49ers don’t get good game grades after loss to Seahawks

The 49ers committed too many mistakes in their 30-23 road loss to the Seahawks, and the position grades are certainly reflected in the outing.

San Francisco 49ers fans may have a right to complain about two specific plays on their team’s final drive of their Week 13 road matchup versus the Seattle Seahawks.

Left guard Laken Tomlinson was flagged for what appeared to be a phantom holding call, and there have been worse calls not flagged for penalties, perhaps even a few during this 30-23 win for the Hawks.

More importantly, on the Niners’ second-to-last play before time expired, wide receiver Trent Sherfield appeared to be held by Seattle cornerback Sidney Jones on what could have been a game-tying touchdown.

No call, though. And San Francisco ultimately lost the game, falling to 6-6 as a result.

That said, the 49ers can’t look at the officiating and blame the referees fully, because head coach Kyle Shanahan’s squad committed plenty of actual mistakes and gaffes over the course of 60 minutes. If the officials are going to influence the outcome of a game, it’s best for a team to put itself in a position where that won’t be a factor.

The Niners didn’t do it. Nor did they take advantage of plenty of the Seahawks’ own mistakes throughout the game either.

Needless to say, San Francisco’s positional grades over the course of Week 13 aren’t going to be pretty, outside of a handful of standouts here and there, and even those weren’t enough to overcome what seemed like an inevitable outcome.

Let’s break down our Week 13 position grades.

49ers Offensive Grades vs. Seahawks

Surprisingly enough, the 49ers managed to outgain the Hawks 365 to 327, but going 3-of-10 on third downs had the look of offenses plagued by problems earlier in the season when the Niners were immersed in their ugly four-game losing streak.

Turnovers, too, as quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo tossed two interceptions that both resulted in Seattle points.

Quarterback: D

Some may say Garoppolo was good enough to win, going 20-of-30 for 299 yards, two touchdowns against two interceptions, with a passer rating of 93.6.

But Garoppolo looked more like his inaccurate self, and those two interceptions surely weren’t pretty.

Particularly this one, which seemed to be an intended pass for Seahawks linebacker Bobby Wagner:

Some catch-and-run plays by tight end George Kittle helped inflate Garoppolo’s numbers, but the quarterback looked nothing like a game-managing signal-caller, and he bears as much blame for San Francisco’s loss as anyone else.

Running Back: C

It was going to be tough for running back Elijah Mitchell to gain a lot of headway against a Hawks defense that was averaging just 3.9 rush yards per carry against entering Week 13.

Mitchell managed 66 yards on 22 carries, averaging 3 yards per attempt, and his touchdown was a big moment in the game. And he nearly lost a fumble when he suffered a second-half injury, but that call was overturned upon further review.

Not a horrible game by any stretch, but Week 13 certainly wasn’t one of Mitchell’s best.

Wide Receiver: D

The 49ers needed someone to step up in the absence of wide receiver Deebo Samuel, who missed the game because of a groin injury.

Fellow wideout Brandon Aiyuk somewhat did this with three catches for 55 yards, but he also dropped two passes and didn’t quite establish himself as the go-to force the Niners offense so desperately needed in the second half.

No other wide receiver had more than two catches, and San Francisco needs Samuel back in a big way.

Tight End: A+

Kittle was about the only absolute positive from the 49ers offense on Sunday, and his efforts essentially kept Garoppolo and Co. in the game.

Most of those efforts, including two touchdowns, occurred in the first half. But Kittle’s prowess still made the 49ers’ last-ditch scoring effort late in the fourth quarter possible.

And his 48-yard catch-and-run touchdown along the sideline was impressive, too:

Kittle finished with only his second 100-yard game of the season, hauling in nine catches for 181 yards and two touchdowns.

At least he stepped up with Samuel out.

Offensive Line: C-

The Niners offensive line is going to catch a lot of flak for what happened in Week 13, and deservedly so. This unit wasn’t able to win at the line of scrimmage in the run game, and there were two penalties called against this unit, too, one on center Alex Mack and the aforementioned hold on Laken Tomlinson.

But, if there was a major turning-point moment, it was on right tackle Tom Compton getting blown up by Seahawks defensive tackle Carlos Dunlap for a sack in the end zone on Garoppolo for a safety.

That was ugly enough to knock down this unit two grades alone, even though it was the only sack Garoppolo took.

49ers Defensive Grades vs. Seahawks

One might have figured San Francisco would have continued Seattle’s season-long issues extending drives, putting the 49ers offense into a position where they’d dominate the time of possession.

Aside from a few splash plays here and there, the Niners defense was less than impressive, and the Seahawks actually won this crucial battle by a factor of 33:12 to 26:48.

Defensive Line: B+

San Francisco sacked quarterback Russell Wilson four times, and EDGEs Nick Bosa, Jordan Willis and Arden Key each got on that tally sheet, while defensive tackle Arik Armstead picked up his third sack of the season, too.

Meanwhile, nose tackle D.J. Jones had two tackles for a loss and also forced a fumble, as did Bosa.

Too bad a couple of roughing-the-passer calls against this unit caused plenty of damage in a Wilson-led scoring drive just before halftime.

Linebacker: B+

Ironically, the 49ers weren’t too bad off without linebackers Fred Warner and Dre Greenlaw, who missed the game because of injuries.

This, thanks to fill-in linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair, who has quietly emerged as one of the Niners’ best defenders this season and should be starting despite Greenlaw’s inevitable return.

Al-Shaair led the defense with a whopping 16 tackles and was all over the field, sharing a sack with Key and also forcing a fumble, too.

Secondary: D-

The weaknesses within San Francisco’s defensive backfield were back on full display on Sunday, as cornerback Josh Norman was back to being a liability, and the 49ers were forced to rely on their inadequate depth with Dontae Johnson and Deommodore Lenoir filling in for an injured Emmanuel Moseley, who had to depart and didn’t return.

Johnson and nickel cornerback K’Waun Williams helped make up for the shortcomings with two takeaways of their own, but overall, the Niners secondary had too few answers trying to defend Seahawks wide receivers D.K. Metcalf and Tyler Lockett.

This position still remains a primary San Francisco weakness.

49ers Special Teams, Coaching Grades vs. Seahawks

The idea the 49ers could simply outpossess the Seahawks in Week 13 went out the window, impacted by the fact the Niners couldn’t win the turnover battle either, tying the Hawks with three turnovers apiece.

That said, the missed opportunities and self-inflicted wounds, both by the coaching staff and special teams, hurt matters a lot for the red and gold.

Special Teams: F

A team with three wins should always be dangerous when it comes to trick plays, and Seattle executed a fake punt after its opening possession went 3-and-out, executing it to perfection for a 73-yard touchdown, one which San Francisco had no clue was coming:

Unreal and inexcusable. Except that wasn’t the only gaffe.

Kick returner Trenton Cannon suffered a concussion on the opening kickoff, forcing wide receiver Travis Benjamin into the role, and his fumble led to a crazy stretch of back-and-forth momentum, ultimately culminating in Jimmy Garoppolo’s safety.

That’s not it, though.

The 49ers’ coverage units surrendered a whopping 148 yards on six kick returns, which doesn’t bode well at all either and helped set up the Seahawks with more than a few favorable field positions.

And we didn’t even mention kicker Robbie Gould missing his first extra-point attempt of the season. At least he was perfect elsewhere.

Special teams won’t necessarily win games alone, but this unit can certainly lose them. That happened here.

Coaching: D

Special teams coach Richard Hightower is going to receive a lot of criticism for what happened against the Hawks, and it’s going to be deserved.

And Kyle Shanahan will also receive some criticism, too. Not necessarily because of his game plan, which essentially had to go right out the window after Seattle’s initial special teams touchdown and the Garoppolo interceptions.

Read More: George Kittle carried 49ers’ first-half efforts vs. Seahawks

But rather because of the lackluster offensive efforts in the second half, as the Niners watched the Seahawks score 16 unanswered points, and San Francisco failed to score at all in the third and fourth quarters.

A couple of stats that reveal why Shanahan didn’t bring his best game.

For starters, the 49ers went only 1-of-2 in the red zone after entering the game with a 77-percent conversion rate, and a 3-of-10 mark on third downs won’t help matters either.

Neither will those 10 penalties for 86 yards. While both teams played an ugly game, the Niners were far less disciplined in a game where they had to be.