49ers 17, Browns 19: Grades

The 49ers just lost 19-17 to the Cleveland Browns and their third-string quarterback, P.J. Walker. Here are the 49ers' grades for this performance.

BROCK PURDY: D-PLUS

Forget about Purdy winning the MVP award this season. This performance takes him out of consideration. Today, he looked like just a guy. He did not look elite. He was 12 for 27 for 125 yards, 1 touchdown and 1 interception. He also threw two other passes that nearly got picked, plus the ball slipped out of his hand once as he was throwing and he fell on it. Purdy couldn't grip the ball in the rain and he couldn't throw it effectively through the wind. That doesn't bode well for later in the season. To be fair, Purdy led a nice come-from-behind drive that would have won the game at the end, but Jake Moody missed a 41-yard field goal (more on him in a minute). Still, the game never should have been that close, and it was close primarily because Purdy played so poorly. By far the worst performance of his career. But every good quarterback has bad games. Don't write off Purdy because of today.

RUNNING BACKS: C

Christian McCaffrey had his second rough game in a row -- he averaged just 3.9 yards per carry, then left with an oblique injury. It's too bad the 49ers overused him and wore him down the first five games of the season. His backup, Jordan Mason, averaged 5.4 yards per carry and scored a touchdown -- he was terrific. The other backup, Elijah Mitchell, lost three yards on two carries. The 49ers need to stop playing him.

WIDE RECEIVERS: C-MINUS

Deebo Samuel had 2 carries for 11 yards and no catches before leaving the game with a shoulder injury. Brandon Aiyuk had 76 yards, but caught just 4 of 10 targets and dropped at least three. He needs to make those catches to be considered elite.

TIGHT ENDS: F

George Kittle had one catch for one yard and a false start penalty. Not his best day.

OFFENSIVE LINEMEN: D

They got pushed around by Dalvin Tomlinson and Myles Garrett. Trent Williams, Aaron Banks and Spencer Burford all committed penalties.

DEFENSIVE LINEMEN: B

Randy Gregory made an instant impact as he recorded his first sack with the 49ers in his first game with the team -- he's a clear upgrade over Drake Jackson and Clelin Ferrell. Nick Bosa also recorded a sack. But this group also struggled against the run, as the Browns averaged 4.7 yards per carry.

LINEBACKERS: B

Fred Warner recorded his second interception of the season -- he's the best coverage linebacker I've ever seen. He's like a big safety. But he and the rest of the linebackers struggled to stop the run, mostly because Dre Greenlaw didn't play. Greenlaw clearly is the 49ers' hardest-hitting linebacker.

DEFENSIVE BACKS: B

They gave up a passer rating of 45.2, and Deommodore Lenoir picked off a pass and returned to the Browns 8-yard line, which set up the 49ers' second touchdown of the game. But they also gave up 108 receiving yards to Amari Cooper and committed two critical penalties on the Browns' final drive of the game which set up the game-sealing field goal. To be fair, those calls were borderline.

SPECIAL TEAMS: F

Jake Moody missed two of his three field goal attempts, including a 41-yarder with 9 seconds left that would have essentially won the game. He's the biggest reason the 49ers lost -- even bigger than Purdy, who played poorly. Moody was abysmal. The 49ers probably regret not re-signing Robbie Gould. They should give him a call. He's still a free agent.

COACHES: C

Steve Wilks did a good job, although he was facing a third-string quarterback. Still, the 49ers defense gave up just 19 points. Usually, that's good enough to win. But not today, because the offense and special teams were so bad. The 49ers should have scored 23 points, but missed two field goals. Still, 23 points isn't good. Kyle Shanahan got outcoached by his counterpart, Browns defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz -- the 49ers averaged just 3.9 yards per play. Shanahan had a brilliant opening script which produced a touchdown, but nothing he tried worked after that, as the 49ers scored just 14 points the rest of the game. He clearly didn't have his team ready to play, considering they started a fight with the Browns before the game, then committed 12 penalties during the game. They took last week's game against the Cowboys much more seriously. This game was an emotional let down. So sure, the 49ers are still a good team. But are they really the best team in the league? If they can't beat P.J. Walker and the Browns, can they really beat the Eagles? Or the Chiefs? Stay tuned.