The San Francisco 49ers won yet again in a thrilling 33-17 victory against the Miami Dolphins
There are three certainties in life: death, taxes and the injury curse striking the San Francisco 49ers in a manic fury.
Just as fans were starting to see the team getting healthier and make a real run for the second half of the year, quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo was carted off with a broken ankle injury early on in the game. His season, which has been the best of his career it must be said, is now over.
The team turned to Mr. Irrelevant himself Brock Purdy, who did exactly what he needed to do. He got the ball out quickly to his weapons and didn’t commit too many mistake, and allowed the offensive personnel and the defense to do what they needed to do.
In the end, the 49ers recorded an exceptionally impressive 33-17 victory over a hot Miami Dolphins outfit. It’s too early to ascertain if Purdy is an unlikely candidate to lead the 49ers deep into the playoffs, but at least the fans have seen enough to have a glimmer of hope for the season to be salvaged.
The defense really got to work on the offense, with Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa feeling the pressure at every turn. Critical to the victory was the four takeaways from the defense and monstrous performance by EDGE NIck Bosa.
All in all it was a mixed bag it must be said. Are the Super Bowl dreams over? That’s a question for another day. But at least among the injury news there’s plenty of good to discuss from this game.
49ers Week 13 grades: Offense
Quarterback:
Hopefully Jimmy Garoppolo heals fast from his broken ankle, as the quarterback did absolutely everything possible to get himself a new contract somewhere. There have been some whispers that both Garoppolo and the 49ers are interested in a potential reunion, but that’s something to look at another time.
It was the Brock Purdy show however, and if he does nothing else in his career at least he has an excellent debut to show for it. Purdy had 25-for-37 passing for 210 yards, two touchdowns and an interception on a fourth-down throw down the sidelines.
Purdy didn’t win the game all but himself but he did what he had to do. He was a facilitator, getting the ball out quick to his weapons and allowing the defense to do its bit to hang onto the lead. Purdy also displayed some good throws, especially on some plays where Miami sent pressure to rattle him.
Grade: B+
Running Backs:
Miami have a good run defense so it was interesting to see if the 49ers could beat them on the ground, the answer was kind of.
The 49ers didn’t run very much with Purdy under center because the Dolphins were content to try to force the passing game to beat them, so the 49ers had 30 carries discounting quarterback keepers. A decent amount, but with the 49ers leading most of the game and never being more than one score down (very early in the game at that), you’d expect them to take it out of Purdy’s hands more.
That being said they had some success with Christian McCaffrey and Jordan Mason running for 66 and 51 yards (off 17 and eight carries respectively). McCaffrey was also the main safety valve for Purdy recording eight receptions for 80 yards and a touchdown late in the first half.
Fullback Kyle Juszczyk was stuffed on his only rushing attempt but had a good day receiving with three receptions for 12 yards and a touchdown.
Wide Receivers:
You could be forgiven to think that Purdy would have played a bit within his shell and not targeted the receivers very much, but he actually threw some really nice strikes that got all three starting receivers into the game.
Deebo Samuel led the receiving corps with 58 yards from six receptions along with five yards from four carries, while Brandon Aiyuk had a respectable five receptions and 46 yards.
Jauan Jennings continued to have some very key receptions when called upon, recording two receptions for 34 yards.
Not eyecatching numbers from the 49ers receivers, but a respectable showing against a good team with a change at quarterback.
Grade: B
Tight Ends:
George Kittle had a quiet game with two receptions for 22 yards, but he chipped in when he had to. Backup tight end Tyler Kroft had a very nice reception for 14 yards also.
Not the biggest day for them.
Grade: C
Offensive Line:
Not the best day for the offensive line, with four sacks given up and a lot more pressures besides that including the one that caused the injury to Garoppolo.
The run blocking made up for it somewhat, with the strong run defense of the Dolphins not able to clamp down completely as noted.
While the offense was functional enough to get the victory, this was not the finest day for the trenches.
Grade: C-
49ers Week 13 grades: Defense
Defensive Line:
The 49ers defensive line has already been the crown jewel of the top defense in the NFL, but it took on an extra dimension with the return of defensive tackle Arik Armstead. He didn’t have a big day on the stat sheet, but forced the pressure that caused the first interception for Tua Tagovailoa.
But as usual the MVP was EDGE Nick Bosa, who recorded three sacks as he absolutely feasted on the backup tackles of the Miami offensive line. Those three sacks now make him the leader in the NFL, as he continues to push his claim for Defensive Player of the Year.
The line also did its job defending the rush. They’re the best defense in the NFL for a reason, as former 49ers Raheem Mostert and Jeff Wilson didn’t make any inroads against their old team.
Grade: A
Linebackers:
Another week, another dominant display by the best linebacker duo in football with Fred Warner and Dre Greenlaw their usual starring selves for San Francisco.
Warner has been the shining light most weeks but this week it was Greenlaw’s turn to be the dominant linebacker, culminating in his fumble return for a touchdown that all but iced the game for the 49ers.
Warner had a good game too, and his interception at the end of the game officially put the final stamp on things.
Grade: A
Defensive Backs:
A bit of a mixed bag here for the defensive backs, as Tashaun Gipson and Charvarius Ward were beaten badly in coverage on both of Miami’s long touchdowns. Gipson took a very bad angle while in fairness to Ward was expecting help from Talanoa Hufanga that never came, so perhaps the blame is on the talented safety instead.
On the other hand both Jimmie Ward and Deommodore Lenoir came up with big interceptions to help stifle the Dolphins offense. Call that a split performance for the game.
Grade: C+
49ers grades: Special teams/Coaching
Special Teams:
Not much to report here other than everybody did their job efficiently. Robbie Gould hit all four of his field goals and all three extra points, punter Mitch Wishnowsky punted well and returner Ray-Ray McCloud did a good job.
On the defensive side, the special teams unit did well to keep Miami in check.
Grade: B+
Coaching:
Head coach Kyle Shanahan didn’t have his best coaching performance today, but give credit to him for making the best of a bad situation and ensuring the team didn’t get distracted by the injury to Jimmy Garoppolo.
Not only did he make the right playcalls to get Brock Purdy’s confidence up, but he showed confidence in allowing Purdy to make key third down throws when trying to run down the clock and was justified in doing so.
DeMeco Ryans would have been unhappy to see two long touchdowns scored against his defense given the dominance of the last month, but all in all if you can contain a dynamic offense like Miami to only 17 points then you’re doing something right. Teams in the AFC have struggled to contain the Dolphins, but the 49ers defense had four takeaways and kept them to only 17 points.
Really, you can’t ask for much more than that.
Grade: A+