Niners Nation
The San Francisco 49ers won a gritty, at times ugly, football game on Sunday at Levi’s Stadium with a game-winning field goal from Eddy Piñiero as time expired. It doesn’t matter how you win, only if you win. The 49ers are one of six teams in the NFL that are unbeaten through three weeks, and sit atop the NFC West in sole possession. However, things aren’t all rosy for the 49ers. Nick Bosa was diagnosed with a torn ACL and will miss the remainder of the season. Sunday’s game was a glimpse of life without the superstar pass rusher.
Let’s look at the snap counts and grades from Pro Football Focus.
Quarterback
Mac Jones 65 (80.7)
Jones was the highest graded offensive player on Sunday. While dealing with a knee injury, Jones engineered a game-winning drive, completing passes to Jake Tonges, Skyy Moore, and Kendrick Bourne. It was the Christian McCaffrey and Ricky Pearsall show, but on the final drive, Jones spread the wealth. The one mistake was a forced attempt to Pearsall that resulted in an interception, but the highlight of the day was the fourth-down throw to Pearsall, which set up the first touchdown drive of the game for either side.
With two wins under his belt, Jones has been steady and is likely to earn a nice contract next season, giving him a chance to start again in the NFL.
Running Back
Christian McCaffrey 59 (63.0)
Kyle Juszczyk 22 (65.7)
Brian Robinson 6 (69.0)
Given the injuries to the 49ers’ receivers, McCaffrey was going to have to shoulder more of the workload. His current touch number isn’t sustainable, but with the return of Demarcus Robinson, George Kittle, Jauan Jennings, and Brandon Aiyuk, you can bet the touches will slow down. For now, McCaffrey will be leaned on until the offense is fully healthy.
Brian Robinson popped the longest run of the season at 19 yards. It is fair to wonder why Robinson only played six snaps on Sunday. It makes sense to spell McCaffrey with Robinson more to ease his touch numbers.
Wide Receivers
Ricky Pearsall 63 (75.2)
Kendrick Bourne 47 (58.1)
Skyy Moore 34 (57.4)
Marquez Valdez-Scantling 17 (66.6)
Malik Turner 1 (60.0)
Pearsall now sits at number three in the NFL in receiving yards and put on another impressive display against Arizona’s depleted secondary. The second-year wide receiver was targeted early and often with 11 targets on the day, and only two of his catches on the season haven’t gone for first downs.
The combination of Bourne, Moore, Valdez-Scantling, and Turner doesn’t invoke much confidence, but both Moore and Bourne had catches on the game-winning drive, which helped ease Moore’s mistake of fielding a punt near his own goal line, which led to a safety for Arizona.
Tight Ends
Jake Tonges 45 (63.7)
Luke Farrell 30 (55.7)
Brayden Willis 1 (60.0)
The 49ers need George Kittle back. Full stop. Tonges is hustling, but lacks the explosion to be a reliable pass catcher or weapon. Still,...
