The Difference Between the 49ers and the Dolphins Offenses

The Dolphins and the 49ers have the second- and the third-highest-scoring offenses in the NFL, respectively.

The Dolphins have scored 31.6 points per game, and the 49ers have scored 29.2. They're both elite. They both have extremely creative and clever offensive play callers. They both have quarterbacks who are MVP candidates. And they both have explosive offensive weapons.

But there's a big difference between the 49ers offense and the Dolphins offense, as we saw this past Monday night when the Dolphins lost to the Lions.

In that game, the Dolphins lost Hill to an ankle injury. He eventually returned to the game, but the Dolphins offense completely fell apart without him on the field, and that's a big reason Miami lost.

The Dolphins are extremely Tyreek dependent. He clearly is the MVP of their team, not their quarterback, Tua Tagovailoa.

The 49ers are not particularly dependent on one offensive weapon. To be fair, they haven't had to play a full game without Christian McCaffrey, so it's hard to say for sure, but the 49ers seem like they could weather the loss of McCaffrey if they had to do, because they'd still have Elijah Mitchell, Jordan Mason and Deebo Samuel to play running back.

The 49ers have four elite offensive weapons -- McCaffrey, Deebo Samuel, Brandon Aiyuk and George Kittle. If any one of them were to go down, the 49ers still would have three elite offensive weapons, which is more than most teams have.

And it's possible none of those weapons are as dangerous as Tyreek Hill, but it's better to have four four excellent weapons than one great weapon.