49ers 17, Dolphins 43: Grades
SANTA CLARA -- The 49ers just lost a must-win game at home to the Miami Freaking Dolphins. Lost 43-17. Got embarrassed. And now the 49ers are 2-3 with the toughest seven-game stretch imaginable coming up. They might not win another game until December. It seems unlikely they even will make the playoffs -- they haven’t beaten any team with a win this season. And they’re 0-3 at home. But they still have 11 games left, so anything is possible.
Here are their grades.
QUARTERBACKS: F.
The Jimmy Garoppolo Era in Santa Clara unofficially ended today. The 49ers benched him at halftime. Kyle Shanahan said Garoppolo was injured, but he was healthy enough to play. And he played pretty much exactly how he played Week 1 against the Cardinals, which was awful.
Sure, Garoppolo probably will finish out the season with the 49ers. But I’m guessing he won’t be back in 2021. He’s too expensive, and he’s getting worse. It seems his best football is behind him. He can’t stay healthy. He can’t protect himself or the football. He can’t move. And he can’t read defenses. Against the Dolphins, he threw two egregious picks from clean pockets and didn’t even play a full game. He has had the yips since the playoffs started last season. He is not a franchise quarterback.
And to think the 49ers could have had Tom Brady this offseason and chose to keep Garoppolo. Brady must be so, so grateful the 49ers snubbed him.
C.J. Beathard played the second half and proved that he has not improved since 2018 and is nothing more than a backup quarterback who takes big hits. Too bad the 49ers haven’t drafted a QB since they took Beathard in Round 3 of the 2017 draft.
RUNNING BACKS: A.
Raheem Mostert gained 90 yards on 11 carries. Too bad the 49ers consistently have refused to feature him on offense since he single-handedly dragged them past the Packers in the NFC Championship. Mostert is the unquestioned MVP of this team. Too bad Shanahan hasn’t figured that out yet. Shanahan still seems to think his scheme is the MVP of the team. Wrong.
WIDE RECEIVERS: F.
The Dolphins challenged them with aggressive bump-and-run man-to-man coverage and the 49ers wide receivers couldn’t get open. Both Deebo Samuel and Brandon Aiyuk are excellent after the catch, but not as good before it. Kendrick Bourne scored a touchdown, but also dropped three passes. This trio is overrated.
TIGHT ENDS: F.
George Kittle caught only four passes -- unacceptable. How come Nick Mullens is the only quarterback on the team who can figure out to feed Kittle the ball? Not exactly rocket science. And Ross Dwelley once again got zero targets. Instead, the 49ers used him as a blocker and he gave up a sack. Perfect way to feature a player’s weakness and bury his strength.
OFFENSIVE LINE: Z-MINUS.
Trent Williams gave up yet another sack -- it seems he has given up five or six. He clearly wasn’t ready to play this season after sitting out last season. And yet, he still is the best player on this offensive line. No quarterback would play well behind this unit. Meaning the 49ers shouldn’t have blamed Nick Mullens for the loss to the Eagles. He wasn’t the only problem.
DEFENSIVE LINE: B.
Arik Armstead recorded zero sacks, zero quarterback hits and only two tackles, but managed to contain Ryan Fitzpatrick in the pocket. Way to go, Arik. And his defensive-end counterpart, Kerry Hyder, was even better -- he had a sack and two quarterback hits. Maybe Hyder can give Armstead pointers on how to rush the quarterback.
LINEBACKERS: B.
They helped limit the Dolphins run game to just 2.8 rushing yards per carry. The linebackers were not the reason the 49ers lost.
DEFENSIVE BACKS: Z-MINUS.
They were one of the main reasons the 49ers lost. Brain Allen started at cornerback and the 49ers gave up 21 points before benching him. Seems almost impossible to win a game with Allen on the field for any amount of time. Too bad the 49ers drafted and signed zero cornerbacks this offseason. Maybe they should rethink that roster-building strategy.
SPECIAL TEAMS: F.
They gave up a fake punt which picked up a first down in the second half while the Niners were losing by 16 points. Shameful.
COACHES: F.
Kyle Shanahan didn’t have his players ready for this game or this season. He lied to them all offseason. Told them and the world the 49ers were the best team in the league in 2019 and should have won the Super Bowl. He gave his team nothing to prove in 2020. He mentally set them up for failure.
Last week, it seems Shanahan lied to his team again and implied Mullens was the only reason they lost to the Eagles. Again, Shanahan missed an opportunity to improve his team.
The 2020 49ers are defined by lackadaisical effort and self-inflicted mistakes. The only players who consistently play hard anymore are the players who didn’t get mega contract extensions this offseason -- Fred Warner, Jaquiski Tartt, Raheem Mostert and Kerry Hyder.
The 49ers rewarded themselves for losing the Super Bowl and now their Super Bowl window seems shut. Only bad organizations reward themselves for losing. And only bad organizations get blown out at home against the Miami Freaking Dolphins.
The 49ers certainly have their excuses. The defense has lost all their good players except Warner, Tartt and Armstead. Shanahan said they started Allen at cornerback because Ahkello Witherspoon told them he was injured and only available in an emergency. Hard to blame either Shanahan or Saleh for the terrible coverage against the Dolphins. Nothing they called would have worked with Allen on the field. I blame the entire organization including Saleh and Shanahan for not prioritizing cornerbacks in the draft or free agency.
But the offense has no excuses. Every starter except center Weston Richburg was healthy enough to play against the Dolphins, who are mediocre at best. And the 49ers still scored only 17 points. Shanahan has to be the most overrated head coach in the NFL. People actually think he’s better than Sean McVay, whose record is 37-17. Shanahan’s record is 25-28. Will he ever be above .500? He can’t be a genius until he reaches .500. Until then, he’s just an offensive coordinator.
Seems like this season ended before it started. The 49ers are way too talented to fall apart before mid-October. But bad organizations cannot sustain success. And as long as the Yorks own the 49ers, they won’t sustain success, because they’re a bad organization. Their problems are bigger than the coaches and the players.
Sorry, 49ers fans.
