SANTA CLARA — The San Francisco 49ers just beat the New England Patriots 30-13. Here are the 49ers’ grades for this performance.
BROCK PURDY: B.
He was good but not great. He completed two deep passes which were nice plus he threw a beautiful touchdown pass to George Kittle who was triple covered in the back left corner of the end zone. These were Purdy’s best plays. Keep in mind, he was facing one of the worst pass defenses in the league. New England came into the game having allowed a passer rating of 103.6. And late in this game when winning by multiple scores, Purdy forced a pass to Brandon Aiyuk who was double covered in the end zone and got interepted. Purdy currently ranks sixth in the NFL in passer rating, which is good, but not as good as last season when he led the league in passer rating. Losing Christian McCaffrey clearly has hurt the entire offense.
RUNNING BACKS: A-MINUS.
Jordan Mason averaged 5.1 yards per carry, gained 160 yards from scrimmage and scored a touchdown. He’s the hardest runner in the NFL. He also fumbled twice, which is troubling, but he recovered both of them. He’s having a Pro Bowl season. Unfortunately for the 49ers, they have no backup for him. And their fullback, Kyle Juszczyk, caught one pass as usual.
WIDE RECEIVERS: C.
They caught just 8 of 18 targets. Each of the top three wide receivers caught a long pass but none of them were consistently dominant. And Purdy’s passer rating when targeting Aiyuk in particular in this game was 35.8. In the span of a month, Aiyuk has become the most expensive No. 3 wide receiver in NFL history. His contract extension will go down as one of the worst ones ever.
TIGHT ENDS: A.
George Kittle had 45 yards and 1 touchdown catch plus he blocked extremely well in the run game. The 49ers seem to average at least a full yard per carry more with Kittle on the field than when he’s not on the field.
OFFENSIVE LINEMEN: A.
They gave up just one sack and paved the way for 148 yards on the ground. Granted, the Patriots have a terrible pass rush, but their run defense is good and the 49ers still won the battle in the trenches.
DEFENSIVE LINEMEN: A-PLUS.
They dominated in the run game and the pass game for the first time all season. Last week, this group did nothing well, which means it had a ton to prove today, especially considering Javon Hargrave is out for the season with a triceps injury. And the 49ers were better without him today. Hargrave is a good pass rusher, but he doesn’t play through the whistle or pursue ball carriers sideline to sideline, which is why he wasn’t particularly productive for the 49ers. His replacement, Kevin Givens, had 2.5 sacks in the first half alone. Upgrade.
LINEBACKERS: A.
Fred Warner essentially won the game with an incredible pick-six in the first half. He clearly is the best player on the team. The other two linebackers — De’Vondre Campbell and Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles — both struggled. Dee Winters is better than both of them.
DEFENSIVE BACKS: B.
They faced an offense with no weapons and a glorified backup quarterback and shut them down. They weren’t really tested.
SPECIAL TEAMS: D.
Isaac Guerendo fumbled a kickoff return and the Patriots recovered it, and Jacob Cowing injured his shoulder returning a punt. Special teams have been a major problem three games in a row.
COACHES: A.
Nick Sorensen saved his job with an excellent performance against a terrible offense. He needed to show that he can manufacture a pass rush and he did just that. He also needs to show he can stop a good offense and not just an awful one. Meanwhile, Kyle Shanahan is still trying to establish an identity for the offense without Christian McCaffrey. They still move the ball up and down the field easily without him, but they struggle to score touchdowns in the red zone. Today, the 49ers didn’t have to do much because the Patriots essentially beat themselves early in the game. But the schedule will get much more difficult in the next few weeks and the 49ers will have to play better football to win. Today was a step in the right direction.
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