Position grades, analysis from SF 49ers maddening loss to Cowboys
SF 49ers offensive grades
The SF 49ers offense wasn’t always clicking, but they managed to put together strong drives, albeit against a porous defense.
Quarterback: D-
Nick Mullens is a backup quarterback. For a full-season review of his play, that needs to be kept under consideration. It’s unreasonable to expect a backup to play to the level of a starter or even consistently exceed that level.
However, these grades aren’t on a curve, and so Mullens will be graded like any starter should be.
With that in mind, Mullens had an absolutely abysmal game. He had a good touchdown pass to tight end Jordan Reed after the bulk of the yards came from the ground. He also had a good scramble and maybe a couple good passes.
That’s it for praises for Mullens.
The primary issue with any backup, and the reason why they aren’t starters, is consistency. A starter has to provide a stable floor of play that can give a team a chance to win any game. The next issue is turnovers. A starter shouldn’t lose a game for a team. Mullens failed at both. Three turnovers allotted to him, one fumble where he could have stepped up in the pocket to avoid the rush, but we’ll call that a wash, and two absolutely terrible interceptions where he stared down his receiver and threw a perfect ball… to the Cowboys.
Beyond those plays, there were a litany of bad throws that should have been intercepted and an inability to make basic throws beyond the hashes. Even his completions largely eliminated yards after catch opportunities.
It’s been a common theme: SF 49ers in a position to win and Mullens pulling them down with him.
Running Backs: A-
The SF 49ers rushing attack was humming despite the poor quarterback play, which is all the more indicative of how well the running backs played. Though neither tailbacks Jeff Wilson Jr. nor Raheem Mostert are considered “Tier A” backs, they provided an miniature “thunder and lightning” feel to the ground game, as Mostert ran past defenders and Wilson Jr. ran through them.
An injury to Mostert late threw that situation away, but overall, it was a strong game from the SF 49ers backs, with both backs finishing with at least 60 yards and the Niners as a whole finishing with 150 yards.
Wide Receivers: A-
Like always, it’s difficult to separate the receivers from the quarterback’s play because the two are so totally linked. But it was clear the SF 49ers receivers, especially star rookie Brandon Aiyuk, were running open all game long, and the quarterbacking limited them.
Aiyuk, in particular, put forth another star effort, as the rookie continues to showcase his talents despite the poor quarterback play around him. His worst game of the last five was this game, yet he finished with nine receptions for 73 yards and a touchdown.
Not too shabby, as Niner Noise predicted.
Richie James Jr. had a bad special teams play (more on that later), but he was adequate as a receiver, and Kendrick Bourne played well, though his stat line is inflated from a meaningless-but-exciting Hail Mary reception to end the game.
This grade might be high to some, but whatever the wide receivers could control, they did well.
Tight Ends: B-
Jordan Reed had two nice catches but also a bad drop. Ross Dwelley also pitched in for two catches. Not much more to talk about for the tight ends. They had a fairly ho-hum day, but the touchdown for Reed puts them in the B-level.
Offensive Line: C-
It’s been easy this year to place a lot of the team’s struggles on the offensive line, and this unit most definitively has not been without flaws. But the rushing stats this game show that the line hasn’t been completely terrible. The fumble by Mullens is equal parts him and the offensive line, but that shouldn’t be completely on them.
The O-line didn’t play great, but it wasn’t the reason the team lost today.