After four games, the 49ers offense is in disarray.
Quarterback Colin Kaepernick has been sacked 14 times, and is coming off a loss to the Packers Sunday in which he was sacked six times and hit on seven more plays. That’s 13 sacks or hits, a huge number considering he had 25 pass attempts Sunday.
In addition, the 49ers’ running game – which looked so strong in the season opener when Carlos Hyde rushed for 168 yards and two touchdowns – has been handcuffed. Since Game 1, Hyde has had rushing games of 43, 51 and 20 yards. Against the Packers, he carried the ball just eight times.
Though Kaepernick looks shaky, the offensive line has so far been the team’s weak link. Center Marcus Martin, right guard Jordan Devy and right tackle Erik Pears have been below-par performers, allowing a constant stream of pressure on Kaepernick.
As Kevin Lynch of the San Francisco Chronicle noted after Sunday’s 17-3 loss to Green Bay, the 49ers may finally be thinking of making some lineup changes. With 25 percent of the season now gone and San Francisco at 1-3 with Sunday’s game against the Giants coming up, the makeup of the offensive line might be the first place to start.
As left guard Alex Boone told the media after the loss to Green Bay, the 49ers still have no consistency of purpose or execution on offense.
“We are still trying to find our identity and that’s a (expletive) place to be,” said Boone. “Whatever it is, we better figure it out by tomorrow.”
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Just three seasons ago, the offensive line was the strength of this offense. Left tackle Joe Staley remains the only holdover from that line still in his current position. Boone was moved from right guard to left guard in training camp. Martin is the starter by default, after the injury and long recovery of Daniel Kilgore. Pears was supposed to be a backup but became the starter when Anthony Davis retired this offseason. And Devey emerged late in training camp when other candidates flopped. Going into Sunday's game, Staley and Boone had positive overall grades from Pro Football Focus for their performance in the first three weeks. But Martin, Devey and Pears all had negative grades.
To date, only Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Alex Smith (18) has been sacked more often than Kaepernick.
Bay Area News Group columnist Marcus Thompson noted that the Niners’ offense so far has been “hard on the eyes,” adding that “the 49ers offensive line couldn’t block a Twitter follower, let alone an actual defensive player.”
Four games into this season, and the offensive line – a problem in training camp and preseason games – is still a big problem. It may be time for a shakeup in the front five. Devey and Pears, especially, should be vulnerable. If not, the same problems are sure to keep occurring, over and over.
“We have to be able to throw the ball,” said head coach Jim Tomsula. “We have to be able to protect. We’ve got to be able to do those things and stay into an offense that is in rhythm.”
