49ers 28, Packers 30: Grades
SANTA CLARA -- The 49ers just lost 30-28 to the Green Bay Packers on a walkoff 51-yard field goal, and now their record is 2-1. Here are the 49ers' grades for this performance.
QUARTERBACKS: C-PLUS.
Jimmy Garoppolo was resilient and clutch in the fourth quarter, but he stunk before then. And he finished the game with a fumble and a quarterback rating of 87.2 -- a worse rating than Jared Goff and Jameis Winston posted against the Packers defense this season. Which puts Garoppolo's modest performance in perspective. The Garoppolo offense scored a mere 20 points. Head coach Kyle Shanahan had to call a run for Trey Lance in the red zone to get to 27 points, because the Garoppolo offense simply isn't good enough against teams with great quarterbacks.
RUNNING BACKS: D.
Trey Sermon was awful. He rushed 10 times for 31 yards and one touchdown. Take away his longest run of the night -- a 16-yarder -- and he rushed 9 times for 15 yards. And he was the only tailback who touched the ball. Three backup tailbacks ran zero times. More on that decision below. The fullback, Kyle Juszczyk, got the ball 9 times and scored a touchdown. He's the only reason this group doesn't get an F.
WIDE RECEIVERS: C.
Brandon Aiyuk was solid -- he caught 4 passes for 37 yards and a touchdown. Deebo Samuel was not good, though. He dropped at least one pass and caught only 50 percent of his targets.
TIGHT ENDS: B.
George Kittle caught 7 passes for 92 yards, but did not score and did not make an impact as a blocker. And Ross Dwelley still hasn't gotten the ball this season. What a travesty.
OFFENSIVE LINEMEN: F.
They gave up 4 sacks and 11 quarterback hits to a defense that was missing its top pass rusher and came into the game with just one sack. Also, the 49ers couldn't run the ball, either -- they averaged less than 3.5 yards per carry for the second game in a row. Shameful.
DEFENSIVE LINEMEN: F.
Generated almost zero pressure against a bad offensive line that was down to its third-string left tackle. Nick Bosa was a ghost, as were the rest of the pass rushers. Aaron Rodgers had time to do his taxes in the pocket. He also had time to post a quarterback rating of 113. This pass rush simply hasn't been the same without DeForest Buckner.
LINEBACKERS: F.
These guys couldn't stop the run, and Fred Warner committed a 24-yard pass interference penalty for good measure. Just a horrendous performance by the 49ers front seven.
SAFETIES: D.
Jaquiski Tartt gave up a 47-yard catch to Marquez Valdes-Scantling, but Jimmie Ward partially redeemed him by knocking out Davante Adams for one play with a clean hit.
CORNERBACKS: F.
Josh Norman started in place of Deommodore Lenoir and left almost right away with a chest injury. Then Lenoir took over and committed a 25-yard pass interference penalty. Nickelback K'Waun Williams also left the game early with a calf injury. Which means the 49ers are paper thin at cornerback once again.
SPECIAL TEAMS: A.
Trenton Cannon had a 68-yard kickoff return, and Brandon Aiyuk gained 23 yards on two punt returns. That's 91 yards of hidden yardage, or 9 first downs.
COACHES: D.
Kyle Shanahan the offensive coordinator did a good job manufacturing points without his top running backs. He brought in Trey Lance at the right times in the red zone, and Lance gave the 49ers an extra touchdown. This game wouldn't have been close without him.
But Shanahan the head coach didn't use his three backup running backs, and he should have, because the starter, Sermon, stunk. If Shanahan didn't need backup running backs, he could have made backup cornerbacks Dre Kirkpatrick and/or Ambry Thomas active, because he sure needed them.
Also, Shanahan the head coach mismanaged the clock on the 49ers' final offensive drive. They had the ball at the Packers' 12 yard line with 43 seconds left, and it was first down. Green Bay had zero timeouts left. The 49ers could have taken all the time off the clock and ensured Rodgers never touched the ball again. But Shanahan went for the touchdown, got it and left Rodgers with 37 seconds to drive the offense for a field goal. And that's all he needed.
But the biggest goat of this game was defensive coordinator DeMeco Ryans. He had no answers on the final drive, made it seem extremely easy for Rodgers to drive the field with no timeouts. Ryans also managed to make the Packers pathetic offensive line look impenetrable. He couldn't do anything to generate pressure, and his secondary gave up big play after big play. Almost nothing Ryans called worked. What a huge step down from Robert Saleh.
It seems the 49ers defense is an issue. It looked good the first two weeks because it faced quarterbacks who are no better than Garoppolo. But now it will face Russell Wilson and Kyler Murray back to back.
Good luck, DeMeco.
