Being 4-4 entering the Bye Week isn’t how the San Francisco 49ers drew it up. It’s a reality that they have to accept during their time to rest and regroup.
The Bye Week couldn’t have come at a better time. It’s always clutch to have it right in the middle of the season so they can prepare for their taxing playoff push. However, there are some questions that the 49ers need to answer as they prepare to enter the second half of the season.
Here are five questions the 49ers need to answer exiting the Bye.
What will Christian McCaffrey’s workload be?
There is a chance that Christian McCaffrey will make his debut in Week 10 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. If he does, it will be interesting to see what his workload will be. You would think that there would be some limitations placed on him. The last thing the 49ers want to do is overload him and he aggravates his Achilles.
But you never know with the 49ers. McCaffrey has been working his way back for about a month now without any setbacks. He could be feeling incredible and ready for that workhorse role again. Even if the 49ers do limit McCaffrey in his debut, will it stay that way? This situation is such an intriguing one.
Are the offensive red zone issues fixed?
Moving the ball isn’t an issue at all for the 49ers’ offense. The issue is once they get into the red zone. They become allergic to scoring touchdowns. Too many field goals are being settled there. It’s why the 49ers have the sixth-worst touchdown-scoring offensive in the red zone this year. They’re scoring a touchdown on less than half of their trips, which is a far cry from last season (68 percent).
That needs to be corrected immediately coming out of their Bye. Not having McCaffrey is not an excuse. This offense is still more loaded than half of the offenses in the league. Great teams capitalize on their red zone trips. If the 49ers want to return back into elite form, then this has to improve.
Can the offense be balanced again?
What always made the 49ers’ offense and Kyle Shanahan regarded as a genius was his creativity. But this year that hasn’t been the case. The 49ers seem to be relying a little more on passing the ball down the field with Brock Purdy. It is why Purdy leads the league in throws to the intermediate or past the sticks. The 49ers have also forgotten yards after the catch plays. They have always been the best team there, but are now one of the worst.
Play action is also a foreign language to the 49ers, only running it 18.2 percent of the time (seventh-lowest rate). The 49ers need to find that balance again. It’s great that Purdy is giving them that attacking mentality, but they have to get him to use his skill players on short and underneath routes. Play action needs to see an uptick as well. No more of this straight-up drop-back passing game. Find a balance so that the offense becomes consistent again.
Will the pass rush improve?
The pass rush of the 49ers hasn’t been bad at all. In every statistical pass-rushing category they rank right in the middle more or less. But is that really what the 49ers want? Surely Shanahan isn’t content with that. The pass rush needs to be the destructive force that they have been for the last five years. It starts with Nick Bosa. He’s been good, but not up to his premier standard. Getting more out of him will do the 49ers wonders.
However, he needs support as well. Leonard Floyd has to start making his presence felt too. He’s only tallied three sacks and 24 pressures. Again, it’s not bad, but it makes perfect sense why the 49ers as a defense are ranked in the middle for pass rushing. This needs to improve so that offenses struggle more and to give the 49ers offense more possession.
How will Dre Greenlaw look when he returns?
Similar to McCaffrey, the workload for Dre Greenlaw will be interesting. The 49ers said that they will treat Greenlaw week-to-week coming out of their Bye. He won’t make his debut against the Buccaneers but that could come a few games after that. Whenever he does, it will be fascination to see how he looks. Returning from a torn Achilles is an uphill battle. If there is any player who can get back to their form pre-Achilles tear — it’s Greenlaw. The work rate he has is second-to-none, but sometimes that isn’t enough.
All the 49ers need from Greenlaw is for him to get close to what he was before he got injured. That is all they need given how putrid the linebacker position is outside of Fred Warner. Should Greenlaw accomplish that, then the defense will be immediately improved. Not to mention the energy Greenlaw will bring to set the tone. Even if he is still far off from being a high-level player, what won’t be questionable is his energy. The ripple effects from his presence alone will be extremely beneficial.
