Niners Offense Has a Tighter Look

San Francisco used three tight ends on 33 plays in season opener to power running game; will the team continue the trend in Week 2 at Pittsburgh?

In the 49ers’ opening-week victory over the Minnesota Vikings, San Francisco took an old-school approach.

The 49ers ran the ball 39 times for 230 yards. Powered by Carlos Hyde – who rushed for 168 yards and two touchdowns – the offense averaged 5.9 yards every time it ran the ball. And Hyde, who had a spectacular national-television debut as the team’s featured back, averaged 6.5 yards per rush.

After the victory, head coach Jim Tomsula said the way the offense ran the football was a reflection of the way he’d like the 49ers to be.

“I’d like to be tough-minded and tough physically and smart,” he told reporters.

Part of that approach in the season-opening 20-3 victory over Minnesota included the way the offense came out in a run-heavy scheme.

As Paul Gutierrez of ESPN.com noted, the 49ers began the game with a three-tight end set, and they continued to use it throughout the game. According to ESPN Stats & Info, the 49ers used at least three tight ends – they carry four on their roster – on 33 plays, the most by any NFL team over the past decade.

The game opened with Vernon Davis, Vance McDonald and Garrett Celek on the field. Rookie Blake Bell also is on the roster. It was a much different scenario than the 2014 season, when the Niners often used just one tight end -- or none -- in three- and four-wideout sets.

As Gutierrez reported, when San Francisco lined up with three tight ends and just one wide receiver, the team averaged 6.3 yards per carry.

Now, as the 49ers prepare for their second game in Pittsburgh against the Steelers on Sunday (10 a.m.), the question is, will this be the 49ers’ standard operating mode this season against all opponents? Or will the offense, under new coordinator Geep Chryst, provide new wrinkles each week for opposing defenses?

Tomsula isn’t saying, but he declares he has a lot of faith in Chryst.

“Geep’s really good,” said Tomsula. “I mean, he’s just a really good person and he’s a really smart man.”

But, he added: “We’re trying to utilize … everything you have. And that’s what we’re trying to do.”

The three-tight end set not only gives the 49ers extra blocking power at the line of scrimmage, but it also makes use of Davis, McDonald and Celek as receivers. In Game 1, Davis had three catches for 47 yards, Celek had three for 40 and McDonald had one for 5. That’s seven receptions for 92 yards, a nice 13.1-yard average.

The Steelers were solid against the run in their opening-week loss to New England, giving up just 80 yards, but Pittsburgh knows it may have its hands full with a 49ers running attack with Hyde and an old-fashioned, extra-blockers approach this Sunday.

Steelers linebacker Ryan Shazier – a friend of Hyde’s and a former Ohio State standout – believes it will be a challenge to stop Hyde and Co.

“I kind of knew he (Hyde) was going to do that,” Shazier said of Hyde’s big game in Week 1. “I worked out with him a little bit this offseason and I just knew that he had a big year in store for him.”

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