The 49ers' offense continues to perform at historically high levels
The 49ers' offense has proven devastatingly effective through four weeks, yet San Francisco's average of 31.3 points per game, which puts them third in the NFL behind the Dolphins and Bills, doesn't give the complete picture of just how impressive the Niners have been on that side of the ball. San Francisco's attack was nearly […]
The 49ers' offense has proven devastatingly effective through four weeks, yet San Francisco's average of 31.3 points per game, which puts them third in the NFL behind the Dolphins and Bills, doesn't give the complete picture of just how impressive the Niners have been on that side of the ball.
San Francisco's attack was nearly faultless in Sunday's Week 4 win over the Cardinals, delivering offensive dominance with consummate ease.
Excluding end of half and end of game kneel downs, the 49ers scored on six of seven possessions against Arizona, quarterback Brock Purdy setting a franchise record for single-game completion percentage (95.2) by going 20 of 21 for 283 yards and a touchdown. It was a blowout that also Christian McCaffrey break Jerry Rice's franchise record for consecutive games (including playoffs) with a touchdown, the running back scoring for the 13th straight game as he found the endzone four times.
Purdy's dalliance with perfection saw him average 1.06 Expected Points Added (EPA) per play, the fourth-most efficient game a by a quarterback (min. 15 attempts) since 2018.
How much those numbers are a product of Purdy's play is a matter that continues to be debated, and EPA is more a measure of the offense as a whole rather than quarterback play.
While Purdy's contributions are being undersold by some, there is little division over the dynamism of the offense he is operating, which is on pace to be one of the most efficient in NFL history by at least one metric.
This season, the 49ers have a Series Conversion Rate, a metric that measures the rate at which teams convert a given series of downs into another series of downs, of 82.2 percent, putting them on pace to surpass the record for the highest since the 1999 season.
That record is owned by the 2007 Patriots, who had a SCR of 81.4 percent during their 16-0 regular season. It is too much of small sample size to compare the 49ers to that 2007 juggernaut, but their presence atop that list right now provides a far more accurate illustration of how well this offense is performing than a cursory look at the points per game offerse.
It is still too early to expect the 49ers to surpass the 2007 Patriots, especially with a difficult schedule down the stretch run, but that is the kind of company San Francisco is keeping on offense.
With Purdy showing no signs of a drop-off, McCaffrey performing at an MVP calibre level and Deebo Samuel and Brandon Aiyuk trading 100-yard games, right now there is little reason to believe the Niners' attack can't occupy the same space come the end of the campaign.
Nick Bosa could be about to kick-start his 2023 season at exactly the right time
There’s no reason to be concerned by a lack of sacks.
