Ah, those halcyon days when the 49ers were losing close games against some good teams. Just three weeks ago, the 49ers went through a stretch of losing five games in a row by three points or less, which is now an NFL record. They did it against teams like the Rams, Redskins and Seahawks.
Back then, they seemed to be building their offense, scoring 20 points or more in three out of four games. Now? The 49ers have scored 10 points a game in their last three losses, and all of those games weren’t competitive.
So what happened?
The quarterback switch was part of the reason as now Patriot Brian Hoyer grew increasingly ineffective. Then the 49ers switched to rookie C.J. Beathard, and 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan had to shift his offensive focus and become more basic. Lastly, injuries struck the offensive line, receiver and tight end positions, causing Shanahan to trim back his offense all the more.
Pedestrian offensive performances reflecting the Jim Tomsula era have resulted. Shanahan said as much on Tolbert and Lund Thursday afternoon.
“We are not doing a lot right now (in terms of offensive complication),” Shanahan admitted. “We are trying to simplify it for a lot of these guys going in there.”
Shanahan felt the offense was beginning to build during the close losses and that players, not necessarily the quarterback, were learning his complex offense.
“It always takes a little time for it to stick, to get it (the offense) going and be a well-oiled machine,” Shanahan said. “The healthier you can stay, the more guys can do it week to week and you get better as the year goes. I felt we had that for a time. We started a little slow and I thought we went through a stretch where we started to improve. … Since the Dallas and Philly games, we had a few set backs with injuries and we’ve had to take a step back.”
injuries to left tackle Joe Staley (broken eye socket) and wide receiver Pierre Garcon (neck) were particularly damaging. Then Shanahan said he had to ditch most of his game plan when Trent Taylor, Cole Hikutini, George Kittle and Kyle Juszczyk all got hurt last week against Arizona. They all play the vital “F” position within different formations and personnel groups. The “F” lines up in the slot or as a fullback or tight end.
Shanahan said he hoped his offense can heal during the bye after the Giants game on Sunday. Then he hopes to build back again offensively, possibly with quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo. However, Shanahan also said he has no time table for when Garoppolo will play.
“The last thing I want to do was put a quarterback into this situation,” Shanahan said. “That wouldn’t be fair to Jimmy and it wouldn’t be fair to our team.”