5 lessons SF 49ers learned after losing to Cardinals in Week 1

The SF 49ers disappointing opening performance against the Cardinals offers insights about the team.

In their first attempt to repeat their success from last year, the SF 49ers fell woefully short as they ended up dropping their Week 1 bout against the visiting Arizona Cardinals. Though the final score was only 24-20, the offense was disjointed after the first five minutes, the defense slowly collapsed, and a special teams blunder early took what could have been a blowout and flipped it on its head.

The Niners still being in a position to win is both a testament to their talent and an indictment of just how poor their Week 1 performance was.

For a team with such lofty goals and ambitions, this was a crusher, not only because it puts San Francisco — a team went through the first half of its 2019 schedule undefeated — last in the NFC West division only a week in, but because of how similar the situation was to 49ers meltdowns in the past.

Head coach Kyle Shanahan’s offense got in a groove and picked up points early, only to then grind to a screeching halt. As the offense scuffled, the Cardinals slowly but surely chipped away at the defense, taking fantastic defensive possessions and making them worse and worse until the end of the game with two scoring drives for Arizona.

Once the score had flipped, the Niners tried to flip the switch but couldn’t generate the momentum, ending up with the loss. It was the story of the Super Bowl, the story of the trap-game loss against the Atlanta Falcons last season, and very similar to a lot of games the SF 49ers played that were only won at the very end.

In their defense, injuries put a third-string center as No. 1 and the two best receivers in the sidelines. That’s a lot of talent to not have, especially against an up-and-coming divisional opponent like the Cardinals.

However, there are no excuses. The Niners knew what their roster limitations were and it was up to them to execute.

This doesn’t mean that the SF 49ers are destined to utterly fall apart and lose every game the rest of the way; it doesn’t even that they aren’t the best team of the NFC. Early season performances can lead to massive overreactions, and Week 1 doesn’t mean much in the grand scheme of things. However, there were signs of struggles with certain components of the team that can point to grander issues in the long term.

These lessons are about seeing what happened with the Cardinals, and what they might mean for the 49ers, long term. And when the defending NFC champs drop a divisional game they should have won, these lessons aren’t going to be fun.

SF 49ers Lesson No. 1: Jimmy Garoppolo needs to find his comfort zone

By the book, quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo had a decent day: 19 completions on 33 attempts, 259 yards through the air, no turnovers and two touchdowns is exactly the stat-line that could be anticipated for the SF 49ers starting QB in a winning effort.

Yet, why would Garoppolo be universally panned for his performance Sunday? Because the stats don’t tell the full story.

Garoppolo dealt with a lack of talent in his weapons, protection that failed at times, and play-calling that didn’t push the envelope. All those are legitimate issues for Jimmy G and will be addressed.

But at the end of the day, Garoppolo simply didn’t have a good day.

He was timid in the pocket from the get-go, throwing balls too early without letting the play develop, missing open receivers down the field as he turned to ill-advised check-downs, and overall, simply not having authority over the offense. He waited too long on reads because it looked like he didn’t trust the throw, throwing balls late and inaccurately, as Matt Delucchi of Niner Noise illustrated in his analysis of Garoppolo’s day. And when he waited too long and let options become covered, he would force it into a terrible situation, resulting in quite a few problems for the Niners.

There were two types of Garoppolo’s who played on Sunday, both of whom made questionable decisions: The one who took on the ultimate gunslinger mentality to an extreme where the offense was tossing jump-balls to covered players, and the one who either fell apart from the pressure or threw a ball late or short because he wasn’t confident enough, or some other reason.

Neither Garoppolo is good enough to lead this team.

The first does too much and ends up hurting the offense because he places it in compromising situations with his bad decisions. The second does too little and hurts the team because the offense cannot function normally with his limitations. But there are benefits to both styles, though disguised in poor decisions.

The first Garoppolo targeted running back Jerick McKinnon on a pass that should never have been thrown, but the Niners were gifted with a pass interference penalty on Arizona as a result. Does that mean the pass was smart? Absolutely not. But when a player is aggressive and attacks a defense, he can force a mistake to be made, like that penalty. The second Garoppolo saw his first option open and threw it accurately to hit running back Raheem Mostert in stride on an angle-route for a 76-yard touchdown. Does that mean Garoppolo should always keep it short and hope his skill players make a big play? Well, that was the game plan after that play, and it failed, miserably.

But that one play was a smart simple read that paid off big.

The job of an NFL quarterback is to be able to find the comfort zone between these two places. Garoppolo in 2017, the flash of five games that showed how he could be a franchise quarterback, had that comfort zone. Garoppolo in 2019 against the Cardinals and during the “gauntlet” stretch late in the season had that comfort zone. That Jimmy G throws with more confidence, not hesitating nearly as much on his reads. That Jimmy G  tests a defense, causing penalties by putting pressure. But that Jimmy G knows how to take what the defense gives him.

That version of Garoppolo is what the SF 49ers need to mask any issues they have health-wise, and that version is what makes their offense go to a new level. Maybe the health of the team improving or the play-calling taking that into account will help him.

But in the end, it’s on Garoppolo to be able to find that spot, and play like that no matter the situation.

SF 49ers Lesson No. 2: The pass-catchers are top-heavy

Having just spent a plethora of words explaining how Jimmy Garoppolo’s performance should not be completely bailed out by his circumstances, I will now start bailing out Garoppolo through analyzing his circumstances.

The one thing about the SF 49ers that seemed true, at least from 2019 and through the offseason, was that Kyle Shanahan had several capable weapons at every position who could do significant damage. Sure, tight end George Kittle was the enigma whose talent fueled the team. Bt everyone, from the running backs to the backup wide receivers, could contribute if necessary. It was this assurance that gave people calm for a Week 1 matchup with both Deebo Samuel and rookie receiver Brandon Aiyuk, the presumptive starting receivers both out with injuries.

That was not the case at all, and the extent to which the 49ers struggled raises a point worth acknowledging: San Francisco is top-heavy on offense.

The running back group is, perhaps, the most balanced of them all with all three players producing in whatever amount of time they had, and both Jerick McKinnon and Raheem Mostert scoring. But the running game itself can be stopped with a focus by the defense, putting the onus on the pass-catchers to step up.

The tight ends are top-heavy by the very nature of who they have. No matter who can be compared, Kittle is significantly better than any backup tight end. Jordan Reed had some action, but his rust was evident, making it even clearer from the tight ends, Kittle was the only one who demanded attention or at least posed enough of a threat to make playing offense easier.

Then, receivers. Without WRs 1 and 2 (Samuel and Aiyuk), and even with the Cardinals clearly playing to stop the run, the production was abysmal. In the few targets they received, they did nothing of value. Dante Pettis, who got the de-facto start, was a nonfactor with only one target, a deep ball he didn’t attempt to lay out for. Slot receiver Trent Taylor had only two receptions for 7 yards on five targets, and despite being a third-down threat, his one third-down reception didn’t move the sticks because he didn’t extend his route far enough.

And Kendrick Bourne, the other starter, had a modicum of success with  34 yards off two receptions. But his inability to go to the football on San Francisco’s final offensive possession in the biggest play of the game cost the Niners either a touchdown or a pass interference that would have put them in prime position to score.

These players were supposed to prove the Niners had enviable depth on the team, but it was quite the opposite.

The only player the Cardinals feared in the passing attack was Kittle, and they doubled him relentlessly. He finished with no targets in the second half because of that and other play-calling issues. With Kittle neutralized, the offense only sparked when fullback Kyle Juszczyk got the ball.

Otherwise, it was a slow grinding painful performance.

While most of these lessons have a fix, like how Garoppolo can find that comfort zone of aggression, and how some of these can be attributed to the rust, this lesson is a simple fact: The Niners cannot afford to have their wide receivers out very long. Without them, including a rookie who has never played a snap of professional football, there is nothing stopping defenses from selling out against the run and doubling Kittle.

The talent behind them, if existent, did not show up strong.

SF 49ers Lesson No. 3: The offensive line needs more than Trent Williams

If there was one player who was exceptional on Sunday in every rep, it was newly acquired left tackle Trent Williams, who played like an All-Pro. When he lined up against Pro Bowl pass-rusher Chandler Jones, Jones went nowhere. When Williams blocked in the run game, his man was stone-walled. The blind side of Jimmy Garoppolo was protected to a level Niner fans haven’t seen since prime Joe Staley, and that might even be an understatement.

However, the rest of the offensive line was not good. Left guard Laken Tomlinson seemed average if not unspectacular. But once eyes passed the left side it was a mess.

Right tackle Mike McGlinchey was man-handled by Jones the entire game. No matter the situation, Jones got the better of him, and it was downright ugly to watch. McGlinchey is an exceptional run-blocker, but his development of pass-blocking has been slow and needs to improve significantly.

Right guard Daniel Brunskill amazed last year as he filled in a variety of positions, but this year, he was very clearly going to be the starting guard. He did not have a good game. He got beat several times, and most notably, during the 4th-and-1 stuff at the goal line, Brunskill clearly failed to get a clean block, allowing the hole to be clogged.

The biggest issue of all was Hroniss Grasu, who was the third-string center with both Weston Richburg (knee) and Ben Garland (ankle) out. There wasn’t much to expect from him, but whatever was expected, he did not live up to it.

While the decimation of the interior o-line was in part due to a lack of a solid center, every player, apart from Williams, needed to pick up the work. Garoppolo’s skittish nature was in part caused by interior pressure and Jones on nearly every play. To help their offense soar, the offensive line needs to establish a clean pocket just long enough for Garoppolo to find a rhythm and feel safe. An evaluation of the Niners O-line before the season by Sports Illustrated offered hope in growth from young players.

Hopefully, returning players can help clean up some of the mess, but that growth will be necessary for the SF 49ers to reach their potential as a team.

SF 49ers Lesson No. 4: Defensive discipline is lacking

I don’t blame the 49ers defense for a lot this game, especially the players. I’ll get to the issues that popped up and how they can be corrected soon, but this defense had a tough break of it. They played outstanding for most of the first half when they were fresh.

But the snap count, which heavily favored Arizona’s offense, slowly wore them down, leaving them gassed against a mobile QB who was tucking and running at first sight.

This is an issue with the offense not playing to support the defense, but that doesn’t mean that the defense got off scot-free. Allowing 24 points is not an insane number when they haven’t tackled in six months, and it’s certainly a number the Niners could win with.

But it was how they gave up the 24 points that became an issue.

Within their schemes, the Niners played very well against the Cardinals for the most part. The play-calling was clearly designed to allow short passes to Arizona wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins but take away the deep ball, effectively forcing the Cardinals to dink and dunk their way down the field. The assumption would be that the pass rush or the secondary would eventually make a play, stopping the drive. The problems with that type of play-calling will be elaborated on much more next slide.

But playing a functional prevent defense requires two things: no coverage busts and lane discipline. Fundamentals to make sure a player doesn’t get a free running lane or behind the defense.

The 49ers messed up both.

The play that won the game functionally was a coverage bust that allowed Hopkins a wide-open lane down to the half-yard line:

Cornerback Richard Sherman, when talking to reporters after the game, said that “There was a miscommunication on both sides. The calls didn’t get through to everyone.”

This type of miscommunication is a major snafu that simply cannot happen.

Beyond a coverage bust, the SF 49ers also struggled mightily with the rushing of quarterback Kyler Murray. This was part-schematic but also significantly due to a lack of discipline by the front-seven. Linebacker Kwon Alexander, in particular, had a tough game when spying Murray, frequently missing tackles and taking poor angles. The defensive line didn’t do enough to keep Murray in contain, allowing him to get free.

Overall, as Peter Panacy pointed out, the Niners defense was sloppy, an issue that is very much attributed to the unique start. But as Sherman said, cannot be used as an excuse. Lack of discipline against mobile QBs was an issue last year as well, and the discipline component is necessary to get any success against players the Niners will have to deal with.

Time should fix this issue quickly, but it certainly was an eye-opening lesson for the team and something to build on.

SF 49ers Lesson No. 5: Pplay-calling needs to dictate the flow of the game

In his position grades, Jeremy Wohlfart gave the coaching a D- grade, citing a poor plan against the Cardinals on both ends. I think he was too kind. The single biggest issue the Niners had, one that permeated everything else, was a lack of force from their coaching.

Not that they didn’t yell enough or scream at people, but that the coaches were too willing to sit back and work with what Arizona did rather than set the flow themselves.

On defense, the prevent nature that the Niners carried clearly did not work. It was a feeble passive attempt that only allowed Kyler Murray to deal to his star wide receiver and build a rapport. There was no aggression, no attempt to force Murray to make a play. There was always something available. This failure to dictate the flow of the game on defense made it easy for the Cardinals to hurry up, throw a ball to Hopkins on a 12-yard out, and repeat to the end zone. Defensive coordinator Robert Saleh’s attempts to corral Murray were not much better.

Overall, the defensive game plan made it nearly impossible for the defense to play up to its standards, and that contributed to the defense’s failures.

Now regarding the head coach and offensive play-caller, Kyle Shanahan, things were a bit different. Shanahan has been able to pull magic out of a hat on several occasions as a play-caller, and his talent base for this game was less than ideal.

But the passivity of his play-calling left much to be desired.

The Cardinals, by hurrying up, dictated the flow of their offensive possessions. They forced the Niners defense into certain looks and in a certain mindset. The Cardinals defense did much of the same. With the issues the Niners had illustrated before, they essentially dared Shanahan to beat them with his backup receivers. Shanahan did not.

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The play-calling was designed to limit the risk of Jimmy Garoppolo’s throws for the majority of the game, a decision that stalled any momentum and took away a chance of asserting control. By not trying to use the receivers, Shanahan played into what the Cardinals wanted, and it made his offense struggle. Shanahan was considerably passive on Sunday, and by doing so, he allowed the game to get away from his team. While trusting your defense to hold tall is OK, a coach can’t play his offense not to lose.

His one aggressive decision, to go for it on 4th-and-goal at the 1-yard line, was a good one despite the outcome. Was the play call right? Perhaps not, but the intent and the pressure it puts on a defense, plus the field position, gives extra value. But that was the only time he tried to press the Cardinals with his decisions. A long field-goal kicker Robbie Gould makes is a solid three points, but with a 4th-and-3 at the Arizona 34-yard line, going for it is a perfectly logical decision that can lead to big rewards.

At the end of the half, the Niners had a 4th-and-short right in the red zone, and Shanahan kicked again. The Cardinals got those points right back with aggressive play-calling to end the half. If Shanahan goes for it, worst case, the Cardinals get the ball in terrible field-position with fractionally more time than before. The worst-case situation from going for it (an Arizona score) happened anyway; being conservative did not help.

The Cardinals tying the game versus being three points down would be a smaller deal than the Cardinals being potentially a full touchdown behind.

It’s easy to look back and say the 49ers should be more aggressive like they’re playing a game of EA Sports’ Madden. It’s easy to see them lose by four and think, “If they had taken that field goal on 4th-and-goal, they could have won the game.”

But the ends do not justify the means.

By being aggressive and trusting his offense, Shanahan would not only end up freeing his defense more, but he would also be maximizing his points and setting up his offense in the best position to succeed. The SF 49ers lost because through all their sloppy play, they failed to take control and seize the momentum of the game. That falls on the coaching as much as the players.

There were a lot of things that went wrong with the SF 49ers, but the one thing that is true is that many of these issues can be fixed with time and with health. These lessons from the first week aren’t a sign of the end; rather they are proof that the Niners can and likely will improve.