Position grades, analysis following 49ers nail-biting Week 13 loss to Ravens

49ers special teams and coaching grades

The Niners lost this game because of inches, not miles, so every little play mattered, especially on special teams.

Special Teams: C

The 49ers went 50 percent on field goals, with Robbie Gould missing a 51-yard attempt, which was tipped, to end the half. The Ravens won the field-position battle regularly. The Ravens are a team that prides itself on tremendous special teams, and it did not disappoint this game.

San Francisco 49ers

Special teams was the difference in this contest, but it was a battle the Niners were not meant to win.

Coaching: D+

Defensive coordinator Robert Saleh managed to slow down the Ravens attack. But the ease in which the Ravens ran the read option, and any quarterback run, made it look like the Niners defense was simply not ready for Baltimore at all.

Head coach Kyle Shanahan had two situations where he messed up. The first was near the end of the first half, where he slow-played the Niners offensive position, resulting in an expected missed field goal. The next was a 4th-and-1 on what became the 49ers’ last offensive position, where he put the offense in the shotgun, only for Jimmy Garoppolo’s intended pass to be batted down at the line of scrimmage.

A shotgun formation was illogical, given the circumstances, and it ended the game for the Niners.

This was a tough game the 49ers could have won. With the Seahawks lurking, every loss is amplified. But the Niners will pick themselves up, hold their heads high and try to regroup versus the New Orleans Saints next Sunday.