San Francisco 49ers: The good, bad, and ugly in week one loss to the Vikings

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MINNEAPOLIS, MN – SEPTEMBER 09: Dante Pettis #18 of the San Francisco 49ers catches the ball for a touchdown in the third quarter of the game against the Minnesota Vikings at U.S. Bank Stadium on September 9, 2018 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Hannah Foslien/Getty Images) /

Ugly: Red Zone Offense

San Francisco has a lot more talent on its roster, top to bottom, than they’ve had in a number of years. Even still, there are still some areas they could stand to upgrade. As a result, this is a team that really can’t afford to squander any opportunity they have to score – especially being in a division with a team like the LA Rams, where you may need to score every possession, just to give yourself a shot to win.

Which means, this is a team that needs to take advantage of opportunities to put points on the board – like when they’re down in the red zone.

Against the Vikings, the 49ers had four opportunities inside the 20, and came away with points just once – a field goal midway through the third quarter.

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Three points. That’s it. That’s all they have to show for four trips down into the red zone. Which, quite obviously, is not going to get it done.

Obviously, some will bemoan the fact that Jerick McKinnon, who could have been valuable as a pass catching back, down inside the 20, is done for the year with a torn ACL.

But, they have got to go with who is healthy and can contribute – which obviously excludes McKinnon. Be it Trent Taylor, or Alfred Morris, or George Kittle, the 49ers have got to find somebody who can produce in the red zone. They’re going to need to get touchdowns instead of field goals, and they’re going to need to do it at better than a 25 percent clip.