The San Francisco 49ers’ season came to a screeching halt after a 41-6 loss to Seattle in the NFC Divisional round. The opening kickoff was returned for a touchdown, and it felt like the 49ers couldn’t climb out of the early hole all game. It only got worse as the 49ers’ offense doubled their scoring output from their Week 18 matchup with Seattle and scored six points.
The offseason is now filled with questions about the roster and how the 49ers can keep up in the NFC West arms race with Los Angeles and Seattle, who will face off in the NFC Championship Game.
Let’s look at the snap counts and grades from Saturday’s game, according to Pro Football Focus:
Offense
Quarterback
Brock Purdy 51 (59.3)
Mac Jones 9 (55.8)
Purdy was under siege all game, running from the Seahawks’ front four. We’ve all seen the ridiculous stat of Purdy running for over 400 yards behind the line of scrimmage on scrambles. Purdy had two turnovers, including a sack and a fumble, but the game was well out of reach. Although Purdy was only sacked twice, his pressure-to-sack percentage was 10% with 20 pressures on dropbacks.
Running Back
Christian McCaffrey 31 (62.8)
Kyle Juszczyk 31 (66.4)
Brian Robinson Jr 15 (48.6)
Jordan James 14 (74.4)
It’s never a good sign when your quarterback leads the team in rushing yards, but McCaffrey suffered a shoulder injury during the game and tried to fight through it. Brian Robinson finished with four yards on three carries. The bright side is rookie Jordan James touched the football for the first time in his career and finished with 28 yards on six carries. The fourth down option call in the first quarter was an indication of how the day would go for the 49ers on offense.
Wide Receiver
Jauan Jennings 47 (55.5)
Ricky Pearsall 42 (51.6)
Kendrick Bourne 24 (52.5)
Demarcus Robinson 24 (54.4)
Skyy Moore 9 (54.6)
Between the five receivers who ran routes on Saturday, the group totaled three catches for 24 yards. Twenty-three of those yards belonged to Jennings, with Robinson accounting for the other one. Pearsall returned but was unable to bring in either of his two targets, including a diving attempt that was initially ruled a catch but overturned.
The 49ers have to address the wide receiver room in the draft and in free agency. The current group lacks speed, and Seattle’s defense was never challenged.
Tight End
Luke Farrell 34 (39.7)
Jake Tonges 29 (90.3)
Filling in for George Kittle, Tonges was the 49ers’ leading receiver with five catches for 59 yards, but coughed up the football with a costly fumble as the 49ers were trying to climb back into the game. Tonges ended up with an injury of his own, which is why Farrell had the higher snap count. However, Farrell did not fight for the ball when Purdy targeted him, which led to an interception. His other target was a catch for one yard.
Offensive Line
Spencer Burford 60 (43.5)
Colton McKivitz 60 (75.7)
Dominick Puni 57 (54.4)
Jake Brendel 57 (65.5)
Trent Williams 57 (72.6)
Connor Colby 3 (80.7)
Matt Hennessey 3 (60.7)
Austen Pleasants 3 (58.3)
The offensive line had a rough day at the office. Burford led the team with six pressures allowed, five hurries, and a QB hit. PFF graded his pass blocking at 38.8. McKivitz was second with five pressures and four hurries allowed. The two sacks were charged to McKivitz and Puni. Brendel and Williams both allowed two pressures, but finished with the two highest pass blocking grades at 75.7 for Brendel and 86.9 for Williams.
The good news is that Williams confirmed he will return next season, but the 49ers have to take a hard look at the offensive line this offseason.
Defense
Defensive Line
Alfred Collins 27 (26.5)
CJ West 26 (29.9)
Sam Okuayinonu 25 (49.9)
Keion White 25 (61.1)
Jordan Elliott 25 (49.6)
Kalia Davis 24 (55.8)
Clelin Ferrell 23 (60.4)
Bryce Huff 21 (53.8)
Yetur Gross-Matos 18 (50.5)
While the 49ers did total two sacks, one of them was given to Malik Mustapha. Of the nine pressures, seven were credited to the defensive line. Okuayinonu finished with a team-high two pressures and hurries. Clelin Ferrell led the defensive line with two defensive stops. Elliott led the team with a 71.8 pass rushing grade, and rookie CJ West was right behind him at 71.4 and recorded the other sack for the 49ers.
Linebacker
Eric Kendricks 53 (53.8)
Dee Winters 45 (57.1)
Garret Wallow (42.6)
Curtis Robinson 6 (59.9)
Winters led the team with seven tackles and a tackling grade of 81.1. Eric Kendricks was second with a tackling grade of 80.2 and six tackles. Winters also generated two pressures, a QB hit and a hurry—Kendricks and Winters combined for seven defensive stops.
Secondary
Malik Mustapha 53 (56.9)
Marques Sigle 53 (27.9)
Deommodore Lenoir (78.4)
Renardo Green 50 (45.7)
Upton Stout 18 (64.0)
Darrell Luter Jr 4 (25.8)
Jason Pinnock 1 (60.7)
Lenoir finished with the highest coverage grade at 76.2 and allowed one catch on two targets for four yards. The story was Kyle Shanahan benching Renardo Green for a few plays, and Seattle capitalized by targeting Darrell Luter Jr for a Jaxon Smith-Njigba touchdown. Green would return, and Shanahan said he was “coaching” the cornerback.
