The 49ers aren’t as talented as they were in 2019.
There’s no DeForest Buckner or Richard Sherman. And they got 110 snaps combined from Raheem Mostert and Dee Ford before they were lost for the season.
But in terms of momentum and the overall arc of the season, well, it starts to get more interesting. There’s also the matter of unfinished business, which fullback Kyle Juszczyk spoke about Friday.
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“I think it’s a huge driver,” he said. “When I’m just speaking in context with somebody, I’ll say, ‘Yeah, back in ’19 when we went to the Super Bowl.’ That’s how I describe the season. I can’t wait to say, ‘In (’21), we won the Super Bowl.’ That has a lot better ring to it.”
Here’s a side-by-side comparison of the two 49ers squads heading into Sunday’s playoff opener.
Quarterback: This might be the position group at which Juszczyk’s quote about unfinished business is most pertinent. The 2019 version of Jimmy Garoppolo was slightly sharper than 2021’s. His touchdown-to-interception ratio was better, his completion percentage was higher and he started every game.
The current Garoppolo, however, has the benefit of having gone through the 2019 playoff run. Some feel the quarterback shrank in the postseason. He threw a bad interception just before the half in the opener against the Vikings, he attempted just eight passes the next week against the Packers, and he couldn’t make a play at game’s end against the Chiefs. The 49ers’ flirtations with other quarterbacks, starting with Tom Brady, began right after that.
This year’s version is edgier and more experienced. And his sore right thumb — a colossal storyline last week — has barely been mentioned this week. He’s not even on the injury report.
Advantage: 2021. Garoppolo’s been playing like he has something to prove, and that’s good news for the 49ers.
Running back: Mostert averaged nearly 6 yards a carry over the last nine games of the 2019 season (including the playoffs) and scored 12 touchdowns in that span. As clutch as rookie Elijah Mitchell has been this season, the current 49ers simply don’t have that firepower, nor do they have the depth should Mitchell suffer another injury. The 2019 unit also had Tevin Coleman, Matt Breida and Jeff Wilson. The 49ers can make up some of that explosiveness by using Deebo Samuel (6.2 yards a carry) in the backfield, but there’s a risk of overusing him there.
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Advantage: 2019. The 49ers may not be able to overwhelm an opponent with their ground game like they did the Packers two years ago. But as long as they can control the ball, who cares? In fact, that may be more important against the NFC playoff field.
Pass catcher: When Brandon Aiyuk finished with 107 yards, Samuel had 95 and Jauan Jennings 94 on Sunday, it marked the first time in 49ers history they’ve had three pass catchers finish with 90 or more receiving yards in one game. Tight end George Kittle, of course, also is capable of a 90-plus-yard outing at any point. He’s had five such games this season.
Advantage: 2021. With apologies to Emmanuel Sanders, this year’s group is decidedly deeper, younger and more explosive than the one in 2019. And with Jennings in the mix, it might be the 49ers’ best group of downfield blockers in a long, long time.
Offensive line: Tell me if this looks familiar: The 2019 offensive line was good overall, but it had problems on the right side, particularly at guard. The current group, of course, has similar issues. Per Pro Football Focus, right guard Daniel Brunskill allowed a team-high 36 quarterback pressures and has a 51 pass-blocking grade, by far the lowest among the offensive linemen. (Notable: Brunskill had a team-high 80.9 grade in this category in 2019 when he was mostly used as a tackle).
The current group is better than 2019’s on the left side — although we’ll have to see how Trent Williams’ elbow injury affects his blocking — and at center where Alex Mack is an upgrade over Ben Garland, who took over the position when Weston Richburg suffered a late-season injury.
Advantage: 2021. We’ll call this a slight advantage, but the bigger takeaway/ominous sign is that the team is vulnerable in the same spot that was costly in the Super Bowl.
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Defensive line: Buckner now plays for the Colts. Ronald Blair is a Seahawk. Ford has been on injured reserve since early November. That trio accounted for 17 sacks in 2019 and Buckner was the leader of the defensive line. But it’s worth noting that Blair got hurt late in 2019 and that Ford wasn’t all that effective at the end of that season, either. He missed five of the final six games with a hamstring issue and played just four snaps in the one game in which he appeared. He was back for the playoffs but wasn’t his early-season self then, either.
Meanwhile, the 2019 49ers did not have defensive tackle D.J. Jones from December through the playoffs that season. Jones and Arik Armstead have become an effective duo on the inside this season, especially against the run. The 49ers finished the regular season with the same number of sacks, 48, as they had in 2019, albeit in one extra game.
Advantage: 2019. The current 49ers don’t have the pass-rush firepower their predecessors had. Still, the unit has been trending upward since Week 8 when Nick Bosa started alternating between the right and left sides, Armstead began taking most of his snaps at defensive tackle and Arden Key started rushing the passer from the inside. The current group is catching up to the former each week.
Linebacker: This is a tough one to call. The 2019 version of Fred Warner made more flash plays — sacks, forced fumbles, tackles behind the line of scrimmage — but the current one is more consistent. Veteran Kwon Alexander gave the 2019 defense a shot of energy and swagger, but he also was known for overrunning plays and missing tackles.
Advantage: 2021. We give an ever-so-slim edge to the current group, especially with Dre Greenlaw finally looking like his 2019 self in Sunday’s win over the Rams. The 49ers also are optimistic Azeez Al-Shaair will be back in the lineup against Dallas.
Defensive back: In the third quarter of the 49ers’ opening playoff game two years ago, Sherman quickly sniffed out which route Vikings receiver Adam Thielen was running, stepped forward and picked off Kirk Cousins’ pass in Vikings territory. The current cornerback group doesn’t have anyone with Sherman’s veteran savvy and leadership.
The flip side is that the 2021 secondary has been getting a little better — and more confident — with every outing. That’s personified by the growth of rookie Ambry Thomas, who had a big interception of his own on Sunday. Emmanuel Moseley, who essentially was a rookie in 2019 and who started in the Super Bowl, is stronger, more confident and more effective than he was that season.
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Advantage: 2019. But it’s narrowing. Remember, the 2019 group began hot — two interceptions by cornerbacks in Week 1 — before cooling off at the end (Sherman’s worst game, for example, came in the Super Bowl). The current unit has had the opposite trajectory.
Special teams: The kicking game has been more consistent than it was in 2019 when the team cycled through four — yes, four — long snappers. Taybor Pepper, meanwhile, received extended praise this week from Robbie Gould for how he snapped Sunday with fullback Juszczyk handling the holding duties. The coverage units, on the other hand, have been problematic in 2021, and the team allowed its longest punt return of the season Sunday against the Rams.
Advantage: 2019. The current season has included a last-minute scratch for Gould, a concussion for Mitch Wishnowsky, a 99-yard kick return by the Vikings and a 73-yard fake-punt run by the Seahawks. It makes you wonder: What’s next?
(Photo of Jimmy Garoppolo and Deebo Samuel: Quinn Harris / Getty Images)
