Week Sixteen

Baltimore 33, 49ers 19

Some takeaways from a good old-fashioned beating:

• The 49ers' ability to come from behind late in the game is still unproven. They've not done it once since last year's overtime win in Las Vegas. While it's true the Niners' preference and tendency is to jump ahead early and put the screws to the opponent, this remains a troubling issue with the postseason just ahead.

• With that in mind, does anyone else think the game really turned for the worse with only three minutes gone? Brock Purdy had led the 49ers right down the field, hitting medium and deep passes almost at will against a fine defense, only to see what should have been a touchdown pass picked off in the end zone. Had the 49ers scored there, does anyone think they'd have lost at all, or not by more than 3 in any case? His other interceptions were due to batted and tipped balls, but this one rests solely on our young QB, who made the throw a half-second too late on the game's signature play.

• Despite three first-half interceptions, it was still only 16-12 at halftime, anybody's ballgame. Then came the worst stretch of 49er football we've seen since 2020, 17 points in six minutes as the Ravens took complete control and never let go. The final 20 minutes were cringe-worthy as offensive linemen, including the linchpin Trent Williams, limped off the field and Purdy looked genuinely flustered, later taking a scary hit that gave coach Shanahan the excuse he needed to sit him down for the duration. 

• And don't overlook this: despite getting thoroughly pounded on the board, San Francisco outgained Baltimore in rushing (121-102), passing (308-241), total yards (429-343), and yards per play (6.3 to 5.4). The difference in the game was five interceptions. By that measure, Baltimore was clearly the better team, but much of it was because the 49ers beat themselves.

• The AFC is clearly the superior conference, with a ten-game advantage over the NFC in interconference play. (The 49ers are 2-3 against the other conference, 9-1 in the NFC.)

• Sam Darnold can play quarterback in this league. Nice to know, even if it was the last thing we wanted to find out from this game. 

• The road to the NFC top seed is wide open as long as five turnovers don't remain on the menu. 

Week Fifteen

 49ers 45, Arizona 29

With half a dozen defensive regulars sitting out Sunday's game at Arizona due to various injuries, it was incumbent on the 49er offense to score often to avoid an avoidable upset by Kyler Murray and his merry band of Cardinals. 

And the 49er defense indeed looked, well, thin, and out of sorts, as Murray and his mates took the opening kickoff and marched 70 yards for a touchdown, Murray carrying much of the load and James Conner  scoring the points.   

But as they would throughout the game, the 49er offense answered back quickly. Brock Purdy, starting off a four-touchdown, zero-interception day with a 75-yard drive, generated 30 yards through the air and Christian McCaffrey accounted for the other 45. This is sounding very familiar, isn't it?

The defense, perhaps atoning for bad form earlier, then put up a spectacular score on Charvarius Ward's 66-yard return of an interception to complete the first quarter. The second period was a bit of a slog, each team punting once, the Cardinals scoring twice on field goals, and the 49ers reasserting control late in the quarter with a time-consuming drive to a McCaffrey touchdown and a 21-13 lead.

The 49ers scored their fourth TD to open the third quarter, and it slowly got out of hand in the second half as the 49ers rolled up and down the field, building leads of 35-16 and 45-22, and McCaffrey scored his 19th and 20th touchdowns of the season. The defense intercepted Murray twice more and sacked him three times, but consider this: the Cardinals put up 234 rushing yards, and 436 total yards, in a losing effort. That is not a number we want to see heading into the season's third Ultimate Showdown-- Christmas night at home against Baltimore, the only other 11-3 team in the league.

As well as officially clinching the division, the 49ers' Week 15 aftermath was bolstered by the Buffalo Bills' demolition of the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday and by last night's last-minute upset of the Philadelphia Eagles by our old friends, the Seattle Seahawks, who stubbornly remain in the playoff hunt.  

San Francisco now has a one-game lead and holds all the tiebreakers, but for all the giddy talk about a Super Bowl preview and rematch, it still comes down to winning each game. And that means we need the return of the great 49er defense, if we expect to see a scarlet-and-gold Christmas. 

Week Fourteen

 49ers 28, Seattle 16

The official word this morning is that the 49ers are the first NFL team to clinch a playoff spot in 2023. Realistically, Sunday's solid win over the Seahawks essentially clinched the NFC West division title, too. The Los Angeles Rams, with a 4-1 division record, could theoretically win out and finish 10-7, and if the Niners were to collapse, lose the season finale at home to LA, and also finish 10-7, the Rams would win the division. Compute those odds if you've time to waste.

San Francisco also leads the NFL in point differential-- whoops, no they don't. That leader would be Dallas, who became the second straight team to hammer the defending NFC champion Eagles Sunday night. To get that lead, the 'Pokes had to overcome their own minus-32-point differential against the 49ers. Congratulations are in order, if you've time to waste.

Brock Purdy showed off the strong arm and the deep ball Sunday, with an absolutely perfect 54-yard strike to Deebo Samuel, who caught it in stride-- he strides very fast indeed-- and continued on for the touchdown. Purdy added deep downfield completions of 30 and 45 yards to Brandon Aiyuk, and an old-fashioned 44-yard post pattern to George Kittle for the score that made it 28-10 and essentially decided the game. 

The tally: 150 yards for Deebo, 153 for Christian McCaffrey (including a 72-yard burst on the game's first play), and 126 for Aiyuk.  That's 527 total yards, 354 passing, 173 rushing, a 54% third-down efficiency, and you may be wondering, then, why only 28 points? A fair question. Only one turnover (an interception that served as a punt), three sacks, and five punts.  One of those punts was preceded by punter Mitch Wishnowsky's 30-yard run off a beautiful fake, but a chop-block penalty nullified it. And, on defense, four more sacks and two more interceptions, and the tendency to shut the opponent down in the second half after a lethargic start.

So is it that the 49ers are so good that they win going away even when they miss numerous scoring chances against a porous defense?  Was it simply a letdown after the monumental Philadelphia game, meaning they're good enough to win regardless? Or does that failure to capitalize on those opportunities mask a real weakness that also explains the midseason losses which seem so long ago?

The next game, at Arizona, may reveal whether those are legitimate concerns or just needless worry. Classic trap game and all, facing a 3-10 club on their home field, a week before the AFC's best team, Baltimore, comes a-callin'. 

Week Thirteen

 

49ers 42, Philadelphia 19

“The precision-jackhammer attack of the San Francisco 49ers stomped the balls off the Philadelphia Eagles today by stomping and hammering with one precise jack-thrust after another up the middle, mixed with pinpoint precision passes into the flat and numerous hammer-jack stomps around both ends…”

Just kidding. Even the late Hunter S. Thompson would have had no problem understanding that Sunday's demolition of the Philadelphia Eagles followed a far different script. But the outcome was similar. The 49ers imposed their will on a powerful opponent on its home field, and there was nothing the Eagles could do about it.

Some observations:

Once again we showed our complete ignorance of how football games are won, as the 49ers not only didn't "get off first," they didn't "get off" at all in the first quarter, unless one means "get off the field." For 15 minutes Lincoln Financial Field looked like it might indeed be Brock Purdy's personal kryptonite. He was perfectly healthy this time, but you wouldn't have known it by the stat sheet: zero pass completions, zero first downs, minus-six yards. 

Yet the score at the end of the quarter was only 6-0. Despite Jalen Hurts leading his offense up and down the field, the 49er defense was magnificent in the red zone, and Philly only got two field goals for all that domination. Aware that the rest of the game belonged to the 49er offense, let's stop here and give that defense its due for keeping the game close when it easily could have gotten away.

You will never see a more perfectly-executed play than the one that sent Deebo Samuel on his way to his third touchdown. The replay shows a veritable wall of white jerseys to the left, sweeping back the green suits like a series of bulldozers clearing the rainforest. Deebo angles to the right, and he's got an open field all the way to the end zone. The chalkboard X's and O's came to life right there.  

Kyle Shanahan's lingering reputation for "freezing" in the critical moments of a game took a beating Sunday. He continually surprised a good Philadelphia defense with sudden unexpected formations and plays when it was still a contest in the third quarter.  The play that broke it open--  Samuel's second TD-- had every defender out of position and grasping at jerseys.  Utter futility. And check Deebo's incredible power/speed burst as he saw the open goal just ahead of him. A man that size accelerating that fast? Almost seems unfair, doesn't it?

In this game, Jalen Hurts proved he is the MVP, and not just because Christian McCaffrey and Purdy might split the vote. The only reason the Eagles were even in this game over the last 35 minutes is because of Hurts-- his athleticism, his arm, his downfield vision, his toughness. In a bizarre twist on last year's NFC championship, it was Hurts leaving the field with an injury instead of Purdy. But he came back, and he kept battling to the end. Philadelphia has a good-- we can't say great-- offensive line, but the 49er defense shredded it all day and Hurts had to bail out on almost every single pass play. He held the ball forever since most of the time no one was open downfield, but tenaciously avoided all but three sacks which could have been a dozen. With no running game, except for Hurts' own scrambles, the whole Eagles' offense was he and the fine receiver A.J. Brown. 

We love Brock Purdy, but he is backed by a tremendous defense and game-changing players like Samuel, McCaffrey, George Kittle, and Brandon Aiyuk. Jalen Hurts is the sole difference-maker for the Philadelphia Eagles. With him, they're a Super Bowl contender; without him, they're just another 6-6 team trying to make the playoffs. He's got our MVP vote.

The 49ers can clinch the division this Sunday with a win over the Seattle Seahawks, and they own the tie-breaker with Dallas and Philadelphia, who square off this weekend. After four straight wins, the postseason picture looks a little brighter in Santa Clara. 

Week Twelve

49ers 31, Seattle 13

Well, we know now how Brock Purdy reacts when disaster strikes: he shrugs it off, gets back to work, and leads a 64-yard fourth-quarter drive to the clinching touchdown. 

After the 49er defense had sacked Geno Smith for the third time, early in the third quarter Sunday, Seattle had to punt trailing 24-3 and barely in the game, with almost no offense to show for it. But the Seahawks special teams downed the ball at the 49er 4-yard-line and Purdy tried to pass his way out of it. One, over the middle to Deebo Samuel, bounced off the receiver incomplete. The next, intended for Christian McCaffrey, bounced off the receiver and right into the arms of one Jordyn Brooks, who returned it for an easy  touchdown. The grumpy, muttering crowd at Century Link Field erupted with its trademark ear-shattering howl, and it was a new ballgame. 

Purdy immediately went back to the well and calmly completed two sharp passes, again right over the middle, before overthrowing George Kittle on third down. Seattle put together a six-and-a-half-minute drive-- a 34-yard Smith completion followed by ten plays that gained 43 yards and included the 49ers' fourth sack-- to a field goal and a two-score game with three minutes left in the third. The 49ers switched over to the running game, moving 30 yards but stopping short of field goal range when a crowd-aided false start killed a fourth-and-short opportunity.

Still 24-13 when Purdy got the ball back four minutes into the fourth quarter. He promptly did his "system quarterback" routine-- until he didn't. That means a short  pass followed by four pounding straight-ahead runs runs through the defense, McCaffrey and Elijah Mitchell alternating, and with three-yards-and-a-cloud-of-dust now established, Purdy dropped back and rifled a 28-yard laser shot to Brandon Aiyuk, who caught it in stride and literally rolled into the end zone. Control re-established and game over, though there were eight minutes left to play.

Now the 49ers head into the upcoming Ultimate Showdown at Philadelphia. Somewhat surprisingly, they are slight favorites; the defending NFC champions have shown both fortitude and remarkable good fortune in recent wins that saw them outplayed. For the 49ers to outplay the Eagles this Sunday, they need to get off first, as they did in Seattle, and they need to establish a power running game in the fourth quarter, ditto. That's presuming a close game, of course. And four more sacks will certainly help!