Week Eleven

In even quicker succession:

49ers 34, Jacksonville 3

49ers 27, Tampa Bay 14

The bye week clearly was a tonic, or we can all say it was.  These last two weeks have shown complete dominance by the 49ers, over one very good team and over one average team with a good defense. In both games Brock Purdy has been lights-out. The one scary pass he threw, early in the game against the Jaguars, was caught by Brandon Aiyuk for a touchdown instead of intercepted by any of the three defenders encircling him.  With that out of the way, Purdy since has been a model of efficiency, with the occasional "wow" factor, such as the 76-yard bomb to Aiyuk yesterday that carried 60 yards in the air and still led the fast receiver as he caught it in stride.  Purdy posted a perfect passer rating in yesterday's game. And though the Bucs' aggressive defense sacked him four times, he also carried the ball for a 13-yard run to a first down late in the fourth quarter that effectively ended the game.

The 49er defense turned one of the league's finest young quarterbacks, Trevor Lawrence, into a pumpkin last week, with five sacks and two interceptions. Tampa's Baker Mayfield fared a little better yesterday, though he was sacked four times and threw a critical fourth-quarter interception into the end zone. That's all credit to Mayfield, who had no running game to depend on. He spread the ball around to nine different receivers and was able to sustain drives. But again and again the Bucs failed to score as the defense came through when needed.

Bad news: Talanoa Hufanga may have torn his ACL, which means he'd be out for the season. Ji'Ayir Brown, who stepped into the breach after the injury, led the team with three passes broken up, and it was he who picked off Mayfield in the end zone to thwart Tampa's last threat. He'll need to do more of this if he's to be the starter going forward.

Good news: Everyone else looks to be healthy and in peak condition. And, the Los Angeles Rams defeated the Seattle Seahawks yesterday, rallying for 10 late points. This leaves the 49ers alone in first place in the NFC West, with the upcoming Thanksgiving night game at Seattle looming large.