49ers position grades, takeaways from Week 10 loss to Seahawks

49ers Week 10 Offensive Grades

The Niners were already shorthanded coming into the contest, missing Pro Bowl tight end George Kittle, who was out with knee and ankle injuries. Losing wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders to a ribs injury early on hurt, too, and Jimmy Garoppolo looked out of sync for much of the game thereafter.

In total, San Francisco managed just 302 yards of offense and went 6-of-15 on third-down tries: numbers not good enough against a tough opponent like Seattle.

Garoppolo had his moments, both good and bad. With the 49ers running game averaging just 3.2 yards per carry, Garoppolo had to put the offense on his shoulders, eventually finishing with a 24-of-46 mark for 248 yards, a touchdown to wide receiver Kendrick Bourne, a successful two-point try to Bourne against one interception, which bounced off Bourne’s hands.

Garoppolo could have tossed more picks, too, although more than a couple of Seahawks defenders dropped would-be interceptions.

What stung the most, though, were Garoppolo’s two lost fumbles, which both resulted in Seattle points.

“We just had too many self-imposed mistakes,” Garoppolo told reporters after the game. “That’s what hurt us. When you put yourself behind like that, it’s hard to catch up. It’s the little things we’ve got to clean up.”

San Francisco managed just 87 rush yards against a Seahawks defense, which was allowing 4.7 yards per attempt entering the game — good for 25th best in the league. While the total yardage would be OK for many an offense, the Niners being a run-first team meant this aspect of head coach Kyle Shanahan’s offense wasn’t clicking.

In total, the 49ers averaged just 3.2 yards per carry.

Running back Tevin Coleman managed only 40 yards on the ground off nine attempts, while fellow tailback Raheem Mostert picked up some key gains late, finishing with 28 yards of his own.

The Niners aren’t built to be a pass-often squad, currently.

Losing Sanders hurt, and Garoppolo never quite looked the same after the veteran wideout departed.

On a positive note, rookie wide receiver Deebo Samuel finished with 112 tough yards on eight catches, and one has to mention Bourne’s stat-sheet contributions, too.

But Bourne, Samuel and fellow wideout Dante Pettis all had key drops. So did the veteran, Marquise Goodwin, whose first-quarter drop could have resulted in a touchdown instead of a field goal.

All other things being equal, that gaffe along with the others, essentially cost San Francisco the win.

The Niners better hope Sanders is able to return, and soon.

The 49ers sorely missed Kittle, whose yards-after-the-catch potential and playmaking abilities could have been key difference makers.

Kittle was missed in the team’s blocking efforts, too.

His backup, Ross Dwelley, managed only three catches for 24 yards on seven targets. Dwelley isn’t a good blocker, either.

The Niners got back starting tackles Joe Staley and Mike McGlinchey from injuries in Week 10. Yet either both looked extremely rusty, or were simply overmatched by Jadeveon Clowney.

McGlinchey appears to be going through a regression after an impressive rookie campaign a year ago, and the extended absence from injury didn’t help matters, either.

Seattle’s defensive front was winning at the line of scrimmage, which ultimately meant Garoppolo was throwing off his back foot a lot. His five sacks taken, along with 10 quarterback hits, is pretty indicative of just how poorly this unit fared up front.

So is the fact the 49ers couldn’t get much of anything going on the ground.