San Francisco 49ers: The good, bad, and ugly in week two win over Lions

Ugly: Red Zone Efficiency

Perhaps worse than their third down efficiency was San Francisco’s red zone efficiency. For the second straight week, the 49ers struggled to put points on the board inside the 20-yard line.

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Against Minnesota last week, San Francisco scored just once on four red zone opportunities – and that, a 33-yard Robbie Gould field goal in the 24-16 season opening loss.

Against the Lions though, a team not exactly known for their prowess in stopping the opposition from scoring in the red zone, San Francisco continued to struggle. Last year, the Lions defense was scored on an astounding 62 percent of the time in the red zone, as teams put points on the board 34 out of 55 total chances.

Against that less than stellar red zone defense, Garoppolo and San Francisco’s offense managed just two scores on their five trips inside the 20.

For the year, San Francisco has converted just three times on nine trips into the red zone, while their defense has given up three scores on their opponents’ six trips inside the 20. Their 33 percent conversion rate needs to be closer to the 50 percent the defense is giving up, while the defense needs to bring that number way down.

Being able to score inside the twenty, while keep their opponents from doing so would go a long way toward helping to win some ballgames.