49ers Offense Cannot Afford Slow Start Against Seahawks

Slow starts for the offense of the San Francisco 49ers has been a theme in 2021.

The last two games has been porous to say the least about the offense. You can even throw in the Lions game when the first offensive play led to a fumble.

With the Seahawks right around the corner, they present a serious threat to the 49ers. The serious threat lies with Russell Wilson and his two stud receivers -- D.K. Metcalf and Tyler Lockett. The cornerbacks of the 49ers are going to be in shambles going into Sunday. Emmanuel Moseley has struggled against both receivers and Dre Kirkpatrick is the presumed starter while Josh Norman is out. This puts all of the responsibility on the pass rush to help the corners, but even that might not be enough.

The offense of the 49ers will need to step up.

They cannot afford another slow start against the Seahawks.

If they do, then they can find themselves in a similar situation as they did against the Packers. Seattle is going to put up points. The 49ers need to expect that, so the offense needs to get going immediately. They need to finish and sustain drives. Keep Wilson and Seattle's offense off the field as long as possible. This will also allow the defense longer rest and preparation for the upcoming drive to better expect what is to come.

So how do the 49ers get themselves out of their slow funk?

They have to jolt the running game alive. I know it is difficult with several running backs missing, but the 49ers have to figure it out. Without that, it makes Jimmy Garoppolo's job much harder to simply drop back and pass. He isn't that talented of a quarterback that can sling it successfully without an effective running game. Of course, the running back position looks like swiss cheese right now, but their issues with the running game are more than just the backs.

"Running the football is a team effort," said Mike McDaniel at his Thursday presser. "You need to have the opportunities to run it. When you get your opportunities, you need to execute it. So sometimes in given situations, whether a defense does something you're expecting, or you plan for it and you don't execute something one or two times and you get behind the chains or you're in second-and-longs, it kind of builds upon itself. It's like anything else, it's a rhythm.

Yes, it is a rhythm. And for a quarterback such as Garoppolo, rhythm is everything. If you can get Garoppolo to string together some passes successfully, it increases his likelihood to play strongly for a good portion of the game. It just isn't so easy to achieve. His in-rhythm performances are very hit-or-miss. But the rhythm also factors into the defense. Getting them into that rhythm where they can chill out a bit longer and reflect on previous drives is so vital.

"And when you struggle to get in a rhythm, it sometimes takes a while to get it going," McDaniel continued. "I think for our offense there's been times where we haven't gotten the results we've wanted on a run play. And then all of a sudden, we make a big play on third down and, ‘Hey, we get another op.’ So, it kind of snowballs on itself. It's definitely not something we plan for, but you deal with it and try to learn from it and move forward.”

The defense will need all the help it can get. As they have shown so far, the 49ers cannot strictly rely on the pass rush and hope it is enough to anchor their defense. The offense needs to do its job as well. Maybe even throwing in Trey Lance for a few more snaps would help.

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