Week 8: Studs and Duds
Missed opportunities. That was the theme of Week 8 for the 49ers. With the Rams and Packers both losing, and with the opportunity of handing the Seahawks a loss, they missed their chance of getting right back in both the NFC playoff race and NFC West division title race.
If the 49ers’ offense were to have shown up on either of the first two drives, the game could have gone in a completely different direction. Instead, on the opening drive, Kyle Shanahan opted to call a wildcat run to Jerick McKinnon on third and 5. Then, on the second drive, Jimmy Garoppolo threw an interception to former 49ers nickelback D.J. Reed, when the team had the ball inside the Seattle red zone.
Those two atrocious drives followed a tremendous start from Robert Saleh’s defense, during which they forced Seattle into punting twice. Within those two drives, the Seahawks only managed to gain five yards on nine plays. The defense gave the offense a golden opportunity to jump ahead early, but bone-headed decisions by both Shanahan and Garoppolo kept that from happening.
After Seattle’s first two drives resulted in punts, six of their final eight drives resulted in points, five of which were touchdowns. The 49ers’ defense was playing in over their heads early, and was not able to play anywhere near the same level as the game progressed.
With that being said, let's get into some studs and duds, starting with the duds:
Duds
1) Kyle Shanahan
This was a divisional matchup with a lot on the line, and Kyle Shanahan did not have his squadron ready to go. More specifically, his offense. There was a lack of intensity and urgency felt largely throughout the game, and whenever that occurs you have to look at the head coach. That’s who is responsible for setting the tone, and Shanahan did not do a good job of that whatsoever.
Getting into his play-calling, Shanahan’s decision to run the wildcat on 3rd and 5 really hurt the 49ers. The team had the ball at Seattle's 37-yard line, which is right on the edge of Robbie Gould’s field-goal range, and the play lost three yards. Not only was the concept of the play bad, who it was designed for was just as bad. McKinnon was battling “tired legs” throughout the week, yet he was the one in the shotgun behind center. Yikes. If the 49ers were to have picked up any positive yards here, or didn’t lose any yards at all, they likely would've jumped ahead with at least a 3-0 lead.
Later on in the first half, the 49ers were trying to answer a Seahawks’ scoring drive that put them down 13-6. On a 2nd and 7, Shanahan called a designed screen play for Trent Taylor, which lost six yards. Trent freakin’ Taylor. Imagine calling a play where the least explosive receiver on the team catches the ball behind the line of scrimmage and has to make something happen. The bottom line is that 2nd and 7 turned into 3rd and 13, and completely ruined any chance the 49ers had of scoring before halftime.
It was a bad day for Kyle Shanahan, both the head coach and the offensive coordinator.
2) Jimmy Garoppolo
Garoppolo is not the quarterback of the 49ers’ future. I am sticking with my stance that 2019 Garoppolo was peak Garoppolo. We’ve already seen him hit his ceiling. Now it’s just a matter of if he could ever get back to that form.
Yesterday was not reassuring whatsoever. Garoppolo completed 11 of 16 passes for a measly 84 yards, and threw that costly interception inside Seattle’s red zone. On that interception, he had to go through his progressions, which he is not good at, and forced the ball in George Kittle’s direction. Prior to that, on the previous drive, he also threw an errant pass to Kittle on a 1st and 10 that would’ve picked up chunk yardage and likely would’ve moved the ball inside Seattle’s 25 yard line.
Mind you, he looked this bad against one of, if not the worst secondary in the NFL.
Here are the numbers of every other quarterback who faced Seattle this year
- Matt Ryan: 450 passing yards - 2 touchdowns
- Cam Newton: 397 passing yards - 3 total touchdowns (2 rushing)
- Dak Prescott: 472 passing yards - 3 touchdowns
- Ryan Fitzpatrick: 315 passing yards - 0 touchdowns
- Kirk Cousins: 259 yards - 2 touchdowns
- Kyler Murray: 360 yards - 4 total touchdowns (1 rushing)
- Garoppolo: 84 yards - 0 touchdowns
Saying Sunday's performance from from Garoppolo was discouraging is an understatement.
3) The Offensive Line:
The 49ers weren’t having success running the football, and it’s largely because the offensive line struggled to block. On 22 carries, the team picked up only 52 rushing yards. That’s good for an average of 2.4 yards per attempt. Pathetic.
Even more pathetic, the offensive line couldn’t protect the quarterback all day long. Seattle sacked Garoppolo three times, and mustered up a total of eight quarterback hits.
The entire 49ers offensive line was exposed... again.
4) The Pass Rush:
Kerry Hyder had a sack in the second half of this game, but outside of that the 49ers’ pass rush was as abysmal as it gets. That comes as no surprise, because they were struggling to generate pressure against the Rams and Patriots each of the last two weeks.
With the pass rushing struggling, you have to look at the player being paid the most to make a difference. That's Arik Armstead. Armstead is a complimentary defensive lineman at best, who struggles to make things happen on his own. When he does make things happen by applying pressure, he can’t finish the play off with a sack. He is on pace for 3 sacks this season after reaching double digit sacks last year, and signing a new $85 million contract this past offseason.
Armstead was clearly a beneficiary of playing on a defensive line with Nick Bosa, Dee Ford and DeForest Buckner and, now that he’s on his own, his true talent is showing. A player should never receive an $85 million contract if they aren’t capable of making game-changing plays on their own.
5) Emmanuel Moseley:
Emmanuel Moseley was labeled as D.K. Metcalf’s "kryptonite" by many 49er fans, because Moseley did a fantastic job against him last year. Well, that couldn’t have been further from the truth this time around, as he was getting cooked by Metcalf all day long.
Moseley was guarding Metcalf on both of his touchdown receptions, and it wasn’t until way late in the game where Moseley finally prevented Metcalf from catching a pass on a fantastic pass breakup in the end-zone.
Looking ahead to 2021 and beyond, the 49ers must find a cornerback who could hang with Metcalf consistently. Otherwise, he'll continue to catch 12 passes for 160 yards and multiple touchdowns in future matchups, just like he did yesterday.
6) Jimmie Ward:
Per usual, Jimmie Ward was a non-factor against the Seahawks. What’s most frustrating about watching Ward, is that he is preventing Tarvarius Moore from developing. However, that’s not his fault because John Lynch is the one who opted to give Ward an expensive new contract.
Moore is twice the athlete as Ward, and flies all over the field. Ward on the other hand doesn’t do anything well besides tackle. When you go against a high-powered offense like the Seahawks, you need your safeties to make plays. Unfortunately for the 49ers, Ward doesn’t do that for them.
Studs:
1) Brandon Aiyuk:
Brandon Aiyuk caught a career-high 8 passes for 91 yards and a touchdown. It was the fourth time that Aiyuk found the end zone this season, and his touchdown reception came on a filthy route near the goal line where Seattle’s defensive back was turned in all sorts of directions.
He also hauled in a nice deep ball thrown by Nick Mullens, on a drive where the 49ers scored a touchdown and threatened to come back in the game. In a season where a lot hasn’t gone the 49ers way, drafting Brandon Aiyuk certainly has.
2) Kendrick Bourne:
Kendrick Bourne set career-highs in both receptions (8) and receiving yards (81). A lot of Bourne’s work came in what some would consider garbage time, but prior to that, he made big catches to keep the chains moving.
For example, on a 3rd and 9, he caught a 10 yard pass from Garoppolo on a route, which resulted in a first and goal opportunity for the 49ers. The drive ended in a touchdown, but that touchdown doesn’t happen without Bourne’s catch. It was a very encouraging performance from Bourne, who should be re-signed this offseason to remain the team’s number three receiver.
