San Francisco 49ers: Week 15 Studs and Duds
The 49ers' playoff hopes have officially been shot dead. The worst part about it, it was self-inflicted. Reflecting on their last four losses, one could argue that in three of those matchups they lost because of their undoing.
It started with the Saints, where the 49ers’ defense held the Saints’ offense to only 237 yards. That game was lost 27-13, because of four turnovers. Two interceptions were thrown by Nick Mullens and two fumbles on punt returns between Richie James and Trent Taylor.
A month later they beat themselves, again. This time against the Washington Football Team. The 49ers’ defense gave up 193 yards. It was an outstanding performance from the defense. However, the offense gifted Washington 17 points. Mullens gave Washington 14 points between a strip-sack fumble recovery for a touchdown and a pick-six. The other three points came from a field goal following a Jeff Wilson fumble.
This past Sunday’s game was no different. The 49ers out-gained the Cowboys 458 yards to 291, and still managed to lose the game. Critical turnovers were the difference in this game, and the 49ers had four of them. Two Mullens interceptions, a Mullens fumble, and a Richie James fumble.
Mind-blowing stat: When combining the Saints, Washington, and Cowboys games, the 49ers outgained their opponents 1,083 total yards to 721 total yards. That’s an average of +120 total yards per game. All that amounted to zero victories.
Although the 49ers’ season ended with the loss to Dallas, there are certain aspects of the performance to feel good about. For starters, the team fought incredibly hard. By the looks of their body language on the field, no one could’ve guessed this is a team that’s been a victim of being forced to live in another state, amid a losing streak, and suffering from frequent mistakes. However, this does not apply to every single player. And one particular player will end up on my duds list because of it.
Here are my Week 15 studs and duds:
Studs:
1) Arik Armstead
Armstead had the type of performance that makes you think to yourself “good for you”.
All things considered, it’s been a rough year for Armstead. Before this matchup, he hit a quarterback only once across his previous eight games. Additionally, he went ten games without picking up a full sack. You’d expect more of an impact from an $85M defensive lineman.
That impact came for one of the very few times this season, in what was Armstead’s best performance of the year.
Armstead finished the game with eight total tackles and two sacks. His first sack came on a beautifully executed stunt with Javon Kinlaw, where Armstead lined up outside of Kinlaw in a standup position. The second sack came on another stunt, except Armstead lined up on the interior. He eventually bullied the Cowboys right tackle on the way to sacking Andy Dalton.
Outside of the sacks, Armstead made plays in the run game. He also showed tremendous hustle by tackling receivers well down the field on multiple occasions.
Armstead truly looked like the 2019 version of himself.
Better late than never, I guess.
2) Ahkello Witherspoon
Like Armstead, Witherspoon also had a “good for you” performance.
After falling victim to the dreaded Shanahan doghouse, Witherspoon was inserted into the starting lineup because of the illness that ruled out Jason Verrett.
Witherspoon took advantage of the opportunity and played one of the better games of his career. He was targeted six times, while only giving up two receptions for 13 yards. Not only were his coverage skills on display but so was his ability to make plays near the line of scrimmage. For example, he made an impressive tackle on Amari Cooper on a jet sweep.
When watching Witherspoon, you can see that all the ability is there. He would be an excellent depth piece to bring back next season, but that seems to be unlikely because of the way he has been treated under Kyle Shanahan. Unfortunate, because he still has a high ceiling.
3) Robbie Gould
Aside from his miserable onside kick attempt that resulted in a CeeDee Lamb touchdown, Gould had a very good game against the Cowboys.
He drilled all five of his kicks (2 FGs & 3 PATs) and made his 400th career field goal.
Gould has arguably been the best free agent signing of the Lynch and Shanahan Era, and the team must decide by January 2nd, 2021, on whether or not they’ll pick up his team option.
If they pick up the option, Gould’s cap hit will be $4.5M in 2021. If they decline the option, they’ll save $3.75M towards the 2021 cap.
Duds
1) Nick Mullens
I’ve held out hope for Mullens for as long as I could. My biggest takeaway from his performance is that he simply can’t be trusted. Ever. Ideally, backups could be trusted to at least limit their turnovers and take care of the football, but Mullens doesn’t do that. Especially in high-pressure situations. It has gotten to the point where I hold my breath every time he throws the football.
Mullens had two interceptions in this game, which both occurred in the fourth quarter. His first interception was a ball thrown to the correct read, but the safety made a nice play. Because of how this interception unfolded, Shanahan did not seem to have too big of a problem with it. However, his second interception was inexcusable.
The turnovers have gotten so out of hand, that former 49er, Donte Whitner, has deemed Mullens “Quick-Pick Nick.” Ouch.
Quarterback play was the difference in the loss to the Cowboys. And the Cowboys started Andy Dalton.
2) Mike McGlinchey
Do not let Pro Football Focus or any other data platform fool you, McGlinchey has not been good.
Mysteriously, heading into Monday Night, McGlinchey was the highest-graded run blocker from Week 15, per PFF. I say mysteriously because McGlinchey blatantly whiffed on a crucial block near the goal-line and had another blocking blunder with Justin Skule on a first-and-goal carry to Raheem Mostert.
Of course, McGlinchey played more than just those two snaps, but I question how he received such a high run-blocking grade (92.6) when he failed miserably on multiple occasions.
On the pass blocking side of things, McGlinchey graded out at 55.1. Even worse than his season-long pass-blocking grade of 59.1 (ranks 62nd among 77 qualifying tackles).
The lowlight of McGlinchey’s outing was getting swung around like a ragdoll by Randy Gregory, which resulted in a 15-yard penalty because the 49ers (unclear as to whether it was McGlinchey or Justin Skule) retaliated.
3) Richard Sherman
Sherman wears a captain's patch on his chest, but he acted far from the sort against the Cowboys. One thing with Sherman is extremely evident, and that is he’s mentally and physically checked out.
He had multiple chances to make tackles on plays where the Cowboys were threatening to score and opted to make the “business decision” to not jeopardize his body. If Sherman has no interest in giving full effort on the field, he shouldn’t be on the field.
On a day where everyone else was doing all they could, Sherman chose the “me” route.
Disappointing to say the least.
