Grades for 49ers' offense, defense in huge win over Rams
After the 49ers' impressive win over the Rams on Sunday night, Matt Maiocco hands out his team grades.
Quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo excitedly yelled into the stands at Levi’s Stadium as he ran off the field.
“Let’s go, Faithful!” Garoppolo bellowed to otherwise empty stadium.
The fans are not back. A small portion of the seats are filled with cardboard cutouts of fans. But the 49ers made their return on Sunday night with an impressive 24-16 victory over the Los Angeles Rams.
A week earlier, the 49ers were left talking to themselves after a miserable effort in a blowout loss to the Miami Dolphins.
This time, they generated all the energy and enthusiasm that carried them through the 2019 season without the help of their home fans.
Here are the 49ers’ Week 6 grades from their impressive showing in a key NFC West matchup:
The statistics are deceptive because so much of the 49ers’ passing game is blocked like running plays. The only down part of the game was an ankle injury that sidelined Raheem Mostert for the second half.
The 49ers turned to undrafted rookie running back JaMycal Hasty in the fourth quarter, and he came through with 37 yards on nine rushing attempts. He picked up a key first down on the team’s final drive.
Grade: A-minus
The 49ers got Garoppolo some easy completions early in the game. He needed a shot of confidence after his performance last week. And he got it.
Garoppolo got the ball into the hands of Deebo Samuel and George Kittle. The 49ers’ top two pass-catchers had strong games. Kittle had seven catches for 109 yards and a touchdown, while Samuel had six catches for 66 yards and a touchdown. Samuel clinched the game when he took a forward pitch 5 yards behind the line of scrimmage and picked up 11 yards on a third-and-7 play.
Garoppolo finished with 268 yards passing with three touchdowns and no interceptions. The offensive line was outstanding. Garoppolo was not sacked and rarely pressured. Right guard Daniel Brunskill deserves special mention for his play against Aaron Donald, who was silent for most of the night.
Grade: A
The 49ers’ run defense gave up some yards, as Rams running back Darrell Henderson gained 88 yards on 14 carries. Los Angeles averaged 5.9 yards per rushing attempt. But there was never a sense that the Rams were controlling the game on the ground.
The 49ers kept the Rams in enough second- and third-and-long situations to prevent them from being able to play their passing game off their success on the ground to make the 49ers pay the price defensively.
Grade: B-minus
The cornerback position was a weakness a week ago. But the return of Emmanuel Moseley was a huge key in this game. Moseley, who missed the previous two games with a concussion, surrendered a 40-yard touchdown pass late in the game. But his overall game was a lot more positive than negative. He had three pass breakups.
Moseley and Jason Verrett had big plays on back-to-back snaps as part of a stand that kept the Rams out of the end zone late in the third quarter.
The 49ers had particular success against Cooper Kupp, who was targeted nine times. Kupp caught three passes for just 11 yards.
Grade: A
Robbie Gould nailed a clutch 49-yard field goal in the fourth quarter to give the 49ers a 15-point lead.
Punter Mitch Wishnowsky averaged 47 yards on five punts, including two inside the 20-yard line.
Tarvarius Moore made a huge play on special teams when he downed Wishnowsky’s fourth-quarter punt inside the Rams’ 1-yard line.
Grade: A
Everything about the 49ers’ game plan was on-point. The offense softened up the Rams’ defense with its success on getting to the edges. The 49ers’ sideline-to-sideline running/passing offense seemed to slow down a Rams pass rush that figured to be able to apply steady pressure on Garoppolo.
Shanahan had his team ready tactically and mentally to play this game. Defensively, the 49ers did not generate a lot of pressure with their pass rush but the coverage on the back end was outstanding.
This game was a marked improvement for defensive coordinator Robert Saleh’s unit.
Grade: A
It does not matter which teams the 49ers play during this difficult stretch of games that began Sunday night. If they play like this, they will pile up a lot of wins the remainder of the season. This was a complete team effort with the stars stepping up.
Also, a number of unheralded players did their parts, too. This performance was a complete 180-flip from the 49ers’ performance a week earlier against the Dolphins. Go figure.
Grade: A
