49ers grades and analysis following Week 3 win over Steelers

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SANTA CLARA, CALIFORNIA – SEPTEMBER 22: K’Waun Williams #24 of the San Francisco 49ers intercepts a pass intended for JuJu Smith-Schuster #19 of the Pittsburgh Steelers in the third quarter at Levi’s Stadium on September 22, 2019 in Santa Clara, California. (Photo by Lachlan Cunningham/Getty Images) /

49ers Defensive Grades

For the most part we saw the defense play perfectly, with only bad field position from turnovers and a few poor plays resulting in scores.

Defensive line: A

It cannot be said enough just how different this entire defense looks with a strong defensive trench.

Two sacks for the day simply do not tell the story. The defensive line put pressure both on the quarterback and the runners all day, and the fact this group had two sacks and four QB pressures, even with the Steelers having a game plan based around quick passes tells you how potent the line is.

The sacks went to Dee Ford and DeForest Buckner, with Nick Bosa worthy of an assist on the latter by flushing out Rudolph.

Conner had no room on the ground game as mentioned, with only 43 yards from 13 carries.

Another tick for this squad.

Linebackers: A

Three weeks into the season, I feel comfortable saying the best acquisition this team has made via trade, draft or free agency has been Kwon Alexander.

Alexander was a weapon once again, and the 49ers look so much better at linebacker with someone with the speed and range he has. He had seven tackles with a tackle for loss.

Fred Warner was solid in coverage, while rookies Dre Greenlaw and Azeez Al-Shaair continue to grow.

Secondary: B-

Similar to the running backs, a few poor plays ruined what was otherwise an A-grade for the unit.

For the bad, safety Tarvarius Moore and cornerback Jason Verrett gave up long plays for touchdowns.

Cornerback Ahkello Witherspoon actually had coverage for the former, but was beaten on a perfect throw. However the pass only became a touchdown after Moore took an awful angle on JuJu Smith-Schuster, which allowed him to break down the sideline for the score.

Verrett came into the game after Witherspoon exited in the second half with a foot injury.

For Verrett, he was caught watching the ball instead of his man and was beaten on a perfectly weighted pass over his head to Diontae Johnson. The touchdown was preceded on a pass-interference penalty on Verrett after he was almost beaten on that play too.

We can maybe chalk this up to rust after missing so much time, but he didn’t show today he was a viable backup.

For the good however, Witherspoon and Richard Sherman continued to lock down receivers with the dangerous Smith-Schuster having only two catches for five yards if you take away the touchdown.

Nickel cornerback K’Waun Williams bounced back from a tough game last week to add an interception to the 49ers impressive count this year.

The safety play was fairly good, with no busted plays I could see, other than the bad angle from Moore.