The San Francisco 49ers haven’t built a perfect NFL offense, but it’s not far off when their group is fully healthy.
It’s easy to point to various metrics like points and yards and yards per play to validate just how good San Francisco’s offense has been over the last three seasons. There’s another stat that perhaps best defines what makes the 49ers special on that side of the ball.
Since 2022, no team has created more explosive plays than the 49ers. An explosive play is a run of 10-plus yards or a pass of 20-plus yards. The distance between San Francsico and No. 2 on that list is greater than the difference between Nos. 2 and 5.
Here are the explosive play leaders from the 2022 season through Week 4 of the 2024 campaign, via the 49ers communications staff:
1. San Francisco 49ers, 300
2. Baltimore Ravens, 276
3. Detroit Lions, 269
4. Philadelphia Eagles, 267
5. Miami Dolphins, 255
They figure to be at or near the top of the league again this season. In 2024 the 49ers have created 34 explosives. That’s just four behind the NFL-leading Green Bay Packers.
If they’re able to manage six explosives Sunday against the Arizona Cardinals, it’ll be the fourth time they’ve reached the 40 mark through five games in franchise history. The last time they did it was in 2019 when they had 43 such plays in five games.
There’s a good chance they’ll hit that mark, and they have a chance of eclipsing the 2019 number. They’re already averaging 8.5 explosives per game, and now they’ll face a Cardinals defense that’s given up 22 such plays this season. That’s tied for the 12th-most in the NFL.
If the 49ers can continue creating explosives this season, their offense will be in a good spot to compete for a championship.