49ers explosive offense sparked by early scoring

How important is it to get off to a good start in a game or a new half? In 2023, the San Francisco 49ers' offense has been prolific. One of the things that has made them so good is how often they've scored on their first possession of the game, and their first possession of the second half.

In only two of the team's games this season (both losses), the 49ers failed to score on their first possession of either half. In one of those two games, against Minnesota, they turned the ball over near the goalline on a Christian McCaffrey fumble. In the loss in Cleveland, Brock Purdy threw an interception to start the second half. He also did it against the Seahawks, that one a pick-six.

But for the most part, the 49ers have been very good in their opening possession of each half, scoring 14 times the first time they have had the ball in the half. Of those 14 times, an impressive 13 of the scores have been touchdowns. The other one was a field goal.

Why is this important? For one thing, it sets the tone and gets the team off to a quick start. I still remember Bill Walsh electing to begin the game on offense. He wanted to strike quickly and beat the other team to the punch so they would be playing catchup all game.

Head Coach Kyle Shanahan takes a different approach, choosing to defer to the second half when the 49ers win the coin toss. Shanahan loves to "double-dip" or lap opposing teams when possible. Meaning, the 49ers score right before halftime, and then score first in the second half. At a minimum, Shanahan wants to be the last team with the ball to end the first half, even if they don't score, because history says you increase your chances of winning when you can do that.

"It's one I've heard for a long time, used to always hear it as a coordinator, never really followed it, started doing it our third year here," Shanahan said. "There's a huge stat over the last 40 years that the team who finishes with the ball at the end of the second quarter or if they score at the end of the second quarter, their winning percentage in that game over these last 30 years just right below turnovers. I think blocked punts is bigger. So it's one of the top stats in the league for winning. It doesn't completely make sense. That's why I ignored it for so long.

"As long as they don't get an opportunity to do it," Shanahan explained. "That clock runs out. If you score, obviously much better, and that percentage goes up. But just finishing with the football, that stat is like that. I had the same facial expression as you for a while. We spent a lot of time looking into it, and it was all accurate. 2019 was the first year I really tried it. I thought our defense was going to be pretty unbelievable that year, and we were going to take that in and commit to it. If you watch how that year went, it went that way the whole year. We were so successful with it, the stats were even better than what I imagined, and we've always stuck with that."

And when you can hold onto the ball, and then score first, or score at the end of the first half, and the beginning of the second half, your chances of winning increase all the more. Here is a quick overview of the 49ers first possessions of each half this season:

Steelers

First possession of the game: Touchdown
First possession of the second half: Touchdown

The 49ers started the season off on the right foot, scoring a touchdown to begin the game and the second half. They would go on to win the game in Pittsburgh 30-7.

Rams

First possession of the game: Touchdown
First possession of the second half: Punt

The 49ers got on the board early with a touchdown but weren't able to score on their first possession in the second half. They still scored 30, but the defense had trouble getting off the field in this game, and the 49ers won by only a touchdown, 30-23.

Giants

First possession of the game: Field Goal
First possession of the second half: Punt

This was the first game that Purdy was blitzed almost non-stop and was also one of the games in which no touchdown was scored on either first possession. Purdy had some issues with the blitz early on, and the offense stalled at times. But he and his teammates got things rolling and the 49ers went on to win 30-12.

Cardinals

First possession of the game: Touchdown
First possession of the second half: Punt

The 49ers broke their streak of three-straight scores of 30 by scoring 35, en route to a 35-16 win over Arizona.

Cowboys

First possession of the game: Touchdown
First possession of the second half: Touchdown

This game was dominated by the 49ers from start to finish. San Francisco scored a touchdown on the opening possessions of each half, to go along with several other touchdowns throughout the game. The 49ers won 42-10.

Browns

First possession of the game: Touchdown
First possession of the second half: Interception

In the first loss of the season, the 49ers came out hot but cooled off significantly. Purdy threw his first interception of the season to start the second half. The 49ers lost 19-17.

Vikings

First possession of the game: Fumble
First possession of the second half: Punt

In the second loss of the season, the 49ers failed to score on either first possession. The game started with an interception by the 49ers defense that looked like it would turn into an easy 49ers touchdown. But McCaffrey's fumble ended the early threat. The 49ers lost 22-17.

Bengals

First possession of the game: Punt
First possession of the second half: Punt

In the team's worst loss of the season, the 49ers defense struggled mightily. This was their worst game since the Kansas City game in 2022. After bailing out some poor offenses over the past few seasons, the defense needed the San Francisco offense to bail them out for once. But the offense failed to do so, and the 49ers lost 31-17.

Jaguars

First possession of the game: Touchdown
First possession of the second half: Touchdown

After the bye, the 49ers bounced back and broke the three-game skid by dominating the Jaguars. They scored on each opening possession and ran away with a 34-3 win in Jacksonville.

Buccaneers

First possession of the game: Punt
First possession of the second half: Touchdown

This one didn't start as well, but the 49ers offense finished strong, as they beat Tampa Bay 27-14. This was one of only two wins so far that the 49ers failed to score over 30.

Seahawks

First possession of the game: Touchdown
First possession of the second half: Interception (returned for a touchdown)

In the first matchup with the Seahawks, the 49ers struck early but opened the second half with a pick-six. Never fear, though. Purdy and his offense bounced back and won in Seattle 31-13.

Eagles

First possession of the game: Punt
First possession of the second half: Touchdown

In their most impressive showing so far, the 49ers offense failed to score on their first two drives of the game but then scored six consecutive touchdowns. That was one of the most explosive performances I've ever seen as the 49ers manhandled the Eagles 42-19.

Seahawks

First possession of the game: Touchdown
First possession of the second half: Punt

Last Sunday, the 49ers started the game with a touchdown, but then let the Seahawks hang around for a bit before eventually separating themselves and winning 28-16, in only their second win in which they failed to score 30 or more points.

In the 49ers 10 wins, they are averaging 32.9 points per game. Overall, they are averaging 29.2 points per game. Ironically, in all three losses, the 49ers only scored 17 points.

Can the 49ers continue this trend of scoring with their first possession of each half? If they can, the offense will continue to score a lot of points, and the team will continue to win a lot of games.

• Marc Adams
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