49ers 10, Bears 19: Grades
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CHICAGO -- Here are the 49ers' grades following their 19-10 collapse to the Chicago Bears.
TREY LANCE: B.
Lance certainly deserves some criticism for his performance, particularly the missed long throw to Tyler Kroft that should have been a touchdown in the first half, plus the interception over the middle in the second half. And his passer rating was a mere 50.3. But he also did so many good things in this game that his predecessor couldn't do: The 31-yard completion to Brandon Aiyuk on a play-action deep crossing route. The 20-yard completion to Ray-Ray McCloud on a play-action deep crossing route. The 44-yard yard completion to Jauan Jennings on 3rd and 6. The 13-yard run on 3rd and 13. Plus all the other first-down runs -- he was the 49ers leading rusher in this game. Lance currently struggles throwing short passes over the middle, so I'm not sure why Kyle Shanahan called so many of those passes in the second half (more on Shanahan in minute). But Lance is still an improvement over his predecessor, who would have lost this game even worse.
RUNNING BACKS: C.
Elijah Mitchell was fantastic in the first half, as he rushed 6 times for 41 yards. But he injured his knee and did not return. Afterward, he hobbled out of the locker room wearing an enormous brace on his knee, which doesn't bode well for him. Once he went down, the 49ers run game fell apart. Jeff Wilson Jr. gained just 22 rushing yards on 9 carries -- he had no snap or explosion in his legs. The 49ers should have given some carries to Jordan Mason, who was active instead of Ty Davis-Price.
WIDE RECEIVERS: B.
Jauan Jennings had a terrific game -- four catches for 66 yards. And Brandon Aiyuk had a good game, too -- two catches for 40 yards, plus a third catch that didn't count because he got flagged for a bogus pass interference. Deebo Samuel had a good game as a running back -- 8 carries for 52 yards and one touchdown, but he also fumbled in the red zone and the Bears recovered, plus he dropped two passes and caught just two passes for only 14 yards. Samuel will not make the Pro Bowl playing like this. He needs to get in game shape A.S.A.P.
TIGHT ENDS: C-Plus.
George Kittle didn't play, and so the 49ers tight ends combined to gain just 20 receiving yards. To be fair, Tyler Kroft was open for a touchdown and Lance overthrew him.
OFFENSIVE LINEMEN: C.
Mike McGlinchey gave up a sack that knocked the 49ers out of field goal range in the first half. Also Trent Williams committed a false start.
DEFENSIVE LINEMEN: D.
Nick Bosa and Samson Ebukam each recorded one sack, but those were the only two sacks the defense produced. And the defensive tackles, Arik Armstead and Javon Kinlaw, were not good. Armstead had two tackles, and Kinlaw had no tackles and a defensive holding penalty. And most of the Bears' rushing yards came between the B gaps where Armstead and Kinlaw play. Those two former first-round picks must perform better.
LINEBACKERS: D.
Dre Greenlaw committed two 15-yard penalties and Azeez Al-Shaair committed one 15-yard penalty against an offense that couldn't move the ball on its own in the first half. Terrible.
DEFENSIVE BACKS: D.
Talanoa Hufanga was fantastic in the first half, and finished the game with 11 tackles and an interception. But in the second half, he started freelancing, tried to be a hero and gave up the 51-yard touchdown catch to Dante Pettis after vacating the deep middle of the field just to jump a shallow route. This completely changed the game. And it wasn't the only busted-coverage wide-open touchdown catch the secondary gave up in this game.
SPECIAL TEAMS: B.
They weren't the reason the 49ers lost.
COACHES: F.
Kyle Shanahan didn't have his players physically or mentally prepared to play a full 60-minute game, which means his players predictably collapsed after halftime. That's because Shanahan chose to rest most of them during the preseason so the team could be as healthy as possible. But that strategy backfired, considering Jimmie Ward, George Kittle and Elijah Mitchell all are injured anyway. Shanahan did the same thing last season, and the 49ers nearly gave away a huge Week 1 lead to the Detroit Lions. Then it took Shanahan and the 49ers until November to hit their stride. How long will it take them this season? And I'm talking about Shanahan the play caller, too. He was excellent in the first half, but horrible in the second half, because he stopped calling things that worked earlier, such as the deep play-action crossing routes. Shanahan called two in the first half, and Lance hit both of them for big gains. Call it again, Kyle. I promise there's no rule against it. He also called that beautiful deep shot to the tight end which Lance overthrew. Call it again, Kyle. Disguise it and throw it to another receiver. The Bears couldn't cover it. He also called a pass to Brandon Aiyuk near the sideline which Lance hit perfectly for a gain of 13, but the catch didn't count because Aiyuk was flagged for pushing off. Call it again, Kyle. Lance throws passes near the sideline well, because he has cleaner, easier reads with fewer defenders in his vision. He doesn't throw nearly as well over the middle, which is where Shanahan started calling most of the passes in the second half, and where Lance's interception occurred. It seemed as though Shanahan didn't know what to call after he lost his starting running back, but there were so many successful plays that he could have gone back to and did not. I guess he wasn't game-ready, either.
