49ers grades from one-sided road win over Jaguars in Week 11

The 49ers were easily the best team in Week 11 over the Jaguars, winning decisively by 30-10, and the position grades reflect the one-sided victory.

The San Francisco 49ers are no longer a losing team in 2021, getting back to the .500 mark after pulling off a convincing and relatively easy 30-10 road win over the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 11 at TIAA Bank Field.

Now at 5-5, the Niners can feel pretty good about not suffering a trap game after already beating the Los Angeles Rams the previous week, and Week 11 was a clear-cut showing of just how different San Francisco and Jacksonville are.

Simply put, the 49ers had far more firepower and discipline on both sides of the ball, whereas the Niners’ victory was just as much about what the Jaguars did wrong throughout the game.

Case in point, the Jags were flagged with eight penalties for 56 yards, and two of those extended San Francisco drives that otherwise would have stalled.

The 49ers, meanwhile, maintained a similar formula that worked a week ago, maintain possession by grinding down the clock and wearing down an already questionable Jacksonville defense that lost even more players as the game wore on. Just like Week 10, the Niners nearly doubled the time-of-possession battle, outpossessing the Jaguars 38:22 to 21:38 while converting 25 first downs to the Jaguars’ 14.

Not surprisingly, San Francisco’s positional grades from Week 11 are pretty solid on all three phases, and all three phases managed to produce key moments that ultimately led to the 49ers’ second win streak of the 2021 season.

49erse Offensive Grades vs. Jaguars

The 49ers managed 333 net yards of offense on Sunday against a noticeably good Jacksonville run defense, which limited much of what head coach Kyle Shanahan wanted to do on the ground.

Yet Shanahan’s creativity, plus the multifaceted use of wide receiver Deebo Samuel, meant whatever the Jaguars tried to do on defense usually didn’t work.

Quarterback — B

Quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo had his fourth quality game in a row, tossing 176 yards and two touchdowns against zero interceptions by going 16-of-22.

Tight end George Kittle hauled in one of those two touchdowns, while wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk hauled in the other, both passes in relatively tight spaces where there wasn’t a lot of room to operate.

True, Garoppolo missed a wide-open running back, Jeff Wilson Jr., on the Niners’ first red-zone drive, forcing the team to settle for a field goal.

Overall, though, Garoppolo should be satisfied with his performance, which was good enough to lead the way to rookie quarterback Trey Lance getting some garbage-time snaps.

Running Back — C

It was going to be tough for San Francisco to move the ball on the ground, both with starting running back Elijah Mitchell out with a finger injury and Jacksonville having allowed a mere 3.9 yards per carry against entering Week 11.

Wilson had the volume carries, 19 in total for 50 yards, but only averaged 2.6 yards per attempt. Rookie runner Trey Sermon, meanwhile, finally got into the action a bit, churning out 32 yards on 10 carries, but it’s evident the 49ers offense works much more efficiently with Mitchell’s speed and decisiveness.

Wide Receiver — B

Aiyuk might have been the Niners’ leading wide receiver with seven catches for 85 yards and a touchdown, using his growing ability against man coverage to his advantage with some key catches in contested situations.

But San Francisco’s offensive star was still Samuel, who had only one grab for 15 yards and is still shy of the 1,000-yard mark on the season. Yet Samuel ended up being the 49ers’ leading rusher with 79 yards on eight carries.

And this beautiful 25-yard touchdown run:

In terms of all-purpose use, there are few players in the NFL right now who have Samuel’s kind of impact, and he continued that trend despite the low receiving stats in Week 11.

Tight End — B+

Kittle, like Samuel, might not have been the yardage master in Jacksonville, but he was still a force in blocking and also added that touchdown, too.

That now makes three games in a row where Kittle has scored a touchdown.

Offensive Line — B

For the most part, Garoppolo was well protected against a still-stout Jaguars defensive front. And while Garoppolo took two sacks and four quarterback hits, the 49ers offensive line still was the better unit at the line of scrimmage.

Left tackle Trent Williams and left guard Laken Tomlinson remain dominant, while no one noticed right tackle Jaylon Moore.

That’s a good thing, considering Moore is filling a tough assignment in place of the injured Mike McGlinchey.

49ers Defensive Grades vs. Jaguars

Jacksonville doesn’t have much offensive talent despite fielding the No. 1 overall pick from this year’s NFL Draft, quarterback Trevor Lawrence. Perhaps running back James Robinson, who entered the game averaging 5.4 yards per carry, would have been an X-factor.

But the Niners held him to just 29 yards on 12 carries.

Defensive Line — A-

The Jaguars couldn’t get Robinson going, and his lone touchdown late in the fourth quarter wasn’t a difference-maker.

What was, though, was EDGE Nick Bosa‘s performance, as he netted two sacks to get to a career-high of 10 after setting his previous mark of nine back in his rookie 2019 campaign.

Depth EDGEs Arden Key and Samson Ebukam, the latter needing to step up for San Francisco, also made notable plays and made life difficult for an already struggling Jaguars offense.

Linebacker — A

Linebacker Fred Warner is back to his All-Pro ways, not only by leading the 49ers defense with seven tackles but also by recording a fumble recovery that helped give the Niners a plus-2 mark in the turnover differential for Week 11.

It’s also going to be tough for San Francisco to remove depth linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair from the starting lineup once Dre Greenlaw returns from his groin injury.

Al-Shaair has been the better option this season and probably will be moving forward.

Secondary — A-

About the only gaffe from the 49ers defensive backfield that was serious was strong safety Jaquiski Tartt committing defensive pass interference in the end zone that ultimately led to the Jags’ lone touchdown score.

Aside from that, though, it’s a testament the Niners surrendered a mere 146 pass yards through the air with Lawrence completing only 16 of his 25 pass attempts.

On the fumble recovery Warner had, embattled cornerback Josh Norman managed to punch it out, proving he can offer some upside as long as he’s not getting too handsy in coverage.

That was the case for him and the bulk of San Francisco’s secondary during the game, not affording Jacksonville the chance to ever get into the game.

49ers Special Teams, Coaching Grades vs. Jaguars

It wasn’t just on offense and defense where the 49ers showed their dominance over the Jaguars. It was also on that crucial third phase, too.

Special Teams — A

There’s never any complaining when kicker Robbie Gould makes all three of his field-goal tries and all three of his extra-point attempts. Especially when two of those three field goals were from 45-plus yards out.

Those weren’t the biggest plays on special teams, though, as a quick-twitch reaction from wide receiver Trent Sherfield took advantage of a muffed punt-return attempt by Jags wide receiver Tavon Austin, essentially turning a fourth-down punt play by the Niners into a long gain for a new set of downs.

San Francisco was wise to not let kick returner Jamal Agnew make much of an impact either.

Coaching B

Kyle Shanahan might have had a gaffe early in the game after his opening 20-play, 87-yard drive that spanned 13 minutes and five seconds, the longest drive in NFL history, for what it’s worth.

But Shanahan called for a field goal instead of going for it on 4th-and-1 on Jacksonville’s 2-yard line. While that kind of conservative play-calling might work against lesser opponents like the Jaguars, there are certainly going to be times later this season where he needs to be much more aggressive.

Read More: 4 Niners who need more snaps over second half of 2021

Late in the first half, Shanahan was also a bit conservative despite having time and timeouts to get deep into Jaguars territory. A blown-coverage play by the Jags afforded Trey Sermon the opportunity to get open for a deep reception, and he ran out of bounds to stop the clock. And the 49ers were able to tack on a field goal as a result.

Perhaps some more aggression should be called for, though.

Nevertheless, those are relatively nitpicky call-outs for Shanahan, whose team wasn’t beset by multiple penalties and took advantage of Jacksonville committing too many of its own.

Over the last two weeks, the Niners have scored a combined 61 points and have allowed just 20.

Can’t complain about the overall efforts. Period.