3 Thoughts from the 49ers' 34-24 Loss to Buffalo
The San Francisco 49ers (5-7) were overmatched in all aspects, falling 34-24 to the AFC East-leading Buffalo Bills (9-3) on Monday Night Football.
The 49ers won games in spite of mistakes in 2019. This team, of course, is far from the NFC Champion squad. They have to play near perfect to win and this game was nothing close to that.
Here are three thoughts from the defeat:
The 49ers must find a franchise quarterback
San Francisco quarterback Nick Mullens is a decent backup.
He had some good throws and some head-scratchers. That comes with the territory when starting a backup.
What became clear in Monday’s game is that Buffalo’s Josh Allen showed how big of a gap there is between a franchise quarterback (Allen), a decent starter (Jimmy Garoppolo), and a backup (Mullens).
The 49ers don’t have a dynamic quarterback like Allen, and haven’t had one in six years.
He made every throw with ease, piling up 375 passing yards and four touchdowns.
Of course the lack of pressure had something to do with his impressive outing, but there’s no denying that Allen was the best player on the field.
The 49ers are in need of a new franchise quarterback and they unfortunately won’t know who it is until the offseason, possibly even June.
Allen might look like a sure thing now, but he had plenty of question marks when he left Wyoming in 2018.
His detractors pointed to his lack of experience (27 career games), his turnover problems and his poor games against top teams.
Although the mistakes still occasionally surface, he has all the tools to succeed and has put them to use with offensive coordinator Brian Daboll.
Allen was excellent and threw his way to victory.
One would have to go back to Week 14 of 2019 to find the last time a 49ers quarterback did that.
It’s not all on Saleh
The 49ers defense has been burned numerous times this season. Miami targeted Brian Allen. Philadelphia picked on Dontae Johnson.
Monday’s loss was much more of a concern, as all five defensive backs were overmatched.
Every play seemed to have a busted assignment or communication lapse. It felt like the 49ers’ offensive line.
Daboll took a page out of Shanahan’s playbook by establishing the ground-game and then picking apart the inferior defensive backs. It was rare that Stefon Diggs, Cole Beasley or Gabriel Davis weren’t running free.
The Bills match up perfectly against the 49ers, similar to how San Francisco does against the Rams.
This game was destined to be a tough battle for Tarvarius Moore and Richard Sherman and neither rose to the occasion.
Josh Allen consistently found open receivers in the 49ers’ soft zone coverage tailored to Sherman. Jason Verrett, the team’s best cornerback this season, was equally ineffective.
It was a bad game for the defense. People can blame Saleh all they want. It was not his best game. But there was not much he could do.
The 49ers’ defense doesn’t have the personnel to stop deep-passes and the offense did them no favors with a nine-minute time-of-possession discrepancy.
Saleh was not the problem. The 49ers need to invest in more defensive backs (draft or free agency) that can help combat the high-powered offenses that are taking over the NFL.
Mostert needs 15 carries minimum
The 49ers were down at halftime, but were still well-within striking distance. They started the half with the ball down 10, and were driving.
A 17-yard reception by Ross Dwelley, an 18-yard Jeff Wilson Jr. run and a 20-yard Brandon Aiyuk catch got San Francisco a first-and-10 at the Buffalo 25.
But then head coach Kyle Shanahan went back to his worst addiction: Giving Tevin Coleman meaningful/drive-killing touches while keeping Raheem Mostert on the sideline.
Coleman’s negative nine-yard run was doomed from the start. Aiyuk could not block defensive end Darryl Johnson (tough ask for a wide receiver) and Coleman was not quick enough to evade his grasp.
Mostert is the best runner inside and outside the tackles on the roster, and is above average in receiving and pass-blocking.
The running back averaged 4.67 yards a carry but managed only two touches in the second half. That’s as many rushes as Coleman, who finished with -11 yards.
The argument for Mostert’s lack of usage could be that he was injured, or being eased back from injury. But he was on the field the next drive and made a sack-saving block.
If the 49ers truly want to make the playoffs, they must squeeze every ounce out of Mostert and Wilson that they can.
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