The 49ers offense stumbled a bit in the season opener, and now they face a Bengals defense that is vastly more talented than Tampa Bay’s. It stands to reason they’ll need to be much better on that side of the ball to come out with a win in Cincinnati.
Here are three keys for the San Francisco offense going into Week 2:
1. Hit the ground running
The 49ers, even without Tevin Coleman, need to get their run game going against a very strong Cincinnati front. They ran 32 times for just 98 yards against Tampa Bay. Not only do they have to stay committed to running against the Bengals behind Matt Breida and Raheem Mostert, but they have to run at a more effective clip than the 3.1 yards per carry they posted against the Buccaneers.
2. Avoid pick-6s
Throwing touchdowns is good. Throwing touchdowns to the other team is bad. This is science. Jimmy Garoppolo should avoid doing the latter after throwing two in his last four starts.
3. Stop getting touchdowns nullified by penalties
Scoring touchdowns is good. Scoring touchdowns, but having them not count because of an offensive penalty is bad. This is science. The 49ers should avoid doing the latter after doing it three times in Week 1.
