One Reason the 49ers' Offense is Struggling This Season

There is one significant reason the 49ers' offense is struggling this season and it is thanks to a game they played nine months ago.

Nov 17, 2024; Santa Clara, California, USA; Seattle Seahawks defensive end Dre'Mont Jones (55) sacks San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy (13) in the second quarter at Levi's Stadium. Mandatory Credit: David Gonzales-Imagn Images / David Gonzales-Imagn Images

The 2024 season has been nothing short of disappointing for the San Francisco 49ers.

They are a complete shell of themselves from the elite team of last season, especially on offense. Even with Christian McCaffrey returning, the offense is still lackluster. So, what gives? Why can't the offense figure it out?

There are many reasons, but there is one significant reason the 49ers' offense is struggling this season. They are the highest-blitzed offense in the NFL. Brock Purdy is blitzed a league-high 36.4 percent of the time. The next highest is the Ravens, with Lamar Jackson at 34.4 percent.

So, how is this a flaw in the 49ers' offense?

The flaw is that the 49ers struggle with addressing the blitz. It is likely due to the fact that Purdy isn't solely responsible for setting/adjusting the protections. That is a role for the center as it has been every year under Kyle Shanahan. Purdy does have a say, but he isn't acting upon it or taking initiative.

Defenses this year picked up on that when the 49ers played the Chiefs in the Super Bowl. Purdy was blitzed almost half (48.8 percent) of the time in that game. It isn't because Purdy is bad against the blitz. His numbers show that there isn't a large discrepancy when he throws against the blitz or not.

He has a roughly 66 percent completion percentage against both and has only been sacked two more times when blitzed. It's not throwing him off too much. However, the blitz rate is high this year for the 49ers because they are terrible at picking them up.

The 49ers are allowing defenses to have a 50 percent success rate against them when they are blitzed. The weird dynamic that the 49ers have with the center and the quarterback in charge of protections is the problem. Jake Brendel is doing a terrible job of accounting for it, while Purdy is a bystander.

Kyle Shanahan is at fault for this because of the protection he has built into the plays that, what feels like a majority of the time, doesn't work. Defenses almost always blitz the 49ers on crucial downs. When they do, the 49ers let them wreck the play. Again, Purdy isn't afraid or anything, but there comes a point when the play the 49ers call needs to be a blitz beater.

When blitzed this year, Purdy sees his EPA (expected points added) drop from 45.9 to 8.1. That is the most significant change of all his stats that fall off when he's blitzed as opposed to when he isn't. So, blitzing is derailing the 49ers' offense. Until they figured out the protections pre-snap better or if Shanahan dials up better plays to address it, then this is going to be the standard.