49ers news: The Patriots are among the league leaders in taking care of the ball

The San Francisco 49ers and New England Patriots enter their Week 4 clash with a 1-2 record. While that record might have been expected for the Patriots, it’s disappointing for a 49ers team struggling to get out of the gate.

Both teams’ only win on the season came back in Week 1, with the 49ers beating the New York Jets and the Patriots upsetting the Cincinnati Bengals on the road. Neither team has been able to find its winning ways since, and both have been threatened with a 1-3 start. It’ll be on the 49ers to take care of business and avoid a third consecutive loss against a team they should beat.

These are some numbers to know as both teams look to find their winning ways again:

46.4

Per PFF, Patriots quarterback Jacoby Brissett has been pressured on 46.4 percent of dropbacks, the highest among quarterbacks with at least 35 dropbacks.

And to Brissett’s credit, he’s handled that pressure as best he can. Sure, he might be sacked on 11.54 percent of dropbacks–the fourth-highest rate in the league–but he hasn’t been forced into a mistake yet. On the 39 dropbacks Brissett has been pressured on, he’s completed 11-of-25 passes for 113 yards without a touchdown or an interception.

Something that might play to the 49ers’ lackluster pass rush on Sunday, however, is that six of Brissett’s nine sacks have come when he wasn’t blitzed. Nick Sorensen has been allergic to heat through three games, blitzing on 14.1 percent of dropbacks, a rate that would be the lowest of the Shanahan era. And with the lower blitz rate, the 49ers have eight sacks through the three games, right at the league average.

Nick Bosa leads the 49ers with 12 pressures, but Javon Hargrave–second behind Bosa with eight–is out for the season with a pectoral injury. Behind that are Maliek Collins and Leonard Floyd, whose 11 combined pressures don’t match that of Bosa alone. But Sunday could be seen as a chance to turn around the slow start against a struggling Patriots offensive line.

Right guard Layden Robinson has allowed a Patriots-high 11 tackles, so San Francisco will miss out on that advantage with Hargrave out, but New England’s tackles are just as vulnerable. Mike Onwenu has allowed six pressures at right tackle, and Vederian Lowe has allowed seven in two games. Lowe missed the game against the Jets and hasn’t practiced through Thursday, so his status is in the air. However, his replacement for Week 3, Caedan Wallace, allowed three pressures on 28 pass block snaps.

The 49ers’ pass rush has been scrutinized much throughout the three games, but New England presents a prime turnaround spot. If San Francisco can’t take advantage of a poor Patriots offensive line, the heat around Sorensen’s slow start will only get hotter.

3.3

New England’s offense has turned the ball over on 3.3 percent of offensive drives, the third-best rate in the league.

The Patriots’ offense doesn’t do much well, but one thing they also don’t do is turn the ball over. Rhamondre Stevenson’s fourth-quarter fumble against the Jets last week was the team’s first turnover, coming at a time when trailing 21-3. Outside of that, it’s been a clean slate for an otherwise struggling New England offense.

Brissett and the New England offense have only managed 39 points through three games—the second-fewest in the league–but they’ve been in two competitive games because they’ve been able to hold onto the ball. In the win against Cincinnati and the loss to Seattle, New England won the time of possession battle, keeping the opposing team off the field by not turning the ball over. Cincinnati could not overcome the time of possession deficit, falling to the Patriots in Week 1, and the Seahawks were able to squeak out an overtime win.

The San Francisco defense has been able to force turnovers despite the slow start, with two interceptions and two fumbles recovered. Both interceptions have come from linebackers Fred Warner and Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles, which could come in handy against a Patriots offense that likes to utilize its tight ends.

The 49ers defense must force Brissett into a mistake or two to keep the New England offense at bay. The Patriots have shown they can stay in games, and San Francisco will need to take everything it can to end the current two-game losing streak.

25.7

New England’s opponents’ average drive starts at its own 25.7-yard line, the second-longest average field in the league.

This is where the Patriots offense not turning the ball over helps. Only one drive for a New England opponent has started inside New England territory, and that was the Jets drive following the Stevenson fumble last week. Other than that, the Patriots have done an excellent job winning the field possession battle early in the season.

The 49ers, however, are one of the better teams in the league at putting together drives while having one of the worst average starting positions. San Francisco’s average drive starts at its own 27.2-yard line. That’s tied with Seattle and Tennessee for the fourth-longest field to start a drive in the league. Unlike the Seahawks and Titans, San Francisco’s offense has been undeterred by the average long field.

San Francisco ranks second in players per drive, yards per drive, and time per drive–all behind Washington–while averaging 2.52 points, the sixth-best in the NFL. While New England gives its opponents a long field on average, stopping teams has been an issue. The Patriots allow 6.8 plays per drive (seventh-most), 35.1 yards per drive (seventh-most), with an average time of possession against of 3:25 (sixth-longest).

Points have been tricky to come by against the Patriots, who have only allowed 57 points, good enough to be a top-ten scoring defense. Brock Purdy and the 49ers offense will need to sustain long drives and ensure touchdowns over field goals.

27

Patriots tight ends Hunter Henry and Austin Hooper have combined for 27 of the teams’ 71 targets.

It’s not an offense that passes much–New England enters Sunday as one of three teams with more rushing yards than passing yards–but when they do, they like to go to their tight end duo. Henry has quietly been one of the most consistent tight ends in the past few seasons, and he’s off to a hot start in 2024. He leads the Patriots in targets, receptions, and yards and has established himself early as Brissett’s favorite target. Hooper hasn’t had Henry’s success, but he’s third on the Patriots with nine targets behind Demario Douglas.

Expect Patriots offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt and Brissett to try to utilize those tight ends against San Francisco, especially in matchups against linebacker De’Vondre Campbell. Campbell has been one of the weakest spots on the 49ers defense, especially in pass coverage. He’s been San Francisco’s most-targeted defender, targeted 16 times, allowing 14 receptions for 149 yards and a touchdown.

When the Rams needed yards last week, they went at Campbell. Although targeted three times, Campbell had two of the most consequential coverage snaps of the game. His first came when Kyren Williams beat him on a route out of the backfield for a 15-yard touchdown. Later, with the game on the line, Matthew Stafford went to the well again, throwing a ball up to Colby Parkinson and drawing a pass interference against the linebacker to set up the game-winning field goal.

New England’s offensive strength is its use of tight ends, and the 49ers have an apparent pass coverage weakness at linebacker.