SANTA CLARA — The 49ers just blew another 10-point fourth quarter lead and lost 24-23 to the Arizona Cardinals. Now the 49ers are 2-3. Here are their grades for this pathetic performance.
QUARTERBACK: D.
Brock Purdy is a terrific scrambler — today he averaged 8.3 yards per carry. But as a passer, when he doesn’t have Christian McCaffrey he’s a glorified Jimmy Garoppolo. Call him Purdy G. In his past 10 starts, he has thrown 11 touchdown passes and nine interceptions and his record is 5-5. The essence of mediocrity. Apparently, he’s not so great when he doesn’t have the Offensive Player of the Year in the backfield with him. This season, he routinely holds the ball too long and tries to make big plays when he doesn’t need to. The past two weeks, he has thrown two interceptions in the second half while leading by multiple scores. Which means he’s letting opponents back into games. The 49ers would be smart to take the game out of his hands and run the ball with a lead in the second half. He’s not the franchise quarterback they thought he was. Good thing they learned this before he’s eligible for a contract extension.
RUNNING BACKS: B-MINUS.
Jordan Mason gained 89 yards on 14 carries, but he fumbled for the second game in a row and this time the opposing team recovered, which means he’s a big reason the 49ers lost. He’s still a great ball carrier, but he’ll get benched if he keeps putting the ball on the ground. Fortunately for him, he’s still much better than his backup, Isaac Guerendo, who has terrible vision for a running back.
FULLBACK: F.
No targets. No catches. No carries. No touchdowns. Lots of cardio, though. No one runs around quite like this guy, which is why the 49ers pay him more than $4.5 million per season. To run around and have fun.
WIDE RECEIVERS: C.
Jauan Jennings had just one catch for 13 yards, although he was open in the end zone and Purdy threw behind him. Jennings still needs more opportunities. Brandon Aiyuk finally played up to his contract — he had 8 catches for 147 yards. Maybe he simply needed a month to get into football shape after sitting out all of training camp. Or maybe he just needed to play the Cardinals. Hard to say. Deebo Samuel didn’t benefit from facing Arizona — he had just 20 yards from scrimmage. Good thing this season most likely will be his final one on the 49ers. He seems old.
TIGHT ENDS: A-MINUS.
George Kittle dropped a pass but also caught 8 for 64 yards and one touchdown. He is their entire red zone offense.
OFFENSIVE LINEMEN: A.
Granted, they played the worst front 7 in football. But they paved the way for 5.9 yards per carry and they gave up only two sacks, and neither sack was their fault. Purdy ran into pressure on his own all game.
DEFENSIVE LINEMEN: B-MINUS.
Nick Bosa had a huge interception, but collectively this group could not contain Kyler Murray — what else is new? They gave up a 50-yard touchdown run and sacked him just one time. And in the second half, they couldn’t stop James Connor, either. They’re thin and they just wore down. Doesn’t bode well for Thursday night in Seattle.
LINEBACKERS: C-MINUS.
Fred Warner recorded a whopping 12 tackles, but De’Vondre Campbell gave up that 50-yard touchdown run to Murray. Campbell is old and slow. The 49ers can’t bench him soon enough.
DEFENSIVE BACKS: B-MINUS.
They gave up a passer rating of just 79.2, but they also gave up a 14-yard catch on 4th and 5 with the game on the line. Specifically, Isaac Yiadom gave up that catch to Marvin Harrison Jr. Yiadom is a liability.
SPECIAL TEAMS: A-MINUS.
The 49ers blocked a field goal and returned it for a touchdown — this should have been the difference in the game. Unfortunately for the 49ers, Jake Moody suffered a high-ankle sprain trying to make a tackle and the 49ers had to play the second half without a kicker.
COACHES: F.
Nick Sorensen had a good game plan to shut down James Connor and the 49ers executed it in the first half. But then the Cardinals made adjustments in the second half and Sorensen didn’t and the 49ers lost. Nick Bosa said afterward the lack of adjustments were a huge reason for the defeat. Bosa also said that the lack of complementary football from the offense sunk the team. That means they passed when they should have run while they were leading by multiple scores in the second half. This is how Kyle Shanahan always blows 10-point fourth-quarter leads. He stops running the ball. He’s more concerned with having an explosive offense than actually winning. And that’s why he’s a fraud. He has been blowing fourth-quarter leads since 2017 when he was the offensive coordinator for the Falcons. Blowing fourth-quarter leads is his specialty, his destiny. It’s time to trade this choke artist before he coughs away another win to an inferior team. No coach does less with more than Shanahan. That’s his legacy. Get him out of here.
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