Grading the 49ers’ rocky start to the season

The San Francisco 49ers are a very imbalanced football team. That’s the simple summary leaving Sunday’s 27-24 loss to the Los Angeles Rams.

Though three weeks of data is not a large sample, trends are emerging. Below are the 49ers’ advanced efficiency ranks among the NFL’s 32 teams. Offense and defense are ranked by expected points added (EPA) per play, while special teams is ranked by defense-adjusted value over average (DVOA) — a related measure — since public EPA figures are not yet updated for that phase of the game.

Offense: No. 5
Defense: No. 25
Special teams: No. 26

One of these things is not like the others. The offense is delivering efficient yet imperfect football, while the 49ers are languishing in the other two phases. The special teams figure doesn’t even include L.A.’s successful fake punt, since that’s not considered a predictive play; the 49ers would rank No. 31 or 32 if that were part of the equation. (For comparison, last season’s 49ers finished at No. 1 on offense, No. 10 on defense, and No. 26 on special teams.)

Clearly, the 49ers must pick up more slack to better support quarterback Brock Purdy and Co.

“It’s the NFL,” 49ers edge rusher Nick Bosa said after Sunday’s loss. “No matter how talented you are, you have to play good on Sunday. We’ve been practicing great. It’s not that. We have to understand what teams are trying to do to us and adjust to it.”

Is that an indictment of new 49ers defensive coordinator Nick Sorensen, whose unit lost effectiveness against coach Sean McVay’s Rams offense as Sunday’s game progressed? Perhaps. The bottom line is that the 49ers lost a game they should’ve won against an opponent that looked overmatched for a significant stretch. And that only makes the road ahead more difficult. 

Here’s a glimpse at what transpired across all position groups Sunday, organized by snap counts for each 49ers player.

Quarterback: Purdy (71 snaps)
Game grade: A

“It seemed like Brock played his ass off, from what I saw,” 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan said shortly after the game.

He was right. There’ll undoubtedly be questions about a late play in which Purdy didn’t throw to a wide-open Brandon Aiyuk. Maybe Purdy didn’t see his wideout. Or maybe Aiyuk’s absence from training camp has temporarily compromised the rapport between the duo, which was sensational in 2023.

But outside of that major missed opportunity, Purdy was superb — and his performance on the aggregate is again rising toward the top of the league charts. 

There should be no lingering doubts about what the 49ers have at the most important position. Purdy has delivered through a wide array of circumstances with both his arm and his legs. As long as Purdy continues playing at this level, the 49ers will stay in the mix. 

Running back/fullback: Jordan Mason (53), Isaac Guerendo (10), Kyle Juszczyk (44)
Game grade: B

Mason still leads the NFL in rushing attempts after another rough-and-tumble day, this one featuring 19 carries. 

The 49ers gave Guerendo his biggest workload yet. In the locker room, the rookie said he could improve his patience on outside-zone runs, but he was much more comfortable than in Week 2. The 49ers even lined Guerendo up at wide receiver, his position in high school, on one play.

On the note of positional versatility, consider Juszczyk’s wide array of alignments:

Fullback: 17 snaps
Tight end: 18 snaps
Slot: 7 snaps
Wideout: 2 snaps

He’s technically a fullback, but the 49ers employ Juszczyk — who was a slot receiver back at Harvard — in many spots beyond that. One outside-zone block to seal off Rams edge rusher Byron Jones was especially impressive. 

Wide receiver: Jauan Jennings (60), Brandon Aiyuk (57), Ronnie Bell (30), Chris Conley (20)
Game grade: A+ (Jennings); D (others)

Jennings was spectacular. The 49ers clearly worked to get the ball to Aiyuk, who drew heavy coverage on Purdy’s initial touchdown to Jennings. From that point on, Jennings caught fire. 

“Jauan was unbelievable,” Shanahan said. “The numbers show it, but more than the numbers, he was a warrior all game.”

Aiyuk couldn’t hold onto a tightly contested third-down throw when the 49ers were driving up 14-0 — he was tentative working against L.A. cornerback Tre’Davious White. That gave the Rams their first glimmer of hope. Bell then dropped two passes, including a deep ball that could’ve turned into a game winner.

The 49ers certainly missed stars Deebo Samuel Sr., Christian McCaffrey, and George Kittle on those plays. Their absences pushed Bell into the target rotation.

Tight end: Eric Saubert (61), Jake Tonges (16), Brayden Willis (4)
Game grade: A-

Saubert now has four catches for 67 yards through three games. That might not seem like much, but he has already outpaced his predecessor’s output from all of last season. Charlie Woerner, who’s now with the Atlanta Falcons, had just three catches for 32 yards last season.

The 49ers have long been looking to augment Kittle’s receiving production. Perhaps Saubert can diversify their attack once Kittle is back in the lineup. 

Offensive line: Colton McKivitz (71), Dominick Puni (71), Jake Brendel (71), Aaron Banks (71), Trent Williams (69), Jaylon Moore (2)
Game grade: D

The 49ers are getting decent pass protection from both guards, Banks and Puni. But McKivitz and even Williams — who exited again due to cramps as he continues to play his way back into shape — have struggled. McKivitz allowed five pressures, per Pro Football Focus, running his season total 13 — tied for the most among NFL tackles. A particularly damaging one came late in the first half, when Young beat McKivitz to strip the ball from Purdy. 

The 49ers also failed to run the ball in short yardage late with a chance to effectively ice the game. Brendel, especially, has not been strong at the point of attack. He also botched the pitch back on the 49ers’ Stanford band play, which came shockingly close to a miracle. 

Defensive line: Nick Bosa (59), Maliek Collins (43), Javon Hargrave (39), Leonard Floyd (30), Jordan Elliott (22), Yetur Gross-Matos (20), Kevin Givens (18), Sam Okuayinonu (6), Robert Beal Jr. (4)
Game grade: C-

Defensive tackle Javon Hargrave partially tore his triceps muscle and is likely for the season, according to Shanahan. The 31-year-old Hargrave, the 49ers’ prized acquisition in free agency during the 2023 offseason, will likely undergo surgery. He led the 49ers with five QB pressures against the Rams.

“I thought he had his best game yesterday,” Shanahan said. “He definitely affected the quarterback. It’s a big loss. … Hargrave was a tough pill to swallow. We definitely haven’t had the luck that we did last year.”

The 49ers hope to return defensive tackle Kalia Davis, who’s currently on injured reserve with a knee injury, in the coming weeks to help offset the loss of Hargrave.

Although the 49ers’ pass rush was moderately successful Sunday, the team’s run defense remained a problem.

The Rams stonewalled the 49ers’ run game when they absolutely had to. The 49ers could not say the same. The 98 rushing yards that L.A. managed may not be a gaudy total, but the Rams prevented negative plays and generally kept QB Matthew Stafford on schedule. Their pass protection, which grades as the worst in the NFL, did just enough to give Stafford time to victimize a struggling secondary. 

The resulting disappointment was etched into Bosa’s voice after the game. 

“It’s definitely a rough start, but there’s a ton of football left to be played,” Bosa said. “We’ve been through some tough stretches before. We have to stay together. We have the guys to do it. 

“We have to feel the loss, for sure. We can’t just move on and act like it’s fine. We have to feel the loss and start stacking week by week.”

Linebacker: Fred Warner (58), De’Vondre Campbell (49), Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles (12), Dee Winters (7), Curtis Robinson (1)
Game grade: C-

L.A. running back Kyren Williams scored three touchdowns, and Warner lamented the ease of them. “I feel like a lot of them were walk-ins,” he said. “We’ve got to be better down there.”

As expected, the second linebacker spot — where Dre Greenlaw is still rehabbing from his Achilles tear — is a concern for the 49ers. The Rams picked on veteran De’Vondre Campbell, who allowed three catches for 53 yards and committed one of the 49ers’ three penalties in coverage on the pass that set up L.A.’s game-winning field goal. 

The 49ers tried to work Winters, a second-year player, into the mix. But he hurt his ankle and that sent Campbell back into the fray.

Defensive back: Ji’Ayir Brown (59), Deommodore Lenoir (58), Charvarius Ward (55), Talanoa Hufanga (54), Isaac Yiadom (50), Renardo Green (6), Malik Mustapha (6), George Odum (1)
Game grade: D

Stafford seemed to very specifically target three 49ers defenders. 

The most notable name there is Ward, who was an All-Pro last season. Ward has been listed on the 49ers’ injury report with hamstring and knee issues, and they might be bleeding into his game. Rams receiver Tutu Atwell beat Ward on a critical deep route late in the game. 

Meanwhile, Lenoir has emerged into the 49ers’ best cover corner. He allowed only six receiving yards over 31 cover snaps. 

More production from the safety position might be a good way to alleviate the 49ers’ coverage issues. A cohesive 49ers defense has typically enjoyed interceptions from the likes of Hufanga and Brown in the past. Neither came close to a takeaway on Sunday.

Special teams: Robinson (20), Odum (20), Beal (17), Mustapha (15), Willis (15), Flannigan-Fowles (15), Tongs (13), Conley (13), Guerendo (11), Rock Ya-Sin (11), Jake Moody (10), Green (9), Yiadom (8), Mitch Wishnowsky (7), Taybor Pepper (7), Winters (6), Lenoir (6), Warner (6), Patrick Taylor Jr. (6), Saubert (6), Campbell (6), Puni (5), Burford (5), Banks (5), Nick Zakelj (5), Moore (5), McKivitz (5), Collins (5), Gross-Maros (4), Brown (3), Jacob Cowing (3), Hufanga (3), Okuayinonu (1), Ward (1), Bosa (1), Givens (1), Hargrave (1), Floyd (1)
Game grade: F

Can the 49ers improve their special teams from atrocious to average? Their season might depend on it. Shanahan was understandably peeved about many issues after Sunday’s loss, but L.A.’s successful fake punt, on which the 49ers did not cohesively flow to seal the edge, may have topped the list. 

“That’s where I thought we had a chance to run away with it,” he said. “That gave them a lot of hope.”