SANTA CLARA — The 49ers entered Sunday in position for the No. 1 overall draft pick.
The 49ers then rode the efforts of a lot of young players to earn a hard-fought, 20-14 upset win over the Denver Broncos. And there was absolutely no downside to the victory.
The win also was coupled with a Raiders victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers. The 49ers (3-10) remain in the No. 1 draft slot — and the favorites to land projected top pick Nick Bosa, an edge rusher — with three games remaining in the season.
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The report card looks a lot better than it has since the 49ers’ Week 9 victory over the Raiders:
Rushing Offense
Undrafted rookie Jeff Wilson gained a career-high 90 yards in his first NFL start. He continued to run hard, even when there wasn’t a lot of room against the Broncos’ defense.
Wilson averaged 3.9 yards prr carry. Alfred Morris got just two carries and gained 4 yards.
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Grade: B
Passing Offense
Quarterback Nick Mullens continues to play solid football. He completed 20 of 33 passes for 332 yards and two touchdowns. His one interception was a pass that deflected off wide receiver Trent Taylor’s hands.
George Kittle had a monster first half, catching seven passes for 210 yards. Oddly, he did not catch a pass in the second half. Taylor and fellow wideout Dante Pettis rebounded from bad plays earlier in the fourth quarter to have big third-down receptions that helped the 49ers eat up the clock in the final minutes.
Grade: A-minus
Rushing Defense
The 49ers’ defense did a very good job against Phillip Lindsay, one of the hottest running backs in the league. One week after rushing for 157 yards and two touchdowns against Cincinnati, Lindsay managed just 30 yards on 14 carries against the 49ers.
Defensive tackle Arik Armstead had a good game, and defensive backs D.J. Reed and Marcell Harris combined for five tackles for loss.
Grade: A
Passing Defense
Cornerbacks Ahkello Witherspoon and Richard Sherman had good games in coverage. Reed and defensive tackle Ronald Blair recorded sacks.
Although the 49ers did not intercept any passes, they limited Denver quarterback Case Keenum to 24-of-42 passing for 186 yards and one touchdown for a lowly passer rating of 76.1.
Grade: A
Special Teams
Robbie Gould made field goals of 40 and 29 yards. Bradley Pinion averaged a below-average net of 34.0 yards on five punts.
Richie James muffed another punt, but Taylor replaced him and had 26 yards on two returns. New long snapper, Colin Holba, replaced suspended Kyle Nelson. He did not mess up. Special teams really did not impact this game one way or the other.
Grade: B-minus
Overall
The Broncos entered the game with a chance to pull into a five-way tie for the final wild-card spot in the AFC playoffs. The 49ers played the role of spoilers.
The coaching staff decided to go young, and those players responded with a spirited performance. The offense started out well but ran out of gas in the second half. The defense held on for dear life. The game ended in bizarre fashion, as the 49ers failed to properly execute it's end-of-game sequence in the victory formation, leaving the Broncos with one play to win the game.
The 49ers should enjoy this one, which came at the end of a difficult weekend with the passing of Tony York, son of owners John York and Denise DeBartolo York, and younger brother of CEO Jed York.
Grade: A