SANTA CLARA -- The 49ers just beat the Washington Commanders 23-17. Here are the 49ers' grades for this performance.
QUARTERBACK: B
Brock Purdy was great in the first half when he completed 17 of 22 passes and posted a 122.2 passer rating. Then, Mike Evans went down with an aggravated Achilles injury. And suddenly, Purdy fell apart. In the second half, he completed just 4 of 7 passes and took two sacks. Without Evans, he didn't look like the MVP. To be fair, his remaining wide receivers were Brandon Cooks, Jordan Watkins and Jacob Cowing. But Purdy still had Hall of Famers at tight end, running back, left tackle and perhaps play caller, and finished the game with three consecutive three-and-outs. Meanwhile, Jayden Daniels outplayed Purdy while working with Stefon Diggs, Rachaad White, Treylon Burks, and a 31-year-old rookie offensive coordinator. Suddenly, it seems like the 49ers' MVP is Evans, not Purdy. More on Evans in a minute.
RUNNING BACKS: B
Christian McCaffrey scored two touchdowns, but also lost a fumble and averaged a pedestrian 4.0 yards per carry. He also averaged just 5.9 yards per catch. He's still a solid player, but he's not a big-play guy anymore. His longest catch of the game went for 13 yards, and his longest run went for 9. Frankly, he looked better last week when Kyle Juszczyk was out. This week, Juszczyk returned, and McCaffrey's productivity suffered.
TIGHT ENDS: B
George Kittle was great in the first half when the Commanders defense was focused on stopping Mike Evans. Then, Evans went down, and Kittle made a nice 35-yard catch when he was wide open on the first drive of the third quarter, then he never caught another pass. With Evans out of the game, the Commanders were able to shut down Kittle and force Purdy to look elsewhere, which resulted in Purdy taking painful sacks. Kittle is great, but he can't carry this offense by himself. He needs help from the wide receivers.
WIDE RECEIVERS: D
Mike Evans had three catches for 94 yards in fewer than two full quarters of action -- he's such a great player when he's healthy. Unfortunately for the 49ers, he aggravated his Achilles tendinitis and left the game before halftime. And without him, the offense fell apart. Brandon Cooks and Jordan Watkins each caught just one pass, and Jacob Cowing caught none. Without Evans, the 49ers might have the worst wide-receiver corps in the league. They need to trade for one immediately. They can't rely on Evans to get healthy and stay healthy this season. He has been playing through injuries since early August.
OFFENSIVE LINEMEN: B
The 49ers ran the ball decently, but gave up two sacks. Still, the offensive line wasn't the problem.
DEFENSIVE LINEMEN: A-MINUS
They sacked Jayden Daniels four times and limited the Commanders to just 3.1 yards per carry. Granted, the Commanders were missing their starting running back. Still, the 49ers defensive line played exceptionally well without their highest-paid player, Nick Bosa. But in the second half, the pass rush got tired when the offense kept going three-and-out, which is understandable. This group needs some help from the offense.
LINEBACKERS: A
Rookie Jaden Dugger had a team-high 11 tackles filling in for the suspended Dre Greenlaw, and Fred Warner had 8 tackles. I thought Greenlaw's absence would hurt the defense, but it didn't. Dugger has been a revelation.
DEFENSIVE BACKS: C
The cornerbacks weren't good. Renardo Green got exposed and picked on, Deommodore Lenoir gave up a touchdown catch to a running back, Upton Stout gave up a touchdown catch to Stefon Diggs then left the game with a shoulder injury, Ashtyn Davis replaced him and was the worst player on the field. Fortunately for the 49ers, safety Malik Mustapha was one of the best players on the field, and he helped seal the win with multiple big plays late in the fourth quarter. To think that the 49ers had him on the bench until Marques Sigle got injured.
SPECIAL TEAMS: D
Eddy Pineiro missed another extra point. He misses a kick almost every week. If he keeps this up, he's going to cost the 49ers a game when it really matters. He better figure it out. And the 49ers better replace Jacob Cowing at punt returner. He fielded a punt at his four-yard line -- a major no-no -- muffed it, then recovered it himself. Please get him off the field.
COACHES: B-MINUS
Raheem Morris gets credit for limiting the Commanders to just 17 points, but he couldn't do much to stop Jayden Daniels, who completed 73 percent of his passes and posted a quarterback rating of 110.4. Daniels is the first quarterback the 49ers have faced this season who can run and throw equally well, and they struggled against him. That's something to keep in mind if they make it to the Super Bowl and have to face Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen or Lamar Jackson.
On offense, Kyle Shanahan made things look easy in the first half until Evans went down. After that, he didn't seem so creative. He kept calling long-developing play-action passes on first and second down that resulted in sacks. Considering he had a 20-point second-half lead, he should have been calling runs and quick, safe passes, but this is Shanahan we're talking about. He specializes in passing when he should run while leading late in games -- that's how he lost all three Super Bowls. Tonight, he almost blew a 23-3 lead. Only he can do that.
In addition, Shanahan let Evans play through Achilles tendinitis, and he made it worse. Now, Evans could miss some time that he might not have missed had Shanahan simply not played Evans in this game. Instead, Shanahan let Evans decide whether to play, so of course Evans made the wrong decision. Can you blame him? He's a professional athlete and a competitor. He's not going to shut himself down. That's the head coach's job. Hopefully, this coaching blunder won't cost Evans multiple games, because the 49ers clearly struggle without him.
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