49ers dominate Jaguars to get back to .500 after Week 11 win

The 49ers made it look easy in Week 11 over the Jaguars, dominating the time-of-possession battle en route to getting back to a .500 record.

No Week 11 trap game for the San Francisco 49ers after a dominant Week 10 win over the Los Angeles Rams on a short week on the opposite coast.

The Niners cruised to a 30-10 road win over the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday, replicating the same kind of ball control that helped them with last week’s 31-10 win over Los Angeles, particularly the 20-play, 13:05 clock-chewing drive that culminated in an opening field goal.

Perhaps head coach Kyle Shanahan could have gone for a touchdown attempt on 4th-and-1 on the Jaguars’ 2-yard line, but San Francisco’s overall dominance on both sides of the ball made that a forgotten element.

In total, the 49ers outpossessed the Jags 38:22 to 21:38.

As much as that had to do with the Niners’ own methodical drives, Jacksonville’s offense also had a slew of its own problems, ultimately gaining just 200 all-purpose yards and converting only 14 first downs.

The tale of two teams, for sure.

The Jaguars also helped San Francisco out a bit, too, particularly with a key defensive holding call on that lengthy drive. Then later, defensive back Rayshawn Jenkins punched wide receiver Jauan Jennings in a small scuffle that turned a fourth-down play into another 49ers first down.

Jenkins was subsequently ejected after the penalty, and the Jags had eight penalties for 56 yards.

The Niners, far more disciplined, had only one for 12 yards.

Deebo Samuel continues to be 49ers best offensive weapon

Wide receiver Deebo Samuel, who entered Week 11 as the league’s No. 2 leading pass-catcher with 979 yards, might not have been lights out in the receiving department in Jacksonville. That honor for San Francisco went to fellow wideout Brandon Aiyuk, who had seven catches for 85 yards, while Samuel only had one grab for 15 yards, still short of being the team’s first 1,000-yard wide receiver since 2014.

Related Story: Odds for Deebo Samuel having NFL’s most receiving yards in 2021

But Samuel was an X-factor as an all-purpose weapon again, getting 79 yards as a running back in light of the team’s starter, Elijah Mitchell, being out with a finger injury.

Samuel averaged 9.9 yards per rush, including this 25-yard scamper for the 49ers’ first touchdown of the day:

Even when Samuel isn’t getting targets in the air, he’s nevertheless proving to be a massive contributor in other ways, particularly on the ground for the second week in a row.

Jimmy Garoppolo, George Kittle continue 49ers hot streak

Quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo enjoyed his fourth quality game, going 16-of-22 for 176 yards passing with two touchdowns against zero interceptions for a 126.3 passer rating. And while he missed a wide-open running back, Jeff Wilson Jr., for what would have been an easy touchdown on that opening drive, Jimmy G made up for it with some quality throws later in the game.

Including this one between two defenders to Aiyuk for a score:

Garoppolo’s toss to tight end George Kittle, however, put the dagger in the Jaguars’ banged-up defense, capping off an 11-play, 77-yard drive that made the score 27-3 in the third quarter.

That marked the third consecutive game in which Kittle scored a touchdown, and San Francisco getting out to a 30-10 lead late in the fourth quarter allowed for Garoppolo to sit and rookie quarterback Trey Lance to get some much-needed snaps after not seeing the field since Week 5.

With the victory, the 49ers get back to 5-5 on the season and have won two in the row for the second time this season, the first since opening up the year with two consecutive victories.

Hopefully the Niners can find their first three-game win streak of the year after pulling off this one-sided affair over Jacksonville.