If the San Francisco 49ers make the playoffs, no one will look back and say, “Well, they almost lost in week three!” » The same cannot be said for the division’s other two playoff contenders. Winning is all that matters.
Here’s how the 49ers got there. Let’s pass out some post notes.
If you hadn’t watched the game, you would look at Brock Purdy’s 55.6% completion percentage and think he played poorly. After all, he only completed 15 of his 27 passes. But 14 of them participated in the first tests. Four others had touchdowns.
Winners and losers have mentioned it, but it’s always a good sign when Purdy throws the ball. No quarterback had a higher throwing percentage in Week 3 than Purdy. The Cardinals have done everything they can to condense the midfield. More than 40 percent of Purdy’s attempts went outside the numbers. That’s not where the 49ers typically operate.
The winners and losers also highlighted how Brock Purdy passes Lamar Jackson for the all-time record for most career games with at least a 130 passer rating. In Week 3, Lamar’s EPA per pass was 0.51, an excellent number and second best in the league that week. Purdy’s was 0.81. A number you would struggle to achieve in Madden. Almost every time Purdy went backwards, he added a point to the scoreboard.
Purdy gets an A because the Cardinals were missing several members in their secondary, and that’s the Cardinals. Besides, he wasn’t perfect. There was at least two throws he would like to come back. And if we want to judge him as the MVP candidate that he is, then he should be rated on an MVP scale.
Purdy was in complete control for three games. His EPA per pass was higher in Week 2 (the 11th-best mark for any quarterback since 2022). You love seeing Purdy choose when to scramble. Purdy became the second quarterback since 2022 to post a passing EPA of 0.8 or higher in consecutive weeks.
He was great, and the 49ers need let it be.
Last week in this article we mentioned how Kaelon Black left a few yards on the field. He’s a beginner. There will be games like that. So it’s no surprise to see Christian McCaffrey taking the lion’s share of carries in a divisional matchup.
The fact that Purdy is great will overshadow how McCaffrey played. It shouldn’t.
McCaffrey forced four missed tackles, averaging 2.6 yards after contact and five yards per carry. When the 49ers ran out the clock late in the game, McCaffrey wasted some much-needed time and time, keeping the defense off the field.
McCaffrey collected three first downs as a receiver. He gained 24 yards after the catch on 41 receptions. He remains one of the most dangerous receivers out of the backfield, despite the drop in speed.
McCaffrey played 41 snaps to Black’s 8.
The wide receiver group wasn’t bad, but most of the production came from the quarterback or scheme. Was it cool to see Jordan Watkins catching passes? Of course.
Making plays in your first regular season game could be just what Watkins needs to boost his confidence moving forward. He was wide open on both receptions. During the play before halftime, he was the only player in the photo.
Deebo Samuel had no reception. He showed he could still run, but he had no goals through 22 runs.
Jacob Cowing was targeted twice on 14 routes.
Losing Mike Evans changed everything. He only ran 12 routes but was targeted on six of them.
KhaDarel Hodge has played the second most snaps behind Deebo, but that’s because of what he can do in the running game.
It’s obvious that Purdy only trusts Evans. Perhaps a better way to phrase it is that Purdy might be more comfortable throwing to Evans.
If Evans is out for several weeks, which appears to be where we’re headed, this group will face an uphill battle, facing two of the best secondaries in the NFL over the next two weeks.
If Luke Farrell stays within bounds of his only target and George Kittle doesn’t blatantly hold on Purdy’s touchdown, then it’s an A.
Farrell is much better as a run blocker than he was a year ago. His blocking prowess allows the team to let Kittle run routes. A new concept, isn’t it? Both players have Shanahan’s confidence in pass protection:
Purdy’s success rate targeting Kittle was 85.7%. Kittle caught his only contested catch, forced a missed tackle, recovered 30 yards after the catch, caught a few touchdowns and reached 17.06 miles per hour, which is crazy considering he’s been playing football for a month after a torn Achilles.
Jake Brendel was the only player to keep a clean sheet in pass protection, but if you allow two pressures — which a few linemen did — on 28 pass-blocking snaps, it’s not a bad game by any means. In what area is doing well 92% of the time considered bad? None to my knowledge.
For the season, the line has allowed 12 pressures in true pass sets. They win almost every rep.
A neck stinger for Trent Williams meant Vederian Lowe would finish the final 19 snaps at left tackle. It held up well. According to Sumer Sports, every lineman recorded impact plays, with Dominick Puni leading the way with three. Brendel and Colton McKivitz each had two.
McCaffrey averaged 2.6 yards Before contact about his attempts. It’s incredible.
There were a couple of series that made it look like the Cardinals had the upper hand at the line, but through 50 plays the Niners won the battle and did it convincingly.
There’s no need to sugarcoat it: The offensive line is a strength for the 49ers, and to pretend otherwise is either deliberately obtuse or you’re living off games from years past.
The real test will come over the next two games.
Since we are humans, we don’t need to destroy a defensive line whose oldest player is Keion White:
You can’t have high expectations when you go into a game with two defensive tackles who were on the roster entering training camp, and one of them gets injured halfway through the game.
Khalid Kareem played 51 snaps. He was a last minute addition before Week 1.
Raheem Morris did everything in his power to increase the gap. He bombed Jacoby Brissett on 50% of his dropbacks. Somehow it worked. Ogbo Okoronkwo and Keion White were sacked. Okoronkwo managed a 15.2% pressure rate. Newcomer Viliami Fehoko won a few passes and turned them into pressures.
White has been closer to good than average for three weeks. His pass rush winning percentage was 15.9%.
The problem is when you ask role players, in this case leadoff players, to play the run, they wear out and you get the second half against the Cardinals.
Fehoko was the only one to stop the race. Jeremiah Love averaged 1.81 yards before contact on 21 attempts.
Sebastian Valdez made two running stops and Naquan Jones added a running trick. These two held up well in the run game but offered little in the assist department.
Kevin Givens flashed. Osa Odighizuwa made an impact rushing the passer. Gracen Halton was headed for another strong performance before suffering an injury.
But after his departure, Odighizuwa couldn’t leave the field, Givens was stretched to the max and the lack of bodies up front really hurt the effectiveness of the defensive line.
At first I thought Dre Greenlaw played his best football yet this season. He lived in the backfield, whether as a run defender or a passer. Greenlaw limited coverage of almost all of his damage. On five targets, he allowed seven yards. But Greenlaw then missed a few tackles and eventually left with an injury.
Fred Warner made his usual plays at or behind the line of scrimmage. But something was wrong with Warner. He’s as safe a tackle as you can get, but he whiffed three times. The biggest surprise was Warner allowing three first downs on seven targets as the primary defender. This may be the last time this season that Warner allows a 100% completion percentage.
Seventeen tackles look superb in the box score, but only a few of them benefited the defense. In all honesty, when playing behind a makeshift defensive line, production will inevitably decrease. But I consider this player a candidate for Defensive Player of the Year and will rate him accordingly all season.
Warner pushed the passer a career-high nine times to make up for the lack of passing. I wonder if he simply ran out of gas from being forced to complete so many tasks, and that’s why there was a drop in performance, relatively speaking.
It will be interesting to see if Jaden Dugger or Garret Wallow start alongside Warner if Greenlaw is out. Wallow has the trust of Raheem Morris as a pass defender, but rarely sees the field on downs.
The cornerbacks were a pleasant surprise to start the season, but they made Michael Wilson look like Larry Fitzgerald.
Renardo Green allowed five first downs on 11 targets. Jack Jones allowed four first downs on six targets. Déommodore Lenoir conceded two first tries on five targets.
Lenoir and Green both broke up a pass, but interference from Lenoir and Jones made up for it. They were also superb against the run, but the unit only made two run stops and Upton Stout missed two tackles.
Malik Mustapha came on in the second quarter for Ji’Ayir Brown. Mustapha played 16 defensive snaps, including 12 in coverage. On the next series, Brown remained on the field and Marques Sigle came out. Mustapha’s play to stifle a run is why it won’t be long before he never leaves the field.
There is an obvious plan in place to speed up Mustapha. Against Arizona, he played the entire second quarter, but never got on the field with the defense for the other three quarters.
Brown should have had an interception. It made it possible to achieve its three objectives. But neither safety made any extreme mistakes, and that’s the bar for this group.
You can’t control how the ball bounces. Siran Neal found out the hard way. A special teams fumble cleared the defense’s stop and led to a Cardinals touchdown.
Neither returner had a big comeback.
Corliss Waitman’s net was just 41.6. Eddy Pineiro made a 57-yard field goal, but the two missed extra points kept Arizona in the game.
Kyle Shanahan against a secondary with three backups is like shooting fish in a barrel. Shanahan deserves credit for throwing the ball to end the game. Put the ball in the hands of your best player and trust that he will ice the game. It happened. Twice.
Morris tries to push every button he can. My biggest complaints were the Cardinals’ excessive number of free releases. But that would put more pressure on his safeties, something Morris has made clear he doesn’t want to do.
Gn sports
