49ers studs and duds from difficult Week 10 victory vs. Chargers

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Brandon Aiyuk, San Francisco 49ers (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images) /

49ers Stud: Brandon Aiyuk

For the longest time on Sunday night, it looked like wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk could be blamed for the 49ers losing the game, as he had a couple of very poor plays.

The first was early in the game, after catching a pass from Jimmy Garoppolo, Aiyuk fought for the first down but fumbled the ball as he was going down. The Chargers recovered but didn’t make the Niners pay too much, but it seemed like the beginning of a long night.

The second big mistake was later in the game when San Francisco was trying to get the lead. Garoppolo threw a dart to Aiyuk in the end zone, but he dropped the ball and almost deflected it for an interception.

It wasn’t a perfect throw, but it was certainly good enough that the blame had to fall on Aiyuk.

To Aiyuk’s credit, however, he did recover and became the 49ers’ biggest asset in their comeback. Aiyuk had six receptions for 84 yards and would have had a better game if he had caught that touchdown.

He had a lot of key receptions and is fast becoming arguably the Niners’ No. 1 receiver now.