QUARTERBACK: D
Brock Purdy lost this match. To be fair, he didn’t have his top six receivers (Mike Evans, Deebo Samuel, Demarcus Robinson, De’Zhaun Stribling, Ricky Pearsall and Brandon Aiyuk). Still, he had George Kittle, Christian McCaffrey and Kyle Shanahan. Plus, Purdy had Jordan Watkins, who had a terrific game (more on that in a minute). If Purdy had put more air under his deep pass to Watkins, he would have scored a touchdown instead of being tackled after a 35-yard gain. Additionally, Purdy threw two picks – the first to a safety as he attempted to throw the ball out of bounds, and the second to a linebacker right in front of him that he never saw. Finally, Purdy also turned the ball over on downs when he took a sack on fourth down. Purdy is still a good quarterback, but he can probably forget about the MVP Award after this performance. We thought he had improved, but it turns out he just plays a lot better when Mike Evans is on the court (who doesn’t?).
RUNNING BACK:B
Christian McCaffrey was outstanding despite missing most of the first half with a quad injury. Kaelon Black also played well, minus his fumble. It was a crucial part of the match. Jordan James also fumbled, but the 49ers recovered. And Kyle Juszczyk caught a touchdown pass near the goal line. Overall, this position is not the reason the 49ers lost.
TIGHT ENDS: B-MINUS
George Kittle caught eight passes for 88 yards despite the Falcons flanking him for most of the game, but also fumbled on the final drive. To be fair, the 49ers had already essentially lost at that point. Still, it’s unusual to see Kittle put the ball on the ground.
WIDE RECEIVERS: B
Sure, this is a group of backups, but none of these guys turned the ball over. Of course, Christian Kirk didn’t do anything – I still don’t know why the 49ers signed him. But Jacob Cowing was decent and Jordan Watkins was good. He finished with three catches for 56 yards. One of those catches should have been a long touchdown, but Purdy overturned it. He also had another play in which he was wide open, but Purdy never saw him. Ultimately, Watkins almost had an incredible touchdown, but he didn’t control the ball after he hit the ground. One of the biggest positives from this loss is Watkins’ emergence as a legitimate threat. The 49ers need to get him more involved in the offense after the bye week.
OFFENSIVE LINE PLAYERS: B-PLUS
They allowed two sacks, but also helped pave the way for the offense to gain a whopping 5.3 yards per carry. This position group is the least of the 49ers’ problems heading into the trade deadline.
DEFENSIVE LINES: C
They held Bijan Robinson to just 3.2 yards per carry, which is extremely impressive, but they also recorded no sacks against a mediocre quarterback who doesn’t move particularly well. The 49ers just let him sit still for the entire game, like he was watching the waves on the beach. They really need to trade for DeForest Buckner ASAP. They need more smugglers.
LINEBACKERS: A
Fred Warner had 13 tackles and Dre Greenlaw had 12. Impressive. And they didn’t hit anyone helmet-to-helmet or out of bounds, which is even more impressive for them.
DEFENSIVE: D
They allowed three touchdown passes and a 118.9 passer rating to Michael Freaking Penix Jr., which should never happen. Granted, the 49ers didn’t have a pass rush. Yet the coverage was so poor that it was difficult for defensive linemen to get home. That’s because Upton Stout missed the game with a shoulder injury and his replacement was Jack Jones, who is horrible. When the Falcons went after him, the 49ers replaced him with Ahstyn Davis, who is worse. Ultimately, the 49ers put Ephesians Prysock in the game, which was smart: he’s better than Jones and Davis. Strange it took the 49ers so long to figure this out.
SPECIAL TEAMS: F
They gave up several long kickoff returns and Eddy Pineiro missed his fourth extra point of the season and seventh kickoff in seven games. He’s one of the worst extra point kickers the league has seen since it rolled back the extra point about 10 years ago. Too bad the 49ers gave him a four-year extension this offseason, because he needs to go. The 49ers need to replace him before he costs them more games. Because as bad as the 49ers were, they would have only been down by one score on the final possession if Pineiro hadn’t missed an extra point earlier in the game. Cut it.
COACHES: C
Raheem Morris’ defense wasn’t great, but it accomplished its main goal, which was to keep Bijan Robinson in check. He never scored. The main reason the 49ers lost, besides their kicker missing another extra point, was the offense. It stank. He turned the ball over five times – two interceptions, two fumbles and a turnover on downs. The running game was working and the 49ers were leading in the second half, and yet Kyle Shanahan fell in love with the passing game, just like last week. He called 42 passes and only 21 runs, which is inexplicable considering the 49ers were missing so many wide receivers. Fortunately, the 49ers are still 6-1 and they have a bye week coming up, so Shanahan can look in the mirror, acknowledge that he coached poorly the last two weeks and correct his mistakes. The Super Bowl depends on it.
Add us as your favorite source on GoogleFollow
Gn headline
