San Francisco 49ers: Errors must be cleaned up vs. Seahawks
After being undone by a plethora of errors in the season opener, the 49ers must avoid another sloppy showing to avoid a rout against the Seahawks.
For all the dismay that came with the San Francisco 49ers‘ 23-3 loss in the season opener with the Carolina Panthers, it is important to stress that there were some signs of progress. As Matt Barrows of The Sacramento Bee pointed out, there were strides made by the 49ers, they were just buried under a plethora of errors made by Kyle Shanahan’s team in his coaching debut.
The running game was effective and efficient with Carlos Hyde, who also caught all six of his targets as a receiver, averaging five yards a carry. Tackles Joe Staley and Trent Brown pass protected well, which is more than can be said for their teammates on the interior of the offensive line.
Shanahan’s scheme succeeded in getting deep threat Marquise Goodwin open, only for the speedy wideout to drop a perfectly thrown deep ball from Brian Hoyer. Hoyer’s rapport with Pierre Garcon was evident again as the Niners’ top wideout caught six passes on 10 targets for 81 yards.
On defense, the 49ers rebounded well after losing Reuben Foster to an ankle injury in the first quarter, holding the Panthers to 287 yards despite consistently being given short fields to defend due to fourth-down failures by an offense that also gave the ball away through an interception and a fumble from Hoyer.
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Only 116 of the Panthers yards came on the ground, which marks a substantial improvement for a team that gave up 165.9 rushing yards per game in 2016. In holding the Panthers relatively in check following the Foster injury, the 49ers displayed admirable resilience, but that will be tested severely in Week 2 against the Seattle Seahawks.
San Francisco has not won in Seattle since 2011 and CenturyLink Field is an environment in which the 49ers have swiftly wilted and one where their flaws and mistakes figure to be magnified.
Further fourth-down failures and turnovers would in all likelihood be swiftly punished by a Seattle team that has been able to have their way with the Niners since 2014, especially if the 49ers are unable to take advantage of a dreadful Seahawks offensive line after failing to record a sack against the Panthers.
The players on the Seahawks defensive front are sure to be collectively salivating at the thought of facing the interior of San Francisco’s offensive line, which was dominated by Kawann Short and Co. in the opener. If the 49ers cannot solidify the interior of the line in time for Sunday, then it will be another long afternoon for Hoyer and the offense and whatever progress San Francisco has made will remain masked in one of the toughest fixtures of a schedule that is far from easy.
Next: NFL 2017: 20 Bold predictions for Week 2
The amount of mistakes made by San Francisco in Week 1 had some comparing their opening contest to a preseason game. Their spirit on defense was impressive but resilience is unlikely to be enough to stop the meeting with Seattle turning into an all-too-familiar rout should the Niners fail to clean up the errors that eroded the optimism Shanahan’s arrival had generated.