The San Francisco 49ers have played their best games of the season over the last two weeks. They outscored the Los Angeles Rams and the Carolina Panthers by a combined score of 61-24. The Niners hope to emerge from their two-game East Coast road trip with a 4-2 record. They'll need to knock off the Atlanta Falcons at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Sunday to do that.
The offense looks much improved compared to the unit we saw in Week 3 against the Denver Broncos. However, one 49ers player believes fans haven't seen anything yet.
"Just little things we've got to clean up," wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk told reporters after Friday's practice. "We've yet to play a perfect game. We talk about it in the receiving room. ... We have yet to play our best game. Offensively, I feel like we feel the same way. Defensively, they're playing great, but I'm sure they'll tell you the same thing.
"We're just looking for that as the season goes along, to continue to get better and better and better, and look up, and be right where we want to be at."
After transitioning from Jimmy Garoppolo to Trey Lance, the 49ers offense has transitioned back to Garoppolo. Lance suffered a season-ending ankle injury against the Seattle Seahawks during Week 2, leaving Garoppolo as the starter for the remainder of the season.
Aiyuk hasn't had the production that many predicted. Most felt the third-year player would have a breakout season. Instead, he's caught just 17 passes for 237 yards and a touchdown, putting him on pace to fall short of last year's total of 826 receiving yards.
Might the quarterback changes and trying to rebuild chemistry with Garoppolo have contributed to the lack of big numbers?
"Yeah, of course," Aiyuk responded. "I think when he came in the Seattle game, we were able to still kind of do some of the things we wanted to do. But you always have the chemistry. You've always got to work on things throughout the week. That's why we always put a big emphasis on practice.
"I felt [over] the past couple of weeks, being able to be out there with him again, it's been huge for all the receivers just getting back used to him. It's a little different from route to route between Trey and Jimmy on where the ball might be or where you're expecting the ball to be."
