San Francisco 49ers

SANTA CLARA — The 49ers are averaging 20.3 points per game. Even in the most lean years under coach Kyle Shanahan, the 49ers never finished a season having this much difficulty finding the end zone.

And here come the Kansas City Chiefs Sunday at Levi’s Stadium, still rolling with quarterback Patrick Mahomes and tight end Travis Kelce under the tutelage of coach Andy Reid, leading the NFL at 29.8 points per game.

It’s a far less productive 49ers’ offense than the one that faced the Chiefs in Super Bowl LIV, one that led the league at 29.9 points per game in the regular season and steamrolled both Minnesota and Green Bay before coming up short in Miami.

According to multiple reports, former Stanford star and Carolina running back Christian McCaffrey is coming to the rescue, so the 49ers are obviously were concerned enough to depart with considerable draft capital.

It’s doubtful McCaffrey could make much of an impression against the Chiefs, although we’ll hear more from Shanahan on Friday.

The 49ers averaged 20.7 points per game in Shanahan’s first season, going 6-10 and were 21.4 with a 4-12 season in 2018 and 24.4 with a 6-10 record in 2020.

Take away defensive touchdowns by Talanoa Hufanga and Emmanuel Moseley this season and the 49ers offense has been responsible for just 18.0 points per game through six games after a 28-14 road loss to Atlanta.

The prevailing notion among offensive players is there is plenty of time to boost those numbers, and too much talent for it not to happen.

“It starts with us as players. We’ve just got to execute better,” quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo said Thursday. “It sounds pretty cliché, but there are some easy plays we left out there on Sunday that we should have made and have made in the past. We’ve got to do the little things in practice that transform into the game.”

To hold quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo solely responsible for the offensive swoon would be a mistake. It is the offense that needs to carry Garoppolo and not the other way around, and through six games the 49ers are falling short.

“We’ve shot ourselves in the foot too many times,” left tackle Trent Williams said. “I think that’s why the scoreboard doesn’t reflect the talent we have.”

It should help that Williams, one of the best at his position, is expected to be back in the starting lineup after missing three games with a high ankle sprain.

The 49ers have one of the best defensive teams in the NFL, although were less than that in a 28-14 road loss in Atlanta without the likes of Nick Bosa, Arik Armstead, Emmanuel Moseley and Charvarius Ward (for a half) and Jimmie Ward. Armstead won’t play and Moseley is out for the season. Bosa should play, and Ward has a chance with a groin strain.

To tight end George Kittle, the magic number is 24, and it has nothing to do with Willie Mays.

“We’re going to have to score a minimum 24 points if we’re going to win those games,” Kittle said. “So far that’s been pretty true. We try not to turn the ball over, score 24 points, and our defense is doing a really good job.

“Now we’re probably playing the best offense we’re going to face. They’ve got Mahomes, Kelce, good receivers, a good run-game and a top-three third-down defense. Our offense is going to have to stay on the field, control the ball and not let Mahomes go to work.”

True enough, the 49ers have scored 27, 24 and 37 in their wins, and 10, 10 and 14 in their losses.

So it would behoove the 49ers to get things into gear sooner rather than later. Some issues that need to be sorted out Sunday:

The right mix for Deebo

If it seemed like Deebo Samuel was a lot more explosive early on last season, you would be correct. Through six games, he had 38 receptions for 648 yards (17.0 yards per catch) and four touchdowns as opposed to 27 receptions for 345 yards (12.8 ypc) and two scores.

But here’s the rub. Samuel actually had more touches through six games last season (50 to 44) because he hadn’t yet been used extensively as a running back. He’s got 23 rushes for 136 yards as opposed to only six carries a year ago.

Some of the problems getting Samuel loose have to do with teams being more fearful of him after a breakout season and using their resources to slow him down. Whatever the reason, Shanahan has to find ways to get Samuel in space.

“I don’t think it’s that they’re defending Deebo any differently,” run game coordinator Chris Foerster said. “We’ve put him in similar situations and there are opportunities. Some of been missed by him. Others we haven’t properly executed for him.”

McCaffrey’s arrival as a running and receiver could loosen up things for Samuel in both areas.

Finding Kittle in the end zone

Tight end George Kittle missed the first two games with a groin strain, and has 19 receptions for 182 yards and no touchdowns in four games. He’s come close twice — once when Kittle couldn’t get both feet in bounds against Carolina and a touchdown was reversed, and a second time when came wide open against Atlanta and Garoppolo missed him while rolling to his right.

Kittle’s last touchdown came on a 16-yard pass from Garoppolo in last season’s NFC title game against he Rams and he doesn’t have a regular season touchdown since Week 13 last season against Cincinnati.

Even allowing for the fact that his blocking duties are far greater than that of counterpart Travis Kelce of the Chiefs, Kittle needs to get in the end zone for the 49ers offense to pick up the pace.

Finishing what they started

Much was made of the 49ers’ meandering 16-play clock consuming drive against Atlanta when they devoured 8:08 off the clock down by 14 points. And didn’t score.

Yes, it hurt and it was aggravating to watch. But Shanahan made it clear the problem was not scoring more so than the time consumed. The point is, he’s not going to change. If Shanahan thinks there’s time for two scores, he’s going to be patient, like it or not. That’s how he’s wired, for better or worse.

Finishing more drives would make a big difference. Seven times in 17 red zone possessions, the 49ers have failed to score a touchdown. That’s not good enough.

Running the ball

The 49ers have run the ball well at times, but not consistently, with 518 of their 744 rushing yards in three games.

McCaffrey figures in this area immediately, and Elijah Mitchell should be back after the bye, not that it will help them against the Chiefs. The best way to slow Mahomes and Co. is to keep them on the sideline.

Foerster, charged with getting the blockers and backs working in concert, said there are too many things to count when it comes to execution of any running play.

“It’s usually just a bunch of little things that add up and then pretty soon the sum of the whole is not good enough,” Foerster said. “The sum of the parts isn’t good enough.”

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