Niners Nation
With all the injuries, the San Francisco 49ers ran their record to 5-2 on the season and tied with the Los Angeles Rams, barring the result of Seattle vs Houston, atop the NFC West. You have to hand it to these 49ers; the effort is evident, the team is all the way bought in, and they will not go down without a fight. Kyle Shanahan and Robert Saleh put on a show on national TV, and the team responded with a gut-check victory on SNF without their emotional and defensive leader, Fred Warner. Something about this game resembled the attitude of previous 49ers teams. Running the football was back, and so was the edge.
Let’s look at the snap counts and grades from Sunday night, according to Pro Football Focus.
Offense
Quarterback
Mac Jones 66 (75.9)
The 49ers have four wins with Mac Jones under center. Sunday’s plan was to get the running game back on track, and the 49ers did, leaving Jones to drop back only 28 times against Atlanta. With a modest 152-yard passing day, Jones was in command, and his only real blemishes on the day were a drop from Jauan Jennings, which resulted in an interception, and a drop from Demarcus Robinson on a 50-yard throw downfield. Signing Jones this offseason looks to be the shrewdest move from the front office, as the former Patriots quarterback has steadied the ship and put himself firmly in the starting quarterback conversation moving forward.
Jones was given three drops from his receivers by PFF, but the big number is the zero TWP%. Protect the football, and be steady—another great performance from Jones.
Running Back
Christian McCaffrey 49 (81.4)
Kyle Juszczyk 39 (69.8)
Brian Robinson 17 (54.6)
The 49ers’ running attack returned in a big way. Christian McCaffrey looked like his 2023 version with 5.4 yards per carry and racked up over 200 scrimmage yards. Shanahan and the 49ers moved to more gap runs instead of outside zone against the Falcons, and it led to the first big rushing game of the season. With 68 yards coming after contact, McCaffrey forced three missed tackles, as did Brian Robinson. Speaking of Robinson, the former Washington running back added 36 yards on nine carries. Sixteen of the 36 designed runs were gap scheme runs.
Wide Receiver
Jauan Jennings 56 (54.7)
Kendrick Bourne 51 (65.8)
Demarcus Robinson 22 (42.1)
Malik Turner 10 (57.2)
Skyy Moore 3 (91.4)
The 49ers’ game plan revolved around getting the running game going. Six catches went to the 49ers’ receivers combined. Kendrick Bourne finished with a team-high 88.8 run blocking grade on 28 run blocking snaps. The 49ers receivers knew this was going to be a game where they needed to block more than catch passes, and the team bought in.
Offensive Line
Dominick Puni 66 (63.0)
Colton McKivitz 66 (81.6)
Trent Williams 66 (81.3)
Connor Colby 62 (49.6)
Matt Hennessey 46 (66.6)
Jake Brendel 20 (83.2)
Nick Zakelj 4 (46.8)
On 28 dropbacks, Jones was pressured six...
