Niners Nation
Move. That’s what you have to do as a pro, regardless of what happened yesterday, two series ago, or two plays ago. Unfortunately for the San Francisco 49ers, they’ve been forced to “move” in situations that are borderline impossible.
On Monday, Kyle Shanahan said, “It’s about what’s happening going forward,” and the focus will be on what kind of team this will be. It’s not about Warner, it’s about which players will step up in the coming months.
Were there any that did for the 49ers in Week 6? Here are the winners and losers from the Bucs game.
Kendrick Bourne
Bourne did most of his damage on two plays, but those plays got the 49ers into scoring position—one of those led to the team’s first rushing touchdown of the season.
There was another play where Bourne would have had a first down after making his defender fall on a route, but Mac Jones had already moved on from his progression.
Bourne was the reason for the first interception in this game and also had a penalty and missed blocks in the running game, but the explosive plays in the passing game were enough to make him the top winner.
Tatum Bethune
Bethune had 10 tackles in this game. The next closest player had five. It was the first defensive snap Bethune had taken since Week 1. Four of those were run stops. Bethune is on here because he stepped into an impossible situation. Yes, he gave up 53 yards on two targets. Coverage has never been Bethune’s strong suit, even dating back to his time at Florida State. But he did more than enough against the run, and also pressured Baker Mayfield on one of his pass rushes that resulted in Mayfield throwing an incomplete pass to a wide-open receiver.
Eddy Pineiro
What a find by the 49ers. Or is this how it’s supposed to feel? The kicker takes the field, and there’s zero worry that he’ll miss. Pineiro went 4-for-4, including 2-for-2 from 50+ yards.
That’ll probably do it for the winners. There were not a lot of positive takeaways on either side of the ball in this one for the 49ers.
Confusion in the secondary
There are a lot of moving parts and different faces this season for the Niners. In this game, Malik Mustapha rotated in. We did not see Jason Pinnock. Ji’Ayir Brown played all 53 snaps. Marques Sigle came off the field when Mustapha was ready.
It was a disaster.
Per Next Gen Stats, Baker Mayfield completed 12 passes to 14 open receivers for 215 yards and two touchdowns. The Niners couldn’t have made it easier on Mayfield, who played the second half without his three starting receivers.
However, those coverage busts weren’t limited to the second half once Emeka Egubka left. There were two on back-to-back plays in the first quarter. The first one happened when neither Upton Stout nor Deommodore Lenoir ran with Egbuka. Baker threw it behind...
