2 Overlooked Stats Show How Elite the 49ers Offense Is

This depicts the 49ers' offense perfectly.

Oct 4, 2026; Santa Clara, California, USA; San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan during the fourth quarter against the Denver Broncos at Levi's Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The 49ers' offense has been on a tear this season. Brock Purdy is playing as sharp as ever, Mike Evans is dominating, George Kittle is insane, and the offensive line is elite.

All of that is contributing to the 49ers averaging 30.8 points per game, the third-most in the NFL. They also average 365 yards per game, the ninth-most in the NFL.

Those stats are nice and all, but there are a couple of overlooked ones that show how elite the 49ers' offense is. Let's dive into what those two overlooked stats are.

Always going forward, never backward

Negative Play % through Week 5 pic.twitter.com/Uun49NjhMS

— SFdata9ers🏈📊 (@sfdata9ers) October 13, 2026

One reason the 49ers put up a bunch of yards is that they consistently gain positive yardage. They have the second-lowest negative play percentage in the NFL at just under 4%.

You could argue that they're truly the top offense at limiting negative plays instead of the Broncos, since their quarterback, Bo Nix, loves to play it safe, as he did against the 49ers with a ton of checkdown throws.

In any case, having 96% of the plays called and executed going for a positive gain is vastly impressive. This shows that Purdy is connecting well with his receivers and kept clean on his dropbacks.

The running game is also running effectively with Christian McCaffrey and rookie Kaelon Black. Kyle Shanahan deserves a round of applause as well.

His game plan and feel for calling the right plays at the right time play a crucial role in their offense being ranked the second-lowest for negative plays. They're easily an unstoppable force with this depiction.

Maximizing red zone trips

red zone touchdown rate this season:

87.5% - San Francisco 49ers
83.3% - Dallas Cowboys
81.3% - New Orleans Saints
77.3% - Detroit Lions
73.7% - Baltimore Ravens
71.4% - Buffalo Bills
69.2% - Atlanta Falcons
68.4% - Los Angeles Rams
66.7% - Indianapolis Colts
64.7% - Carolina…

— Warren Sharp (@SharpFootball) October 13, 2026

The reward for having less than 4% negative plays and tallying a bunch of yards is red zone trips. And whenever the 49ers get there, they maximize their opportunity.

The 49ers are scoring a touchdown on 87.5% of their red zone trips this season, the most in the league. This is crucial to why their offense has been a problem for opposing defenses.

Anytime the 49ers get into the red zone, they're most likely going to score a touchdown. That is the difference between elite and good offenses.

They don't settle for field goals, which is a testament to Evans. He's given the 49ers a phenomenal boost in the red zone, especially when they're near the goal line.

Purdy has done an excellent job of putting it in the perfect spot for Evans. The 49ers' offense is riding high, and now that they've gotten past the Seahawks, it's unlikely any defense will slow them down in the near future.

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