No need to highlight the “losers.” As Nick Bosa said, we all know why the 49ers lost.
Believe it or not, there were good performances from the San Francisco 49ers against the Arizona Cardinals in every phase, too.
The offense had nearly 400 yards of offense. The defense forced a turnover while the special teams scored a touchdown. If those three things happen nine out of ten times, you win those games. The Niners happened to be on the wrong side for the second time in three weeks.
The sky is always falling after a loss. So let’s highlight the “Winners” from Sunday and talk through a few player performances at the end.
WR Brandon Aiyuk
Hey, now, we got one right! The Aiyuk breakout was staring us in the face.
The Arizona Cardinals play soft coverages and don’t give No. 1 wideouts extra attention. In our prediction, we said Aiyuk should shoot for triple digits against the Cardinals’ secondary. He had 91 yards after the first few drives.
Aiyuk had a season-high 12 targets. By the way, it’s notable that in both NFC West games, Aiyuk’s targets have doubled compared to the other three games. That tells me the coaching staff knows who they want to get the ball to in crucial games.
No, there is no correlation between Aiyuk’s being targeted more and the 49ers’ loss. Far too many variables go into one specific play to isolate a loss and blame one play or player.
Aiyuk caught eight passes for 147 yards, including a long of 53 and 49 yards after the catch. It was the fourth-most valuable performance of the week of any wide receiver in Week 5.
For those still wondering about Aiyuk’s separation issues, he had the highest average yards per separation of any of the top five receivers in total yards this week at 3.1. Nobody else was higher than 2.6.
Edge rusher Leonard Floyd
The pressure isn’t on the 49ers’ diamonds in the rough to perform. It’s on the starters, who are playing large sums of money to contribute.
Floyd’s activity was incredible against the Cardinals. He was the only player along the defensive line with more than one pressure. Floyd had a sack, but most importantly, he showed up as a run defender. Four of his five tackles were run stops.
As a pass rusher, Floyd was the only player above double-digits at 12.5 percent on 23 snaps. Here’s a look at the pressure rate from the defensive line in Week 5 with their snaps in parenthesis:
Nick Bosa (26): 3.8
Maliek Collins (25): 4.0
Jordan Elliott (14): 0.0
Kevin Givens (13): 7.7
Sam Okuayinonu (11): 9.1
Kalia Davis (9): 0
Robert Beal Jr. (7): 0
T.Y. McGill (5): 0
RB Jordan Mason
Mason fumbled at the worst possible time, as the 49ers could’ve iced the game and gone up two possessions. Instead, the offense lost the ball, and we know how the game ended.
The play can be filed under a “freak accident.” The Cardinals defender wound up like he was throwing a haymaker. Mason was going to protect the ball with two hands, but the defender timed his punch perfectly to end the drive.
The timing couldn’t have been worse, but I wouldn’t fault Mason, or any running back, in that situation.
Another play that Mason is getting blamed for is the interception on the final drive. It looked like Mason blocked the wrong player, but he took the most dangerous man — which is what you’re supposed to do. The right tackle did not, which meant there was a free runner closer to the quarterback, resulting in an interception.
Mason is listed here because he did not receive much help from his offensive line. Despite that, he still managed the first 30+ yard run of the season for the 49ers. Mason had another carry that came close to 30 yards, where he stiff-armed a linebacker for a big gain. Fifty of Mason’s 89 yards came after contact.
To help paint a better picture of the blocking, Next Gen Stats projected Mason to average 3.5 yards per carry against the Cardinals. He finished with 6.4. The running game remains inconsistent on a down-to-down basis, but you can’t blame the running back.
Mason’s had better statistical outputs, but I’d argue Week 5 was his best game as a pure runner.
S Ji’Ayir Brown
When I watch the 49ers defense, I see that Ji’Ayir Brown is the Kyle Juszczyk on this side of the ball. He’s asked to wear five different hats — sometimes all in one series — and little reward comes from it.
Brown gave up a long reception against the Cardinals, which was more of Arizona taking advantage of the coverage the 49ers were in than anything. The other time Brown was targeted, it resulted in an incomplete pass.
On the very next play, after Tig had given up the reception, he made a tackle at the line of scrimmage. Do you remember how he played the run near the line last year? It was borderline atrocious. His tackling was sloppy, and he ended up whiffing more often than not.
There was a play where you could see Brown communicating with Charvarius Ward — who deserves his own post — calling out what the Cardinals would do and who Mooney should guard. They both ran with the same player, and Ward looked dejected afterward, knowing he made a mistake.
But it highlights how vital communication is in this sport, and Tig has it down. He also has a tremendous feel for what’s coming, which tells me he’s a student of the game. Each of his run stops against Arizona resulted from a film study.
Lost in the result was an impressive performance by the second-year safety.
IDKs
Aside from the turnovers, when you’re a top-heavy team talent-wise, and your stars don’t perform, you’re going to wind up on the wrong end of the battle more often than not. There were multiple off-games from the best players on the team.
George Kittle
It feels weird to say somebody who caught eight passes and a touchdown struggled, but this was not your typical Kittle game. He dropped a first down early on. On 4th & 23, Kittle dropped what would have been about a 20-21-yard pass. It may not seem like much, but Arizona went from starting inside their 10-yard line to beginning the drive on their 27. They would march down the field to score a touchdown.
In a lot of the same ways the team asks the impossible of Juszczyk, the same is true for Kittle when it comes to blocking. But it was an area where he did not excel on Sunday, which you may never see happen again.
Charvarius Ward
Ward is the poster child for IDKs this week. He looked out of it as if his head was in another space, thinking about something else.
I’ve seen Mooney compete. I know what he is capable of doing. And whatever the product that was on the field from No. 7 was not the player we’ve grown accustomed to watching.
I mentioned the miscommunication with Brown above. There was a deep crosser that led to a first down where Ward was jogging across the field.
Ward was fortunate that Kyler Murray threw the ball out of bounds late in the game on an out-and-up pattern. He was easily beaten for a touchdown. On the day, Ward allowed three of his four targets to be completed for 67 yards, allowing +4.1 in total EPA and an average separation of 3.7 yards on each target.
The most telling stat of Ward’s was the donut he put up for tackles. When he is “right,” Mooney plays the run as aggressively as a linebacker. I’m not sure if he was conserving energy for Thursday or battling an injury, but this was not the type of All-Pro performance that Ward has consistently shown during his 49ers tenure.
Brock Purdy
Last Sunday was the first time in Brock Purdy’s career that the 49ers were shut out in the second half of a game. That’s how much the offense has spoiled the fanbase.
As a lover of high variance in a sport that produces plenty of it, Purdy’s style of play appeals to me. But I believe he’s forming bad habits.
The Cardinals tried to heat purdy up with pressure. He finished 1-for-6 when under pressure, including the final interception. Arizona played man coverage behind it, and Brock only completed 12 of 21 throws, including seven tight window attempts, per Next Gen Stats.
Some of that can be chalked up to separation — it’s man coverage, and the defense gets paid, too. However, Purdy will sometimes be indecisive, and there were a few examples on Sunday.
It’s been happening more and more in the red zone, which is why we’ve seen the offense struggle. The field shrinks, everything is faster, and with the 49ers going with more and more empty backfields, it puts pressure on the quarterback to make a decision.
Purdy climbs the pocket and delivers a throw when he is confident and sure of himself. When it’s the opposite, he’s holding onto the ball and retreats from the pocket, and that’s how you end up getting sacked on second down inside of the red zone.
The tipped passes result from holding onto the ball and staring down the receiver for a half count too long. On the last interception, there was not much any quarterback could do in that situation.
Purdy remains one of the best at his position in the sport this year, but we saw some cracks in the armor on Sunday. He didn’t play poorly, but it wasn’t to the standard of a top-10 quarterback. Most of Purdy’s issues can be solved by climbing the pocket and trusting what he sees. When he plays on time, the offense is a juggernaut and moves the ball at will.