9 Biggest Takeaways From 49ers' Week 4 Win Over Broncos

Well, that was a close one.

The San Francisco 49ers gut out a tough 24-14 win over the Denver Broncos to improve to 4-0. Let's dive into the nine biggest takeaways from the game.

Confusing Kyle Shanahan

Aside from the perfectly called screen pass to George Kittle in the fourth quarter, Kyle Shanahan was confusing in this game. The first half was atrocious for the 49ers' offense.

You can credit that to Denver's defense, but many of the offensive woes were due to poor play calls. Shanahan wasn't in his bag this game. He needs to bounce back next week against a tougher opponent.

Brock Purdy cools down

Unlike his last two games, Brock Purdy wasn't on fire against the Broncos. It was to be expected since he wasn't facing a poor defense. He still played well, but he definitely cooled down.

Shanahan didn't do him any favors in this game either. Purdy did have a few sweet plays, like a perfect pass to Mike Evans in the second quarter.

The first touchdown of the game was thanks to Purdy going off script. It wasn't a good play call by Shanahan, so Purdy had to bail him out by flushing out of the pocket to hit Deebo Samuel for a wide-open touchdown.

Overall, Purdy is playing at a high level. While he did cool down in this game, he was still fairly sharp and took care of the football. He'll need a game like this or better next week against Seattle.

49ers' offensive line is legit

It seemed like Purdy was under a bit more pressure in this game, but he was mostly comfortable in the pocket today against one of the best pass-rushing units in the NFL.

He still hasn't been sacked yet, which is insane. After this game, I think it's safe to say that the 49ers' offensive line is legit, if not a great unit in pass protection. They proved themselves today.

George Kittle calls game

Similar to last week's takeaways, I'm using this as a George Kittle appreciation post. He essentially iced the game with his 56-yard touchdown run from a screen pass in the fourth quarter.

Kittle looks like he's never lost a step, even though he's 32 and tore his Achilles less than nine months ago. This guy is special. Generational even.

Mike Evans gutsy outing

It was nuts for the 49ers to play Mike Evans today when he most likely has fractured ribs. But they clearly needed him out there. Their receivers are lacking in quality outside of him and Samuel.

He put on a gutsy performance, tallying five catches for 76 yards. You could see he was in extreme discomfort on every target—a round of applause for his toughness and ability to ball out still.

Run game goes ghost

Denver has one of the worst run defenses in the league, which made it low-hanging fruit for the 49ers to attack with Christian McCaffrey. However, their run defense was sound today.

McCaffrey barely saw any daylight, as the Broncos made sure to cover any rushing lanes. Either the Broncos stepped up huge today, or their run defense is only skewed badly from Week 1.

Kyle Juszczyk suffers knee injury

One player who never misses games is Kyle Juszczyk. Unfortunately, he suffered a brutal hit to his knee, causing it to hyperextend. He needed help from trainers to walk off the field. The fear right now would be a torn ACL, so fingers crossed it isn't anything too signficant.

49ers need to add a pass rusher

Without Nick Bosa, the 49ers' pass rush is nonexistent. The defense as a whole played well for most of this game, but it's clear they need to add a pass rusher.

John Lynch needs to be on the phone with the Chargers immediately to see what it'll take to acquire Khalil Mack. I'd imagine they'll be interested now that they're 0-4.

Bo Nix predictably awful

One of the main reasons the 49ers won this game was thanks to Bo Nix. He's an awful quarterback. The only way he can succeed is if his first read is there or if he turns it into backyard football.

Nix is Jimmy Garoppolo 2.0. All he was missing was a turnover in his performance today to emphasize how awful he played. Denver won't go far this year because of him.

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