{"id":3538,"date":"2024-09-24T02:21:51","date_gmt":"2024-09-24T02:21:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportnews.drinkfood.info\/?p=3538"},"modified":"2024-09-24T02:21:51","modified_gmt":"2024-09-24T02:21:51","slug":"report-grading-the-49ers-rocky-start-to-the-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportnews.drinkfood.info\/?p=3538","title":{"rendered":"REPORT: Grading the 49ers\u2019 rocky start to the season"},"content":{"rendered":"
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A look under the hood of the 49ers\u2019 shocking collapse against L.A. illustrates how the team must improve.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The San Francisco 49ers are a very imbalanced football team. That\u2019s the simple summary leaving Sunday\u2019s 27-24 loss to the Los Angeles Rams.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Though three weeks of data is not a large sample, trends are emerging. Below are the 49ers\u2019 advanced efficiency ranks among the NFL\u2019s 32 teams. Offense and defense are ranked by expected points added (EPA) per play, while special teams is ranked by defense-adjusted value over average (DVOA) \u2014\u00a0a related measure \u2014 since public EPA figures are not yet updated for that phase of the game.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Offense:\u00a0<\/strong>No. 5
\nDefense:<\/strong>\u00a0No. 25
\nSpecial teams:\u00a0<\/strong>No. 26<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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One of these things is not like the others. The offense is delivering efficient yet imperfect football, while the 49ers are languishing in the other two phases. The special teams figure doesn\u2019t even include L.A.\u2019s successful fake punt, since that\u2019s not considered a predictive play; the 49ers would rank No. 31 or 32 if that were part of the equation. (For comparison, last season\u2019s 49ers finished at No. 1 on offense, No. 10 on defense, and No. 26 on special teams.)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Clearly, the 49ers must pick up more slack to better support quarterback Brock Purdy and Co.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cIt\u2019s the NFL,\u201d 49ers edge rusher Nick Bosa said after Sunday\u2019s loss. \u201cNo matter how talented you are, you have to play good on Sunday. We\u2019ve been practicing great. It\u2019s not that. We have to understand what teams are trying to do to us and adjust to it.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Is that an indictment of new 49ers defensive coordinator Nick Sorensen, whose unit lost effectiveness against coach Sean McVay\u2019s Rams offense as Sunday\u2019s game progressed? Perhaps. The bottom line is that the 49ers lost a game they should\u2019ve won against an opponent that looked overmatched for a significant stretch. And that only makes the road ahead more difficult.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Here\u2019s a glimpse at what transpired across all position groups Sunday, organized by snap counts for each 49ers player.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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