The San Francisco 49ers offense was rolling on Sunday. You have to understand how much Brock Purdy and Kyle Shanahan care about punter Thomas Morestead, since they made sure he got an extra week of rest after the bye for the stretch run by not punting at all. Selfless act by Purdy and the entire 49ers offense. The 49ers quarterback was in control all game and looked his best moving around and scrambling.
The concern comes in with the defense. Yes, the game was a blowout, but the missed tackles issue is still there, and the defense allowed a big man touchdown to Jeffrey Simmons. Cam Ward was the most sacked quarterback in the NFL and didn’t go down once. However you slice it, the 49ers notched their tenth win and nearly put up 40 on Sunday. Will defensive performances like Sunday’s fly down the stretch and the playoffs? That’s another story.
Let’s look at the snap counts and grades for the 49ers, according to Pro Football Focus.
23/30, 295 yards, 9.8 YPA, three touchdowns, zero interceptions, 5.9% BTT, zero TWP, 20 first downs, and a 140.3 NFL QB rating. That’ll do, Brock. To go with the flashy throwing numbers, 44 rushing yards. Purdy added a season-long 26-yard run on Sunday. The 49ers don’t need Purdy to turn into Michael Vick, but his mobility and ability to gain yards when receivers are covered to continue drives are key. Purdy looked as close to fully healthy as possible.
Christian McCaffrey 62 (58.4)
McCaffrey popped up on the injury report with a back injury very late in the week, but the injury didn’t slow McCaffrey down from touching the ball 23 times for 87 yards and a touchdown. Seventy of McCaffrey’s 73 yards came after contact. The story was his ability to make it through the game without aggravating the injury, and he should be good to go for the stretch run.
Kendrick Bourne 33 (61.0)
Demarcus Robinson 23 (87.6)
Two more touchdowns for Jennings and three straight games hauling in a touchdown. Ricky Pearsall returned to the box score in a big way, but battled injuries throughout the day, with a chance he can miss Monday night’s matchup in Indianapolis. It was good to see Pearsall catch six passes for 96 yards and flash his form from the beginning of the season. Kendrick Bourne remains one yard away from his 500k bonus. Get him a screen pass on Monday and get him paid, Kyle.
Kittle continued his fine season with another touchdown and led all receivers with 4.2 yards after catch over expected per Next Gen Stats. Adding to his 88 yards on eight catches, Kittle finished with a 76.7 pass blocking grade and 70.3 run blocking grade. Kittle has topped 65 receiving yards in five straight games and has four touchdowns during that span.
Colton McKivitz 74 (71.1)
Spencer Burford 65 (52.2)
Somehow, Trent Williams posted a career-high offensive grade on Sunday. It’s hard to believe Sunday was his highest-graded game, but the future Hall of Famer is still at the top of his game. Williams finished with a team-high 95.1 run blocking and 87.5 pass blocking grade.
The 49ers’ offensive line allowed ten pressures, nine hurries, and a sack, but Spencer Burford was dinged for the sack and four pressures and three hurries. Burford did leave with an injury, but appears to have escaped serious injury. Dominick Puni allowed three pressures himself, with the other three linemen only allowing one each.
The defensive line generated 11 pressures, three QB hits, and eight hurries. Keion White posted a 17.4% win rate, and Bryce Huff was just north of ten percent. The concern is in true pass sets, the 49ers were only able to generate six pressures and four hurries. Alfred Collins and Kalia Davis can’t be the lowest graded run defenders moving forward. The 49ers need Yetur Gross-Matos to return and quickly.
Curtis Robinson 53 (49.4)
Speaking of players who need to return, Tatum Bethune is sorely missed at middle linebacker. Dee Winters posted the highest run defense grade at 74.9, but Curtis Robinson is routinely caught out of position or in no man’s land. Not a recipe for success with the Colts looking to run the football 50-plus times on Monday night with Jonathan Taylor.
Ji’Ayir Brown 53 (49.9)
Deommodore Lenoir 53 (52.2)
Very rough day for the 49ers’ secondary. Bottom line, Renardo Green was caught sleeping in the secondary (Ward missed Jefferson, but a better duo will connect on the double move), Malik Mustapha is missing tackles (led the team), and the big nickel experiment with Jason Pinnock isn’t returning positive results. Monday, the 49ers face Philip Rivers, so they won’t be tested downfield, but facing Caleb Williams and Sam Darnold will be much harder to slow down. Even Deommodore Lenoir was dinged for a 43-yard catch.