SF 49ers grades, breakdowns from ugly Week 4 loss to Eagles

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Head coach Kyle Shanahan of the San Francisco 49ers. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images) /

SF 49ers Special Teams, Coaching Grades

For the most part, Kyle Shanahan’s initial game plan on offense was a good one. Receivers were frequently open, and the situational play-calling was decent enough.

Only the execution wasn’t good at all.

But, hey. There’s a new long-snapper to talk about. Because no one talked about him during the game.

A. . . . SPECIAL TEAMS

A week after parting ways with former long-snapper Kyle Nelson, whose disastrous Week 3 effort against the New York Giants forced the move, newly acquired long-snapper Taybor Pepper didn’t have any issues with his snaps.

No reason to talk about him aside from the fact no one talked about him. That’s a plus.

Kicker Robbie Gould was perfect on his two extra-point attempts, while punter Mitch Wishnowsky got a lucky bounce on one of his short punts, helping up his average to 44.3 yards during the game.

Too bad the SF 49ers weren’t effective enough, defensively, to take advantage of the field-position battle.

C. . . . COACHING

As noted earlier, Kyle Shanahan’s game plan wasn’t bad, although there were instances where it was clear he couldn’t get Nick Mullens into rhythm.

Players were open frequently, namely that Kyle Juszczyk overthrow early in the fourth quarter. Yet Mullens often held onto the ball for too long or simply missed his receiving targets. It’s hard to fault the head coach for that.

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Yet if there is an area for blame here, it’s with Shanahan’s inability to adjust after Mullens’ favored play-action approach failed to gain any sort of rhythm. True, Mullens isn’t a traditional pocket passer. But it would have been wise for Shanahan to call up some simpler, safer throws for his quarterback in the second half.

Defensively, coordinator Robert Saleh’s game plan has to take into account the lack of a true pass rush and all those injuries.

Giving up only 267 net yards of offense is good, and the Niners weren’t aided by turning the ball over three times. That said, those handful of breakdowns from Saleh’s defense, both containing a rushing Carson Wentz — he rushed for 37 yards and a touchdown — and preventing some long, key plays in clutch situations were devastating.

Saleh’s defense still has issues with mobile quarterbacks. It showed on Sunday.

Next. 3 Niners players who should be on the trade block. dark

Now, the SF 49ers find themselves looking at a 2-2 record a quarter of the way through the season, which is a far cry from where they should be amid what’s widely viewed as the easiest portion of their 2020 schedule.