5 Things the San Francisco 49ers Need to Fix in Order to Be Elite

When you have the second-best record in the NFL halfway through the season, like the San Francisco 49ers do, you should be considered elite. This is a team that has won six consecutive games, four in the eastern time zone and are undefeated on the road. 

San Francisco has defeated four teams that are currently at .500 or above by an average of two touchdowns per game. The 49ers have also outrushed their opponents by an average of 184-to-67 over the last four games.

One thing has jumped out at me more than anything: San Francisco's last two opponents really didn't even belong on the football field with them and it was apparent. 

But, what is the definition of being elite? After all, the 49ers are 7-1 and have pretty much clinched their division at the halfway mark of the season. They have won games pretty and ugly, while coming back in the fourth quarter multiple times. 

The 49ers' average margin of victory stands at 11 points per game, which is good for third in the NFL. Additionally, they rank No. 1 in the league in rush and scoring defense. For all intents and purposes, they are elite right now. 

Still, I am not getting that vibe from this team. They have a wide array of issues that need to be fixed in order to be considered with the upper echelon of teams in the NFL.

At this point 49ers are not playing for a playoff spot, instead they are playing for seeding and the opportunity to represent the NFC in the Super Bowl.

This is why our expectations need to be increased and their play needs to get better. In short, the 49ers are currently the second-best team in the NFL, but aren't elite just yet. 

So, I am going to take a look at five different things the 49ers need to fix in order to be considered elite and Super Bowl contenders. 

5. Get Vernon Davis the Ball More

Halfway through the season, Vernon Davis is on pace for just 62 receptions and less than 700 yards. It isn't like he's not performing at a relatively high level; instead, the 49ers game plan has continued to go away from him over the course of the last few games. 

Davis has 31 receptions on just 38 targets so far this season. This is a 82 percent completion rate, good enough for No. 1 in the NFL. 

Some of his lack of targets have to do with Alex Smith not looking past his initial or second reads, but shouldn't Davis be a first or second read on nearly every single play? Instead, the 49ers are utilizing him more as a blocker in 2011.

While this may work well against teams stacking eight in the box, they need to expand the offense and send Davis down the seam more often. This is where Alex Smith and Vernon Davis have been successful over the years even when the offense was struggling. 

In order to be considered elite, you need to get your most talented receiver the ball nine or ten times every game. The 49ers have only done that once this season, and that was the game that saw Davis catch eight passes against the Cincinnati Bengals. 

4. Improved Secondary Play

The San Francisco 49ers secondary has improved a great deal so far in 2011 and is no longer a great weakness of an otherwise stout defensive unit. Still, there is a lot of room for improvement in regards to the back four. 

The 49ers are sixth in the NFL with an opposing quarterback rating of 78.0; they also rank No. 1 on passes defended with 68. Both are signs that the secondary is playing some really good football. That said, there remains a myriad of different issues they need to address. 

First, they rank 21st in the NFL in pass defense; giving up over 255 yards per game. Some of that has to do with opposing teams being down and having to throw in order to come back as well as the 49ers' stout rush defense.

However, this is an indicator of playing soft coverage and enabling completed passes underneath. This is evidenced by the fact that the 49ers are 10th in the NFL in yards per attempt.

They need to have more trust in their safeties to play solid coverage over the top and enable the corners to play closer to the line in bump-and-run coverage. At this point, Carlos Rogers and Chris Culliver have proven that they will not get beat a whole lot and should have the confidence of the coaching staff. 

This type of coverage is not going to be magnified against the likes of Colt McCoy, John Beck and the quarterbacks in the NFC West. However, the 49ers are at the point where they are going to look to contend with the Green Bay Packers of the world in the playoffs and it will be magnified against them. 

The good news is that San Francisco will probably have the division clinched by the end of this month, which means that they will be able to game plan against those teams and work on some things over the course of the last four or five games. 

3. Score Touchdowns Instead of Field Goals

The 49ers rank eighth in the NFL in scoring offense, averaging nearly 26 points per game, but this number could be much higher right now. Their average starting field position is the best in the NFL due to stout defensive play, yet they are settling for three points far too often. 

San Francisco has 18 offensive touchdowns and 19 field goals halfway through the season. This is less than a 50 percent conversion rate, which isn't a good sign. By comparison, the Green Bay Packers have a touchdown conversion rate of 66 percent; this discrepancy will come back to bite them in the backside if not fixed before the playoffs. 

Of the 19 field goals that David Akers has made, 14 have come inside of 40 yards. This means that San Francisco has had 14 drives, an average of nearly two per game, stall inside the opponents' 25 yard line. 

Simply put, settling for three instead of seven will come back to haunt them against teams like the New Orleans Saints and Green Bay Packers in the playoffs. 

This needs to be fixed! 

2. Improved Third Down Conversion Rate

Part of the 49ers having to settle for field goals is because they rank in the bottom third of the NFL in third-down conversions. They are converting just 31 percent of their third downs through the first half of the season.

Despite winning six games in a row, this has become magnified over the course of the last three games where San Francisco has combined to go 11-for-41 (26 percent) on third downs. It isn't a coincidence that they have settled for a remarkable nine field goals during that span. 

Alex Smith is a major part of this, but the issue goes a lot further than that. Conservative play-calling, in my opinion, has led to a lot of third-down failures. San Francisco tends to focus a lot on three-tight-end and pro-set formations, even on third and long. They need to open up the offense in these situations and enable their play-makers to actually "make plays." 

A 7-1 record is fine and dandy, but these conversion rates will not work against the best teams in the league. 

1. Trust Alex Smith in the Red Zone

Lets look at simple statistics as they pertain to Alex Smith's red-zone success throughout his career. 

Completion %: .601

Yards: 648

Touchdowns: 35

Interceptions: 1

Quarterback rating: 113.3

Yes, you read that right: one interception in the red zone over Smith's seven-year career. That is one interception in 179 passing attempts. Alex Smith is the most prolific red-zone quarterback in the NFL right now, beating out the likes of Aaron Rodgers and Tom Brady. 

These statistics are even more magnified over the course of the last three seasons. He has thrown 24 red zone touchdowns, compared to zero interceptions for a quarterback rating of 127.5.

Instead of letting Alex Smith air it out in the red zone and giving the likes of Vernon Davis, Delanie Walker and Michael Crabtree the ability to make plays, they are playing way too conservatively. 

How many times have we seen jumbo three-tight-end, six-offensive-linemen sets? And, how many times have those worked? When you have a quarterback who is getting it done in the red zone at the rate Alex Smith is, it makes absolutely no sense to go away from the passing game in such situations. 

This is No. 1 on the list because it could solve a lot of the 49ers problems in regards to settling for field goals over touchdowns. 

I fully expect Harbaugh and Co. to look deeply into opening up the offense once the NFC West is clinched. If they do, it will only enhance the chances of San Francisco making a run deep into the playoffs.