Kurtenbach: The 49ers’ biggest problem in 2021 was once unthinkable

The 49ers have a lot of issues for a 2-1 team. So many of them came to the surface Sunday in their first loss of the campaign, 30-28 to Green Bay.

Despite having a lead with 37 seconds to play, the 49ers didn’t deserve to win Sunday’s game.

They made too many mistakes. They had too many injuries. And whatever the 49ers’ defense tried to do in those final seconds was woefully incorrect.

But in taking stock of the 49ers’ issues following the Week 3 loss and ahead of the team’s Week 4 matchup with division rival Seattle, the biggest problem isn’t the defense on the whole, or the Niners’ cornerback depth.

I never thought this would be the case with a healthy starting quarterback and Kyle Shanahan calling plays, but the 49ers’ biggest issue is their offense.

San Francisco should not be struggling like this to move the ball.

It doesn’t matter who is to blame — the beleaguered running back depth chart, the offensive line, Shanahan’s playcalling, or Jimmy Garoppolo — the 49ers need to find an answer right now.

I thought the Niners’ defense could be an elite unit this season. The cornerback situation has effectively guaranteed that will not be the case. First-year defensive coordinator DeMeco Ryans’ vanilla play calls only sows more doubt.

I was wrong.

But that shouldn’t disqualify the 49ers, right? A lot of teams have bad defenses in the league.

In fact, it seems as if only bad teams go into a season needing their defenses to be great.

The NFL, in 2021? It’s all about the offense, baby.

But right now, the 49ers need their defense to be great.

That’s because the Niners’ offense has been uninspiring since the second half of the team’s season-opening win against Detroit.

The Niners can’t run the ball and they struggle to throw it when the defense knows the throw is coming.

There are moments — short-term breakthroughs — but this model is not sustainable.

Something has to improve, because this offense needs to carry the Niners.

But how’s that going to happen?

For the life of me, I don’t see much spark in this unit, as currently constructed.

Perhaps the Niners have reached the point where running backs matter. Trey Sermon found some grove in the second half Sunday, but he hasn’t shown the vision or burst to be an effective lead rusher for a team whose offense is predicated on the rush.

Shanahan went so far as to play his fullback as the team’s running back Sunday. At least Kyle Juszczyk knew the plays. (He also had a strong game.)

Without a viable run game, play-action — the lifeblood of the Niners’ passing game — is ineffective to the point where the Niners have abandoned it.

And all this leaves them with… what?

Right now the Niners’ offense is a hope that a big-time player makes a big-time play, despite the deck being stacked against them.

Since the start of the second half against Detroit — over the last 10 quarters of football — the 49ers have averaged 4.99 yards per play.

That might have been middle-of-the-pack back at the turn of the century, but 21 years later, it’s anemic. Three of the best offenses in the NFL reside in the NFC West and the 49ers are miles behind the Rams, the third-best offense in the NFC West, who just so happen to have a Top-5 yards per play offense so far this season.

If not for success in the red zone — another surprise from a Shanahan offense — the Niners’ offensive mediocrity through three games would be more glaring.

Perhaps the Niners should treat the rest of the field like the area inside the opponents’ 20-yard line. That means more Trey Lance.

The No. 3 overall pick in this past spring’s draft is barely playing in games — if he sees the field at all. Yet he has two touchdowns to his name this season — one throwing, one rushing. He’s a matchup nightmare for defenses as a runner. We haven’t seen him throw but once.

That should probably change.

I’m not going to advocate for Garoppolo to sit on the bench full time. While he was underwhelming and downright detrimental at multiple points Sunday, he did lead the Niners on a go-ahead touchdown drive with 2:39 to play. He might have delivered one of the most inexplicable and indefensible turnovers I’ve ever seen in an NFL game the series before, but he came through in the big moment — he can’t lose his starting job after that.

But he can lose some of his snaps.

Shanahan has been labeled an offensive genius. At his best, his play calls are so layered and incisive that they border on vindictive. Few in the NFL can scheme up yards like the Niners’ head coach.

He’s not doing that right now. The Niners’ offense — and its play caller — feels kneecapped.

This Niners’ offense needs some juice.

George Kittle has done everything he can to provide it. So has Deebo Samuel.

Brandon Aiyuk’s re-emergence was positive but didn’t seem to change the game.

The answer isn’t Sermon in the backfield. Maybe it’s Trenton Cannon — I think has the talent to replicate the Raheem Mostert path to success.

But I’ll admit that’s far-fetched.

So why not find more opportunities for a player the Niners used three first-round picks to select?

Garoppolo hasn’t done something on the field that seems beyond Lance’s skillset. Lance has, in limited looks, shown more spark than Garoppolo has in 50 times the opportunities.

Right now, there’s much risk and little reward to San Francisco’s attack. Putting in in a rookie for more plays might keep that risk factor high, but it could bring about some reward.

No matter what the solution Shanahan decides upon, he needs to acknowledge that there’s a problem with his offense — one that needs immediate remedy ahead of back-to-back games against division rivals.