Week 16 couldn’t have gone better for the San Francisco 49ers. The Los Angeles Rams lost, opening the door for a potential No. 1 seed. The Carolina Panthers won, setting the stage for what would be a Wild Card matchup against both teams. Best of all, the 49ers won convincingly against a sneaky good offense in the Indianapolis Colts.
The 49ers’ offense was excellent, achieving a first down on 42 percent of their plays and excelling on third down and in the red zone. The defense settled in after halftime, and the special teams created a turnover. That’s not a bad recipe for a win. Let’s get into the Winners and Losers from Week 16.
Winners
The offensive line
Whenever you’re on the doorstep of scoring 50 points, it’s because your offensive line controlled the line of scrimmage. Brock Purdy was sacked one time. That play was on a backup tight end. Purdy wasn’t hit all night on 36 dropbacks.
The fact that Purdy only needed to scramble once is a sign of how dominant the offensive line was. Purdy faced pressure on only 22 percent of his dropbacks and was kept clean on 25 of his attempts. Purdy had 3.29 seconds to throw, on average, on the evening.
Christian McCaffrey and Brian Robinson haven’t had as much room to run as they did on Monday night, seemingly all season. The line paved the way with their second-highest yards before contact number all season.
McCaffrey only forced three missed tackles because everybody was blocked. McCaffrey wasn’t touched until 10 yards on a 12-yard carry in the second quarter. On his season-long rush of 24 yards, McCaffrey went untouched until he was 20 yards down the field.
Brock Purdy
Purdy went 25-for-34 for 295 yards and five touchdowns. He bailed out Jauan Jennings and Kendrick Bourne on one drive by scrambling for nine yards on 3rd & 10. Purdy had a pair of impressive throws in the second half. One didn’t count in the end zone to Jake Tonges. The other was near the goal line, when Purdy lofted the ball to Jennings instead of throwing his pass on a line.
Purdy is being paid like one of the top quarterbacks in the league. That means that when he faces pressure, he must overcome it. In this game, Purdy was 7-for-9 under pressure for 81 yards, five first downs, and a touchdown. When the Colts blitzed Purdy, he was 8-for-12 for 107 yards, with a pair of touchdowns and five first downs. Oh, and his average depth of target was 11.3, which was higher than when he was kept clean (11.0).
Purdy’s numbers look great in the box score. I don’t think that tells the entire story. Whenever the offense got behind the chains, the quarterback saved the day.
The broadcast made it a point to highlight some of Purdy’s throws being dangerous, but his target was George Kittle on those. Purdy was equally effective between the hashes and outside of the numbers. On the interception, it was a throw that got away from him. Whatever. If you’re not good enough to overcome a turnover as a team, you probably didn’t deserve to win.
I thought Purdy was brilliant situationally. Monday night was the peak version of Purdy and one that could take the Niners deep into the playoffs.
George Kittle
Kittle left the game in the third quarter with an ankle injury. By the time he left, the damage was already done. He caught seven of his eight targets for 115 yards and a touchdown. The one incompletion would be a touchdown on eight of the ten other throws.
Without Ricky Pearsall, the 49ers relied on Kittle as their WR1 in this game. Kyle Shanahan knew he would have opportunities over the middle and schemed up plays for Kittle to win. Credit Purdy for giving Kittle the chance to make a play. Kittle did not disappoint.
Every reception Kittle had resulted in a first or touchdown. Three of his receptions were contested. It makes you wonder, why did the 49ers need to wait until they got into an injury-riddled situation like this to go out of their way to get Kittle out in the passing formation? He only had four pass blocking reps.
Ji’Ayir Brown
Forcing a fumble on a kickoff will always land you in the winner’s circle. Brant Boyer deserves a raise for getting the type of production he is out of his special teams units, but efforts like the one Brown gave must be recognized.
Jauan Jennings
The drop ruined an otherwise flawless night for Jennings. He came through with multiple catches when Kittle went down with an injury. Every reception Jennings had resulted in a first down or a score. The timing of Jennings’ receptions really highlights his impact. His first reception didn’t happen until the third quarter:
- 3rd & 8 – 21-yard reception
- 3rd & goal from the 3: TD
- 1st & 10: 19-yard reception
- 1st & 10: 17-yard reception
- 3rd & 9: 11-yard reception
That’s as dependable as it gets from a player who wasn’t involved in the passing game until Kittle went down with an injury.
Losers
Deommodore Lenoir and Darrell Luter
Lenoir and Luter were each targeted three times. They combined to allow six receptions for 87 yards, four first downs, and a touchdown. Lenoir couldn’t find the ball on his lone deep target, while the Colts picked on Renardo Green’s backup early on.
The ball skills by both corners were concerning in this game.
Tatum Bethune and Eric Kendricks in man coverage
At some point during a game, you’re going to have to run man coverage. Tatum Bethune was only in man coverage a handful of times. He allowed five receptions for 54 yards and a pair of first downs.
After Bethune left with an injury, Eric Kendricks first snap was tasked with guarding rookie tight end Tyler Warren. Kendricks gave up a 19-yarder on the play. He also allowed another eight-yarder. It was a difficult situation for Kendricks to walk into, and he flew around besides that. Still, the coverage over the middle was an issue against the Colts.
Luke Farrell
The 49ers attempted to scheme up a big play, but Farrell missed his block so severely that he was facing Purdy by the time the fumble had already occurred. Farrell was fortunate to have the ball pop to him, but it was one play that could have turned disastrous.
Winners
Dee Winters
Winters pick-six sealed the game. On the previous drive, he took away a route by Josh Downs, forcing Rivers to hold onto the ball and allowing Alfred Collins to force a fumble.
Upton Stout
Stout made a couple of plays in zone that he wasn’t making a couple of months ago. He’s getting depth in his zone, and now it’s at a point where Stout is running into making plays. It’s been fun to watch his development. He finished the game allowing 45 yards on eight targets, including two run stops. He plays the run as well as you can in his spot, but his coverage skills have come a long way.
CJ West
Collins had the sack, but CJ West was the most consistent player. He also had a sack, and pressured the quarterback at the highest rate of any pass rusher for the 49ers at 25 percent. One of these youngsters needs to turn the corner, and we’re seeing flashes from both.
About the Author: Insidethe49
