers averaged only 17.7 points per game in the playoffs.

That flameout contributed to head coach Kyle Shanahan’s squad coming up short against the Los Angeles Rams in the NFC Championship game, yet there are lessons the Niners ultimately learned and hope to have addressed entering 2022.

Based on the changes and upgrades San Francisco went through this offseason, we should expect the team to be significantly better, statistically, in these five areas heading into the upcoming season.

49ers stat improvement No. 5: Downfield passing

Here’s a statistical anomaly for you: Quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo actually led the league in 2021 with an average of 12.7 yards per completion.

However, the anomaly doesn’t take into account the fact the 49ers had a whopping 2,240 yards after the catch (averaging 131.8 per game), which indicates Garoppolo was frequently throwing short passes and letting his receivers do the YAC work on the ground thereafter.

According to Next Gen Stats, Garoppolo actually ranked in the bottom fourth of qualifying quarterbacks with an average-intended air-yards mark of 7.4, tied for eighth lowest.

There are two primary reasons why this should change in 2022.

First, quarterback Trey Lance has already shown the tendency to hit areas of the field Garoppolo couldn’t, evidenced by the former’s Week 17 passing chart from Next Gen Stats:

Second, the Niners’ new field-stretching wide receiver in former SMU standout Danny Gray should help open things up deep, especially in light of his 4.33 40-yard speed.

Granted, Lance will have to do so with accuracy, and Gray will have to prove his questionable hands aren’t a liability.

But if these two factors play out as expected, the 49ers’ downfield passing should be massively better than it was a year ago, thereby opening up a lot more underneath, too.