The Niners lost Moseley, Bosa, Ward, and Gould to an injury today
You never know what to expect in a 49ers game, and Week 5 was no different. A 17-3 halftime lead might’ve been predictable, but those points came by way of of another defensive touchdown. This time, Emmanuel Moseley stepped in front of a Baker Mayfield pass.
Jimmy Garoppolo threw a near interception on the second drive, and karma was returned after George Kittle fumbled. After that throw, Garoppolo played the best I’ve seen from him in a long, long time. Sure, it came against arguably the worst defense in the league, but it’s how Jimmy played that was refreshing.
Garoppolo finished with a 54% success rate, which was 34 percentage points higher than Mayfield. Unlike Baker, Jimmy handled the blitz and pressure well. He gave his receivers a chance down the field and overcame a few drops, too.
Hopefully, this is the type of performance that gives Garoppolo confidence to push the ball down the field. It’ll go a long way in the offense’s success moving forward.
Deebo Samuel and Brandon Aiyuk seemed like they were in a bit of a rut today. They both made plays, but both had a few mental mistakes.
Prior to the final garbage time drive, the Panthers were below average in EPA per play, success rate, and first down rate. Outside of a couple of explosive plays, Carolina was held in check.
Christian McCaffrey averaged fewer than four yards per carry before the final drive. No receiver had surpassed 60 yards, despite the defense allowing three receptions over 20 yards. You can live with a big play here or there, but the defense, as always, came up big when they needed to.
We’ll need to keep an eye on injuries, as kicker Robbie Gould, safety Jimmie Ward, and edge rusher Nick Bosa all left the game and did not return. San Francisco is already banged up, and the last thing they need is to go a stretch of games without Bosa.
That wasn’t the final injury, as Emmanuel Moseley went down toward the end of the game and was holding his knee. This team does not have the depth at cornerback to withstand a Moseley injury. There’s no guarantee that Jason Verrett is ready to play.
An impressive win, but the turf will be the story after this one.
A late sack on Mayfield gave the 49ers a short field, and Tevin Coleman, who had himself a day, capped off a short drive to give the 49ers a 36-15. Mitch Wishnowsky, who shanked his first kick, made this extra-point attempt to make it 37-15.
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