That sideline screaming and, oh, yes, another loss helped obscure a significant fact Sunday night.
The 49ers’ offense, by various measures, appears to be making strides under offensive coordinator Mike Johnson.
In its 27-24 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles, San Francisco scored its most points of the season, had three touchdowns in three trips inside the red zone, had two 100-yard receivers for the first time in 10 years and had its highest third-down conversion rate (8 of 13, 61 percent) in seven years.
“We are evolving into what we want to become,” Johnson said. “The first
week you can’t change everything and do everything that you want to do
or it’s a total disruption to the offensive team. I think as we go
forward, I think there will be an evolution into the type of offense
that I want to run.”
In two games under Johnson, third downs, commonly known as The Play
Before The Punt under Jimmy Raye, have been an area of strength. The
49ers, who converted 6 of 12 third downs against Atlanta, have converted
14 of 25 first downs in Johnson’s two games. In Raye’s final six games
dating back to last year, they had converted 19 of 84 third downs.
One more fun fact: San Francisco has converted at least 50 percent of
their first downs in back-to-back games under Johnson – a feat they
hadn’t accomplished since Weeks 14-15 of the 2007 season.
Still, Johnson acknowledged the Niners aren’t there yet. After all, with
eight minutes left in the fourth quarter Sunday, they had managed two
touchdowns in their first seven quarters under Johnson.
Then, trailing 24-10, the Niners went into hurry-up mode and, voila,
produced 14 points in five minutes and 33 seconds, four more points than
they had managed in their previous 103 minutes dating back to their
loss to Atlanta.
“I think it’s something we practice and I think it’s something that
we’re comfortable in,” Johnson said of the two-minute offense. “It takes
away a lot of the thinking and you just go out and react.”
That let-it-rip mentality is something Alex Smith has pledged to adopt
this week after admittedly playing with too much caution in the season’s
first five games. Johnson endorses the new mentality.
“We want our entire offense to do that, not just Alex Smith,” he said.
“We want our entire offense to come out and attack and react and not
play back on our heels. That’s something that we’re pushing forward with
our tempo. Some of the things that we’re going to do going forward. We
want an offense that’s attacking. It starts with Alex Smith, but it
doesn’t end there.”
Attack? It sounds like an extreme departure from Mike Singletary’s
offensive vision, but Johnson was asked to define exactly what type of
offense he wanted the Niners to grow into. And it didn’t take long for
him to utter the words “running offense.”
“I want to run a balanced, efficient, running offense that has all the
core run-action passes, (naked bootlegs), keeps,” Johnson said. (Has)
the ability to spread you out when that dictates, and then be efficient
on third-down and (have) a highly explosive red-zone offense.”
Singletary is involved, at least to some extent, in the offensive
game-planning with Johnson. The new offensive coordinator was asked
about the perception that Singletary’s vision was holding him back.
“It’s all perception,” Johnson said. “And I think, like I said, going
forward you will see a different style, slightly. But we have a core
philosophy that we believe in, that coach Singletary believes in.”
That response will likely inspire some groans. Last week’s performance, however, should begin to inspire at least a little more confidence.
• The Niners’ first eight first-down plays Sunday night were runs to
Gore, which netted five yards. Johnson conceded he should have mixed in a
few passes.
“There needs to be a better mixture, I would agree with that,” he said.
He noted there was a better run-pass mix against the Falcons, based on
Atlanta’s defense. The 49ers passed on eight of 11 first downs in the
first half against the Falcons.
• CB Will James, who played for the first time since suffering a high
ankle sprain on Aug. 15, supplanted Tarell Brown as the No. 3 cornerback
against Philadelphia. Defensive coordinator Greg Manusky said James
will continue in that role against the Raiders.
• Another week, another what’s-up-with-Brian-Westbrook question. The updated tally: Five games. Four touches.
“Brian Westbrook’s role will increase,” Johnson said. “And it goes back
to what I said a couple times already. You can’t change the entire
offense in one game, because if you look at our practice and the way we
practice and the reps you have, you don’t have time to make sure you get
everything taught properly. But as we go forward, I think his role will
increase and he will help us out.”
• Manusky said LB Takeo Spikes was sharing time with rookie NaVorro Bowman as a way to keep the 13-year veteran fresh.
“It’s just number of snaps with TK. He’s not 22 years-old,” Manusky
said. “He’s getting up there in age. We want to protect him a little bit
and put the young buck in there every once in a while.”
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