SANTA CLARA — The 49ers beat the Arizona Cardinals 36-26 Sunday afternoon. Here are the 49ers’ grades:
GAROPPOLO: B. Good Jimmy bailed out Bad Jimmy once again. Bad Jimmy kept the Cardinals in the game longer than they should have been, because he threw two interceptions in the red zone. But, Good Jimmy put the Cardinals away by checking out of run plays and checking into pass plays any time the Cardinals showed pressure on first or second down. Good Jimmy also threw for 424 yards and four touchdowns. Granted, the Cardinals have the worst pass defense in the NFL. Still, Garoppolo beat them without George Kittle and Matt Breida. Impressive.
RUNNING BACKS: D-plus. The 49ers averaged only 1.8 yards per carry, and their longest run of the day gained just seven yards. Not good. But, Coleman caught three passes for 48 yards, and Jeff Wilson Jr. caught the game-winning touchdown pass in the fourth quarter.
WIDE RECEIVERS: A. Emmanuel Sanders played through a rib cartilage fracture and caught three passes for 33 yards. Deebo Samuel caught eight passes for 134 yards. He is the first 49ers rookie wide receiver to produce back-to-back 100-yard games since the NFL-AFL merger. And Kendrick Bourne, who dropped two passes last week against the Seahawks, redeemed himself by catching a touchdown pass against the Cardinals.
TIGHT ENDS: A. Ross Dwelley started in place of George Kittle, who missed his second game in a row with knee and ankle injuries. And Dwelley caught two touchdown passes. He actually caught three, but one didn’t count because of a penalty. Is George Kittle the next Wally Pipp? Probably not. He’s pretty good. The 49ers have two excellent tight ends.
OFFENSIVE LINE: C. They created no rushing lanes, but they gave up only two sacks even though Garoppolo dropped back a whopping 46 times. The pass protection was good. Mike McGlinchey seemed less rusty than he did against the Seahawks, and rookie Justin Skule played better than Joe Staley last week. Staley missed this game with a finger injury.
DEFENSIVE LINE: C. They sacked Kyler Murray four times, but also gave up 5.4 yards per carry and lots of screen passes because they were so eager to get sacks. The Cardinals used the 49ers’ eagerness against them, especially in the first half. Still, DeForest Buckner, Dee Ford and Arik Armstead each recorded one sack. And Damontre Moore, who has been on the team less than a week, forced a fumble with 31 seconds left in the fourth quarter to seal the victory. Nick Bosa did not record a sack, and has been sack-less the past three games. He may have hit the “rookie wall.”
LINEBACKERS: C. Fred Warner and Dre Greenlaw recorded 22 tackles combined — they were chasing screen passes for most of the afternoon. They did not defend the run well.
DEFENSIVE BACKS: C. They allowed Murray to post a 101.8 quarterback rating. Richard Sherman committed three penalties in the first-half alone. The Cardinals picked on him.
SPECIAL TEAMS: B. Rookie kicker Chase McLaughlin filled in for Robbie Gould for the second game in a row, and made his only field-goal attempt — a 43-yarder.
COACHES: B. Robert Saleh had no answer for Murray, who played at a different speed than everyone else, and ran circles around the 49ers’ defense. Plus, he has a cannon. The 49ers have to face him twice a season probably for the next 10 years or so. I don’t envy Saleh. Kyle Shanahan won the game by rediscovering his screen passes, which were M.I.A. last week against the Seahawks. But, he made a curious decision when he went for a two-point conversion in the fourth quarter. Had the 49ers converted, they would have had a six-point lead, which isn’t much better than a five-point lead. They didn’t have much to gain. When they didn’t convert, they had a four-point lead. And when the Cardinals scored a touchdown, the 49ers fell behind by three points. They would have trailed by only two had they kicked the extra point. Fortunately for Shanahan, the game didn’t come down to a field goal. Now, the 49ers are 9-1, with reinforcements on the way.
Here is Grant’s postgame Periscope.
49ers-Cardinals postgame show. https://t.co/cbEP3N64ee
— Grant Cohn (@grantcohn) November 18, 2019
Grant, you screwed up the receiver summary big time. Emmanuel Sanders did not catch 8 passes, Samuel did.
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« he made a curious decision when he went for a two-point conversion in the fourth quarter. Had the 49ers converted, they would have had a six-point lead, which isn’t much better than a five-point lead. They would have trailed by only two had they kicked the extra point. »
You’re assuming that the Cardinals wouldn’t have gone for 2 instead, which they almost surely would have if the 49ers had kicked the PAT instead.
Sounds like an assumption to me.
it’s an educated guess based on the situation. But you’re right, maybe Kingsbury can’t count and would have kicked the FG anyway.
Jack, I know that Kyle, along with the rest of the league, use analytics in that scenario to determine whether to kick a PAT, or go for a 2-point conversion, but for the life of me, I can’t figure out the logic behind it. It seemed like the wrong decision in real-time, and after mulling it over in my head for the last 4-5 hours, I still don’t get it.
Oh well, they won the game, and I guess that’s all that matters. 9-1 baby! Cheers from Sin City – Disney Land for adults, or as I like to call it …. Lost Wages, Nevada.
Go Niners!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
My heart can’t take many more games like these last two. A thrilling victory, a truly gutsy effort, and something of a coming-out party for Deebo. He looks good. I have real doubts that Murray is actually 5’10”, but the kid has big time game.
Good grades Grant…what the heck happened to the running game??? weird…
Murray looks like a good little young QB much better than ehhm huhhmmm never mind…
thanks Grant
I think what’s happened to the running game is the league has figured out Shanny’s confusing schemes.
Once the game slows down for the D and their eyes are no longer fooling them, you have to be able to beat the opponent one on one and it seems our committee of running backs and our o-line just aren’t winning their matchups or scaring anyone with their ability.
Just my take. Again, I am not an expert.
Agree…running game has been anemic…..seems to be penetration even on running plays…I am sure the lineman aren’t helping matters…..need to get Wilson some more touches per game…..mix it up and for gods sake run side to side like the teams are doing to us instead of up the gut every time
Grant,
Nick Bosa provided the immense pressure at the near end that resulted in Arik Armstead’s huge sack on Murray (who stepped inside to avoid Bosa and allowed Arik to converge on him).
That shouldn’t go noticed because it came at the biggest moment in the game for the D.
Best,
TGP
Despite a god awful run game Jeff Wilson got one snap the entire game… The game winning catch.. Kyle Shanahan, bailed out by a kid who has done nothing but perform every opportunity he gets.. He cut him and all the kid has done is ball out all season.. That was his 5th TD of the season..
Jeff Wilson should be started ahead of Coleman.
Shanahan has overreacted to his fumble and hasn’t let him out of the dog house since.
The defensive line should get at least a B-. They did make plays with the game on the line. Sacking the Squirrell 4 times was impressive.
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The LBs deserve a B, since they made 22 tackles.
Seems to me that Shanny is slow to adjust but once he did it went really good. Its quite apparent at this stage in Jimmy’s career that he is quite capable of winning a game in the closing minutes and he is quite capable of losing a game in those same minutes.
Grades are fair. I’m getting tired of the good Jimmy/bad Jimmy comparison even though I have used it myself.
Jimmy like Joe Montana is going to have a bone headed play now and then but he is going to find a way to win unlike some other qb in this league. Bears come to mind.
This blog has too many fair weather fans waiting for something to go wrong so they can pile on. Guess too many years of losing teams to believe in this team.
“Jimmy’s confidence never wavers,” fullback Kyle Juszczyk said. “It’s been like that all year. Any time he’s made a mistake there’s no letup on him. Everybody has all the confidence in the world in him and he always just does a good job of showing that confidence when he’s in the huddle.”
Perhaps the reason he never lets mistake get to him is the same reason he makes so many. He perhaps should let his mistakes bother him.
It’s not a matter of being a fair weather fan or not.
I think people have legitimate concerns about a quarterback that is being paid at top tier money and wanting same QB to reduce/eliminate mistakes.
Hopefully he can learn, but we’ve gone the entire year in which I’m positive Shanny has stressed ball security, yet we have these two bone headed plays almost every game.
This won’t fly in the playoffs. I don’t think anyone sane is calling for his head. He is incredibly talented- makes plays, especially on third downs that other QBs are not making. On the same token if he ever eliminates these negative plays he will be elite in this league. This isn’t rocket science- the same things are being parroted by experts in this industry, including former QBs.
Garoppolo is still not a finished product. He’s got a gunslingers mentality, and, although that bites him in the arse from time to time, I’d rather my QB wasn’t afraid to let it rip, while making defenses pay for stacking the box. With the way the 49ers struggled to run the football today, I doubt the 49ers win this game with a conservative QB at the helm. What I like the most about Jimmy, is that he never dwells on those mistakes, or allow them to get into his head, and take him out of his game. He’s very strong from a mental aspect, and that’s important. Deebo had a strong game today, but without Kittle, or a healthy Sanders, Garoppolo got it done without a running game, or an A-list receiving corp, and you have to like Jimmy’s poise, despite the occasional gaff. There are a number of good QB’s who would likely have folded after the 2nd redzone INT, in a game like we saw today. But not Jimmy G.
Since the trade, the 49ers are now 15-2 in the games that Jimmy has started and finished. During that same span, the 49ers are 4-19 in games started by a QB other than Garoppolo. That’s kind of unbelievable, isn’t it? What that record discrepancy tells me is …. Jimmy Garoppolo is not only a difference maker, he’s also a winner, and isn’t that what playing QB is all about?
but but he is overpaid and his backup is way cheaper
Well…….yes.
Jimmy’s contract was a matter of circumstance for San Francisco. He had a 7-0 record as a starter and was set to hit free agency. He was going to get paid from someone. Niners would have either had to tag him and run the risk of paying him more. Or do what they did, which was sign him and front load his contract. With outs if played bad.
It’s a great contract for the team.
And who knows, maybe Jimmy will be like Tom and take a team friendly deal next time around to ensure he has a good team around him?
AGREE Grappo is a turnover maching…..its weird he will make some very nice plays then a boneheaded costly play…he has done this all year…its not going away……team needs to draft a young QB (or mullins) and groom him for the future…..did anyone else notice Jimmy hobbling a bit???
Plus a young QB can pay him rookie money instead of Jimmy’s huge inflated salary
” I don’t think anyone sane is calling for his head. ” actually there are idiots on this blog who are saying just that.
It’s getting old, Good Jimmy Bad Jimmy. It reminds me of old people who say the same crap over and over again.
Hey Neal, You’re giving older people a bad rap. Good Grant and Bad Grant are both under 35. Good Grant and Bad Grant are both under 35. Good Grant and Bad Grant are both under 35.
Kona, what what what
Actually…Good Jimmy/Bad Jimmy sums it up perfectly.
I look forward to your posts Grant. Have to say, I don’t think Bosa has hit a ceiling. They are doubling up on him. They weren’t doing that before. Still he’s getting pressure. Ford needs to make more noise on the other side.
Let’s not forget that JG is essentially a rookie based on starts. Our oline cant stay healthy, the top 2 pass catchers were out, and starting hb out. Fans are wondering where our ground game went but it’s hard to pound the rock when the def is stacking line of scrimmage. They r daring Jimmy to beat them, today the cards lost that gamble.
Those things are not the reason for his boneheaded mistakes. That is the problem. If the issue was execution it would be different.
I am beginning to believe that those mistakes will never be corrected but are part of who he is. The negative aspect to the positive aspects.
Grappscuse…OMG not this crappo again
Anyone seeing Kaep starting for the Bears in two weeks?
Honestly I think he sucks, but the Bears I believe were one of the teams who went to watch his workout and they’ve got zero answers at QB.
You mean the Syracuse Bears of the North-East Semi-Pro league?
No.
LMAO hahahahahahah
If the Cardinals are down by five, they have the opportunity to the game with two field goals. With a 6 point lead they can only tie the game with two field goals.
Bosa got some good pressures so I’m not sure it’s a rookie wall thing. He’s getting chipped blocked by backs helping the Tackles and I think the Cardinals were aware of where Bosa was on the field at all times with their protections and pocket movement.
I think you’re a little hard on the offensive line. Yes, the run game didn’t produce but they were also having to block 8 and 9 man fronts on a regular basis. That’s a tall order to ask any O-line. I’d say given how their passing game went; I’d give them a B.
From what I saw the D line had an excellent game despite the Klingon and his Space Squirrel trying to scheme around it. Bosa constantly put pressure but man, Murray moves faster than any QB I’ve seen, and so it’s really hard to get to him. Bosa seems to be getting double teamed when Ford is not on the the field. It seems to me that one reason for the stalled run game is that Dwelley can’t block anywhere as well as Furious George, and Celek looked slow and rusty (I don’t bother to read Grant’s stuff anymore — his naive-sounding hot takes are all outcome-based and often read like emotional outbursts of a petulant teenager.)
Jimmy G and Bourne have a similar Identity — made for each other, in fact. One will have a signature drop and the other an INT in every game.
I used to think that Sherman was the type of player you hate till he’s on your team. I’d say my “hate” has mellowed to “seriously dislike.”
https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2019/11/17/richard-sherman-suggests-replay-went-against-him-because-hes-active-in-the-nflpa/
I say BS……Sherm is off base on this…….he just expects to NOT gets calls against him cause he is a vet….
Shermscuse….
Must be a bltch being so talented and yet still cling to victim status.
Let’s see, in the storied history of the Niners only two other QB’s threw for over 400 yards in a game with 4 TD passes. Two guys by the name of Joe Montana and Steve Young. Ask your Dad who they are. Grant, you and Niner fans watched history today and you give the guy a B? I am glad you are not a teacher. If that is not an A+ performance, I don’t know what is.
Responding to the talk about Kaep, the NFL tried to ambush him by inserting an employment waiver so he could not sue if he still is blackballed, instead of a standard injury waiver.
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Of course, the NFL acted in bad faith, but will spin it that Kaep turned down a tryout. Too bad they refused to let Kaep film his own workout, so they wanted to highlight every drop, from receivers that Kaep did not choose.
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Fortunately, Kaep had a workout, and completed 53 out of 60 passes, so he showed that he still can make all the throws. He just blew the narrative that Kaep had diminished skills, out of the water.
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With Lamar Jackson shining brightly, it just emphasizes the fact that mobile, dual threat QBs are the wave of the future.
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I expect the Patriots may sign him, because he is light years better than Stidham. Brady even praised Kaep, and Hoodie will only want the best players that gives them the best chance to win another SB.
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I will wish him well, wherever he goes. The Niners do not need him with JG, and NM as his backup. However, the Bengals, Dolphins, Jets, Bears, Panthers, Lions, Colts and Broncos, must be content to lose without Kaep, than win with Kaep. Too bad they are not tanking for Tua anymore.
Your tinfoil hat is extra tight today.
I agree with Mike Florio (which may be a first for me) that the language in paragraph 7 of the waiver would have given me pause (https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2019/11/17/inside-the-waiver-proposed-by-the-nfl-to-colin-kaepernick/), and I would have certainly either advised against signing it or helped my client weigh the positive/negative aspects of signing it. However, my reading of the CBA is that players cannot waive rights protected under the CBA. There may be a loophole to this because the workout was not directly an employment related activity and it was the league, not a team, requesting the waiver. Still, signing the waiver and fighting later if the NFL claimed it constituted a waiver of employment rights might have been a better decision from a “do you want to play football” perspective. Not signing the waiver was a better decision form the “do you want to protect your grievance rights” perspective and is far less risky in that respect than signing.
Oh, and I don’t expect any team to sign Kap regardless of his performance at his alternative workout. Fairly or unfairly, this debacle will likely cement in the owners’ minds that he only wants to play on his terms. And the League has a long history of showing the door to players who will only play on their own terms.
JP, what’s your take on Kaepernick’s shirt, Kunta Kinte? Is he equating NFL ownership of players to slaves?
I won’t go as far as to claim with certainty that such a connection was implied, but I will opine that I think that the inference you suggest is the hoped for inference.
Thanks for your perspective
That’s a fair statement for most employers, isn’t it?
It is, except for situations in which the product is as dependent on the talent as it is in pro sports. NFL players, even the bad ones, are top level entertainers, and most other top level entertainers have more control/”freedom” (for lack of a better word) than the majority of NFL players. Part of that is a byproduct of football team culture that devalues individuality and emphasizes team identity, but part is the world-view of the NFL and at least some owners that tends toward enforced homogeneity of players and product alike.
Leave it to the long running Kaepernick saga to generate major drama over a… workout.
Yep. And this one has the stink of lawyers all over it–on both sides. And trust me, I know that stink well. ;-)
As Hank Hill once said to Bobby, “Don’t play lawyer ball, son.” Both Kap and the NFL need to listen to Hank.
Jimmy has got to stop spotting the opposing team two scores by throwing interceptions. They barely got past Arizona. I almost had a heart attack I was so nervous. A couple of good things happened though. Every time they get the ball to Richie James as a receiver big plays happen. I say keep getting the ball to good hands people on third down. Dwelley stepped up. I saw Goodwin drop another ball. Nice to see Deebo becoming a hell of a receiver. I was wondering why they weren’t getting the ball to the RBs as receivers. They torched Arizona with that. We knew about the fullback but Tevin Coleman has excellent hands and should be catching more. Mostert scares me because he has fumbled quite bit. It shows his hands may not be the greatest. Hopefully Kittle will be back and Sanders will be well enough to play. The Defense takes a while to warm up in the game I noticed. They are most vulnerable the first plays until they figure out how to overcome what the opposition is doing to them. All in all, they’re showing growth.
I could do without the interceptions but Jimmy is the best QB this team has had in some time. Niners have a bunch of injuries and yet are a missed FG away from being undefeated. Things are only going to get tougher so the running game and run D definitely need to get fixed but hard to complain and nitpick a whole lot being 9-1…
Grant, I may be mistaken but I believe Emmanuel Sanders is the veteran receiver we picked up not a rockie. Samuel is the rockie receiver who did well tonight.
I miss read your post must be the late hour.
I watched two early games where there was obvious pass interference plays.
They were also challenged and upheld with no flags thrown.
I could have bet my house it wasn’t going to happen with Sherman’s in the beginning of the game. This whole challenge PI non calls is an absolute joke.
And the “third” one on Sherman was a bad call too. This crew was flag happy yesterday. Phantom calls for both teams.
As far as the cardinals thank goodness we don’t see them again this season.
Murray is the only reason that team is dangerous vs our defense.
His speed is his only attribute.
We don’t see another QB with his wheels this season.
They contained Wilson pretty well, and Jackson is a bigger and slower QB than Murray. For every team there seems to be that one team that just gives you fits, Arizona was that team this year.
They are do for another blowout victory and Sunday night it’s coming. Goldmen Sacks get back to what they do best. No worries about a QB running. Rodgers is in some trouble come Sunday night. And the run game will be rejuvenated and will be rolling again.
That was a huge comeback win. Couldn’t afford a divisional loss.
And the biggest win yesterday was no starters injured.
I won’t count Ford because it is an ongoing thing.
I disagree with you about not facing another QB as fast as Murray. I’d argue Jackson is a lot faster than Murray, and with that team they have they’re going to give us a good amount of problems.
Bosa hasn’t hit a rookie wall. The last 3 games were against Murray (x2) and Wilson. Both very slippery QB’s. On top of that he’s been getting double teamed and he’s still getting penetration and stuffing the run. The rest of your analysis is solid.
Dwelley and Deebo stepping up was huge. Especially if they keep it up when kittle and Sanders get healthy.
Also, why doesn’t Richie James Jr and Jeff Wilson Jr get more touches? They make things happen.
I‘ve officially given up on Pettis and Goodwin. I never had much faith in Goodwin, but Pettis has been so disappointing. Bourne makes me cringe every time he’s targeted.
Moore played great off the street. He’s already more of a presence than Thomas. Thomas has improved, but it’s hard to watch him and not think what McCaffrey would do in this offense or what Jamal Adams would do for this defence. Or TJ Watt for that matter.
Kaepernick has a rifle for an arm and is fantastic when he runs but what he can’t do or hasn’t shown that he can do is pass from the pocket. He would be a fabulous college QB but hasn’t demonstrated the primary trait that exemplifies a pro QB. Times may change and teams may evolve from throwing from the pocket but in today’s game, that’s skill is still required
I think Kaepernick is fine in the pocket reading defenses. The problems are that Kaepernick appears to be slow at reading coverages and going through progressions AND has happy feet. At any sign of pressure (real or perceived) he throws the checkdown (not the worst option) or bolts out of the pocket and if he tries to throw it screws up his timing and accuracy (sometimes playground ball works sometimes it doesn’t). I think one of the differences between Kaepernick and Russell Wilson is that Wilson appears to be confident in the pocket. He obviously scrambles but I think his timing and synchronicity with where his receivers are on the field is much greater. Wilson is still running the play while scrambling (and I think his receivers are well coached in the scramble drill).
So think about how often NFL QBs get clean pockets. Think about what Shanahan values in a QB (other than obviously accuracy). The guy loves(ed) C.J. Beathard. What is Beathard’s greatest quality? Beathard’s greatest attribute is his determination to sit in the pocket come hell or high water, throw the ball and take a beating. Beathard is oblivious to pass rush footsteps; often times to his own detriment (and the offense’s). This is in stark contrast to Kaepernick. I think that outside of his political issues, that many NFL offensive coordinators wonder if they can build a reliable offense around Kaepernick.
Also, in Kaepernick’s defense (on the field) I think his issues have gotten worse or were magnified since he was inserted as a starter in 2012. The 49er’s level of talent obviously greatly diminished from his Harbaugh years until his last two years under Tomsula and Kelly in 2015 and 16′. I still have nightmares of when QB’s dropping back to pass; it seemed like on every other snap a defensive tackle blew by a Guard or Center and was hitting the QB. We call QBs with happy feet paranoid. But are you really paranoid if someone is actually out to get you? The reality is that yes 49er QBs were getting hit and pressured a lot. But on the plays they weren’t they were still making bad decisions (it’s not like Blaine Gabbert was tearing up the league either). So Kaepernick hears ghost foot steps. And because of the 15′ and 16′ 49ers for good reason. The question is if his psyche on the field and in the pocket can be repaired enough to make him an effective NFL QB again. Though I have say that even in his limited condition, he’s probably a viable back up QB. If you think about it, he’s ideally Lamar Jackson’s back up.
Slow read + slow wind up + poor mechanics + old for a running qb + self importance over substance = Moron.
Grant,
I differ slightly with 3 of your points. First your grade for special teams should have been an A, KO coverage was excellent and you don’t mention Wishnowsky at all and I don’t know his stats but if my memory serves me correctly he had a great game. Secondly as to Dwelley being an “excellent” TE, I believe him to be a good and very valuable #2 TE but excellent I think not. If he can show me a couple of 80 to 100 yard games I will define him as excellent. Lastly as to Bosa hitting the rookie wall, I think he is still applying consistent pressure while being double teamed or chipped constantly. The schemes they are using to slow him up I believe are why Buckner’s pass rush has improved so much the last few games.
I think Dwelley’s versatility filling in for an injured Juszczyk as a blocker both at Fullback and as a 2nd TE make him an excellent TE in his role as a #2 TE. I think he’d be a decent #1 TE some teams. But the 49ers have the luxury of having the best TE in the game starting ahead of Dwelley.
Allfor,
I agree he is an “excellent” #2 TE.
Spot on, OldCoach.
I still don’t see any logic in two point conversation there. Someone needs to tutor coaches in math.kick the extra point and 49ers only need fg to take lead. They were fortunate on third down ball placement or could have been looking at overtime
Did anyone else notice that at 2:39 left in the half, Mostert was run out of bounds, they stopped the clock, but then started it again? The next two plays were encroachment penalties by the Cardinals and the clock ran all the way down to the two minute warning. I’ve seen this before, how in the world does it happen?