The 49ers took care of business at home against the Cardinals, winning 35-16. That said, it still feels like this team has yet to hit its stride. Niner Noise discusses.
The San Francisco 49ers were favored to win against the visiting Arizona Cardinals by two touchdowns in Week 4 despite facing a divisional opponent that historically had great success against head coach Kyle Shanahan. The only thing more surprising than the lopsided predictions about this game was that a 14-point margin seemed reasonable between the Niners and their NFC West foes.
The Cardinals were coming off a tough but surprising Week 3 victory over the Dallas Cowboys, bending to the absolute max but not breaking, while the 49ers cruised against the New York Giants despite how weird the game felt on Thursday Night Football.
While the Cardinals are just entering their rebuild under first-year head coach Jonathan Gannon, the Niners are on a short list of best teams in the NFL and are one of the only two remaining unbeaten squads.
And though the final score of 35-16 depicts a comfortable victory against Arizona, the game took a weird turn throughout. The 49ers started out absolutely dominant, racing to a 21-3 advantage. But the Cardinals, playing the role of pesky underdogs, went for it on fourth down multiple times, including a fake punt inside their own 25-yard line to get a late touchdown. The 49ers offense stumbled out of the half (the only non-scoring drive the 49ers had excluding kneel-downs at the end of the game), and the Cardinals scored another touchdown to bring the game to 21-16, a one-possession game in the middle of the third quarter.
But from there, the Niners showed why they might be the best offense in the NFL.
Getting the ball with just under 10 minutes to go in the game, the 49ers marched down the field on a 14-play 7-minute long drive ending with a QB sneak for a touchdown and a bow on a game that was never really in doubt.
For the last three weeks, and even including the season-opening victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Niners have had one-possession leads that have seemed very vulnerable. Yet at the same time, there has never been a real panic that they will lose a game.
It is a fine line to walk, but the 49ers have tip-toed it so far for a 4-0 start to the season.
Here are the grades from win No. 4.
49ers Offensive Grades
What has become a new (and welcome) sight for the 49ers is their offense picking up the defense in tough situations. On Sunday, the Niners were nearly perfect on offense, which kept the game from ever escaping their grasp.
RB Christian McCaffrey
This is a little blurb to marvel over San Francisco's trade acquisition from last year, which has completely unlocked the offense to an efficiency level almost impossibly seen.
Christan McCaffrey not only continued his streak of a touchdown in games played, but he finished with FOUR touchdowns. Read that again, four touchdowns.
By himself, McCaffrey outscored nearly half the teams in the NFL this week. His touchdowns came in a variety of ways: outside runs, receptions, inside runs from the goal line.
McCaffrey is the star of an offense with more talent than needed, and when he is on, the 49ers are nigh unstoppable. What an incredible player.
Grade: A+++
49ers Rushing Offense
As you may guess from McCaffrey's dominance, the Niners had a good day on the ground. But despite their star running back topping 100 yards for the game, the offense did not move through the ground. They finished with 124 yards on 31 carries (including sneaks, kneel-downs, etc.), and both Jordan Mason and Deebo Samuel were largely ineffective rushing.
But McCaffrey was more than good enough to carry the unit, and there are no negatives to point out from a team that ran the ball at a 4.0 yards-per-carry clip.
That's efficiency that'll win games.
Grade: A
49ers Passing Offense
McCaffrey overshadowed what might have Brock Purdy's cleanest game. Purdy finished with 283 yards on a 20-of-21 line, which was the highest completion percentage of any 49ers quarterback with over 20 attempts. A team boasting Hall of Famers like Joe Montana and Steve Young, and Brock Purdy sits atop the franchise leaderboard.
Purdy didn't play it conservatively either. His play was an aggressive intermediate and downfield passing attack.
The biggest beneficiary was Brandon Aiyuk, who returned from injury and casually put up 148 receiving yards. McCaffrey was the next-highest receiver with 71 yards of his own. And there wasn't a bad throw among them, nor a poor read, nor a broken play.
The 49ers offense was essentially perfect, and Deebo Samuel, the star of Thursday Night Football, did not even record a reception.
Grade: A+
49ers Defensive Grades
The defense started out strong, but eventually, it was worn down, allowing the Cardinals to move the ball far more easily than they should have been able to on both ends of halftime.
49ers Rushing Defense
A mediocre day stopping the run for San Francisco, though that has more to do with Cardinals quarterback Joshua Dobbs scrambling. But running back James Conner finished with 52 yards on 11 carries, a 4.7 YPC that will not cut it for the high standard the 49ers defense holds itself to.
Dobbs was able to get free on a couple of scrambles, something the Niners defense did well against the Giants but struggled with a bit on Sunday. The Cardinals never had a chance to take the game over, though, so the rushing efficiency will just go down as a byproduct of the game, but it's something to work on.
Grade: B-
49ers Passing Defense
The 49ers pass defense allowed too many yards. Even if you take "garbage time" yards out of the equation, there was an ease in moving the ball through the air that is simply unacceptable for a defense of this caliber.
Dobbs finished with 265 yards on 41 attempts and a passer rating over 100.
What made the situation more frustrating for San Francisco was that Dobbs was typically playing into the defensive schemes, with short passes that the 49ers had to corral.
But the defensive line had pressure without sacks, and the Cardinals offense never had to go backward. Add in a couple of explosive plays that the Niners could ill-afford, and the Cardinals were able to move the ball with ease.
The Cardinals sustained long drives, and they found the soft spots in the zone. The 49ers won handily, and they raced to a big lead because of their defensive pass play, so it wasn't all bad. But it was disappointing, especially compared to last Thursday.
Grade: C+
49ers Special Teams and Coaching Grades
49ers Special Teams Grades
The 49ers covered kickoffs well and punts exceptionally well, including a gem of punt coverage that allowed them to down the ball at the 1-yard line. Mitch Wishnowsky was great, and Jake Moody hit all his extra points.
But for the second time this season, the 49ers kicked the ball out of bounds on a kickoff. That happening one time in a season is already unacceptable, but twice?
Perhaps it is a growing pain for rookie Jake Moody, but that is a mistake that is easy to avoid and can prove costly against the right opponent.
In a game where special teams were not majorly called upon, that play sticks out like a sore thumb.
Grade: C
49ers Coaching Grades
Not much to say for coaching, but the game against the Cardinals showed a fascinating comparison between Kyle Shanahan and Jonathan Gannon.
Shanahan went for it on fourth down, converting with a completion to George Kittle, but Gannon was aggressive throughout, including a conversion for 7 yards at the midfield line, and a conversion on a fake punt inside his own 25-yard line. Shanahan's aggressive decision was subdued and rooted in confidence in his team to overcome the negatives, while Gannon's decision was a gamble to gain an edge against a more talented team.
Though Gannon's decisions worked out (as did Shanahan's), realizing the Niners are a team that can cover up its own mistakes, in contrast to the Cardinals who needed that boost to keep pace, helps explain how conservative the 49ers can be since they don't need to find that extra edge against most teams.
Grade: B