Grades, analysis from SF 49ers turnover-prone Week 10 loss to Saints
SF 49ers offensive grades
The offensive performance was ugly, capped off by two positions that seemingly sunk the SF 49ers before anything could get going.
Quarterback: C-
There isn’t much to blame Nick Mullens on, who put up a very mediocre stat line with 247 yards, a touchdown, and two baffling interceptions. I could spend a lot of time dissecting the intricacies of Mullens’ play, but frankly, there isn’t much to say that isn’t already known.
By no fault of Mullens, he simply isn’t much more than a backup quarterback. A backup playing in a hostile road environment will put up these type of numbers. He struggled under the pressure, made a couple of decent throws, was generally off with several of his attempts, and played slightly below average.
Just to dive in a little further, just take a look at the first interception Mullens threw, albeit from a non-optimal broadcast angle:
https://twitter.com/Saints/status/1328116676932538368
Simply put, Mullens completely misread the coverage. Saints defensive back Malcolm Jenkins lined up at the line fainting a blitz before dropping back as a robber in the intermediate middle of the field, and Mullens didn’t recognize him. Jenkins not there, that’s an easy pitch and catch to wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk cutting across the field.
But with Jenkins there, there’s no way Mullens should make that throw.
Though Mullens did have two boneheaded plays, he played average. Made good plays, made bad plays, didn’t do much overall. Not much more to say.
Running Backs: F
The SF 49ers, the team that made it to the Super Bowl with its quarterback throwing less than 20 passes because of a dominant rushing attack, averaged 2.0 yards per carry. Jerick McKinnon was fed a whopping 18 carriers and compiled a grand total of 33 yards. In the pass game, the efficiency was slightly better, though it’s not hard to be better than 2 yards a play.
JaMycal Hasty suffered a broken collarbone, too, adding the injury to insult.
The rushing attack wasn’t just terrible because of the running backs (more on that later), but with this type of performance, no way they get a passing grade.
Wide Receivers: A-
The emergence of Aiyuk into a bona fide WR1 and a legitimate threat has been not only fun to watch, it’s been rapid. With a playbook with a substantial learning curve, Aiyuk wasn’t expected to perform so well, but he amassed 75 yards and a touchdown on seven receptions, and more importantly, he was getting open.
In the last three games he played, Aiyuk is averaging seven receptions for 94 yards. That’s legit production.
Kendrick Bourne had some tough catches, and Richie James made some plays on offense. Despite the struggles by the offense overall, the wide receiver corps made good on their talent and had a great game, all things considered.
Tight Ends: B+
It’s hard to really explain the tight end game because of the overall offensive flow, but Jordan Reed looked good as always, prompting several sighs of what could have been with him and Kittle in two-TE sets. Dwelley had a good catch.
And getting back to Jordan Reed, he made this beauty of a grab:
https://twitter.com/SportsCenter/status/1328099746708414464?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1328099746708414464%7Ctwgr%5E&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2F247sports.com%2Fcollege%2Fflorida%2FArticle%2FFlorida-Gators-football-former-TE-Jordan-Reed-makes-ridiculous-1-handed-catch-in-New-Orleans-Saints-game–154845493%2F
That’s pretty sweet.
Offensive Line: F– (can I give them a lower grade?)
Oh boy. I’m not an offensive line expert, so I won’t comment on the particulars of the performance, but all I’ll say is this was some of the worst line play I’ve seen from San Francisco.
Beyond getting negative push in the run game, the Sf 49ers were constantly bombarded with pressure from simple blitzes the line failed to pick up to just four-man rushes that broke down the pocket.
I mean, it was ugly, and from that failure stemmed a majority of the failures the entire game.