Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports
The San Francisco 49ers starting offense has gone three-and-out in each of their opening drives through two preseason games. Against the Houston Texans, the drive to open the game featured two incomplete passes by
Blaine Gabbert and a
Carlos Hyde run for one yard.
Against the Denver Broncos, the 49ers won the coin toss and opted to start on defense. The Broncos offense took the field and marched 86 yards in 10 plays to score a touchdown on the opening drive. How did the 49ers respond? The result was a run for a loss and one completion in two pass attempts for four yards as the team went three-and-out again.
The 49ers would end up with 400 or more total yards of offense in each of the two games, so things obviously ended up fine in the end. Are these slow starts something that the 49ers are concerned with?
"Well, that's something we've addressed," said offensive coordinator Curtis Modkins on Tuesday. "I would say it was probably more an execution deal. We had a couple breakdowns to start off the game. The good thing is that we were able to address that and we were able to fix it and the guys came out and responded. We'll continue to work on that and we'll continue to stress it, but I thought they responded to that pretty good."
Modkins was asked to assess Gabbert through two games. "Blaine's done a good job," said Modkins. "I was pleased with what he did. I like to see how he started and he responded. He got the team moving. So, I think Blaine's done a good job. He's been accurate with the ball. All our quarterbacks have, and I think Blaine's been good."
Gabbert has gone 10 of 19 for 132 yards and a touchdown during his two preseason starts. That's a passer rating of 92.4. The important statistic is that he has been careful with the ball and not been responsible for a turnover. However, during opening drives, Gabbert has been just 1 of 4 passing for four yards.
The 49ers hope to get their first look at
Colin Kaepernick on Friday against the Green Bay Packers, a team that he has had a lot of success against in the past. If he starts, it will be interesting to see if he can get the 49ers offense off to a faster start than Gabbert has.
The 49ers' second drive against the Texans ended with a Hyde fumble, turnover, and return for a touchdown. Fumbling has been an issue for the offense through two preseason games. 49ers running backs have been responsible for four fumbles during preseason, which all resulted in turnovers.
"Obviously, that's got to improve," said Modkins. "You can't win many games in this league turning the ball over three times. But, coach Rathman, I think he's been coaching 19 years or so, his backs are number one as far as turning the ball over, fewest amount. So, he knows what he's doing. We've just got to continue to emphasize it, not only with that position, but all our players."
The next inductee into the Edward J. DeBartolo Sr. San Francisco 49ers Hall of Fame sat down with Matt Maiocco of NBC Sports Bay Area for the latest episode of the 49ers Insider Podcast.
Young wore No. 97 during his time with San Francisco, the only team he played for during his 14-year career. Another player wears that number now — defensive end Nick Bosa. What does Young, who spent some time coaching through the college and pro ranks after his NFL career, think about the talented second-year player?
"Nick does a good job just in terms of one, being a very knowledgable player," Young told Maiocco. "He sees the game. You can tell he's been surrounded by good coaching. And then just his family history. His dad played, his brother played, and so
The NFL is canceling Weeks 1 and 4 of the preseason, according to Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk. The league is reportedly expected to announce the decision on Thursday.
"The move was driven by two primary factors," writes Florio. "First, teams who will be playing preseason games on the road won't want to move that many people. Second, given that no teams had on-field practice sessions in the offseason, coaches would rather have the extra time to work with their teams, and that will happen if they don't have to worry about two extra preseason games."
For the 49ers, this will mean the elimination of the team's August 15 road game against the Denver
Pro Football Focus took a different approach to predict the records of each NFL team. The analytics site looked at the worst-case and best-case scenarios for the 32 clubs.
"Injuries happen. Key players significantly improve or see their play start to deteriorate," writes Ben Linsey. "Talented teams fall victim to poor coaching and dysfunction. All that goes to show that there is a range of outcomes when talking about projections. The current environment and uncertainty surrounding the 2020 season adds more fuel to the fire."
Pro Football Focus used season simulations by its research and development team to predict the high range (90th percentile) and low
