The San Francisco 49ers corrected their path after a loss in Houston in Week 8 with a dominating 34-24 win in New York over the Giants.
But the victory did not come without its shortcomings, as the defensive
line suffered another significant injury, further hampering the position group. But other than the MetLife turf monster rearing its ugly head again, it was a good pickup performance for both sides of the ball after the failure to launch in Houston.
With the win in New York, the 49ers will be looking to win consecutive games for the first time since starting the season 3-0, with a huge divisional matchup against the Rams in Week 10. Before that game, here are the things we learned from Week 9:
The 49ers need to add a pass rusher or two (again)
After the 49ers mustered only ten pressures in the loss to Houston, they went out and added Keion White and Clelin Ferrell. Since adding those two, Yetur Gross-Matos reaggravated his hamstring injury that’s kept him out of all but 87 snaps this season, placing him on the IR, and Mykel Williams’ season ended with an ACL injury.
Ferrell had a sack in his return to the 49ers on Sunday, but White’s name didn’t pop up in the box score after his debut for San Francisco. White was able to get through the line clean on the Giants’ opening drive of the game, but he slipped and fell before getting to Jaxson Dart, managing his only pressure of the game.
Sam Okuayinonu continued his good play on Sunday, however, with his second five-pressure game in three weeks, while recording his second sack over the same three games. Okuayinonu’s surge in form has come at a good time, with Bryce Huff missing the last two games with his own hamstring issues.
Entering the trade deadline, the 49ers’ pass rush is as thin as it’s been all season, with just Okuayinonu, White, and Ferrell as the healthiest options after Williams’ season-ending injury. Huff ideally can return either against the Rams in Week 10 or the Cardinals in Week 11, but the clock is ticking for the 49ers to add another player to get to the quarterback.
By the time this comes out, the 49ers may have made that move, but a potential target in Jaelan Phillips is already off the board. Names like Bradley Chubb, Jermaine Johnson, and Arden Key are still available as of Monday afternoon. The 49ers will have to add at least one pass rusher before Tuesday’s deadline to feel at least semi-comfortable at the position for the final two months of the season.
Brian Robinson could use more rush attempts
Christian McCaffrey is currently on pace for his second-career 1,000/1,000 season, but his pass-catching has been significantly better than his rushing ability this season.
Through the nine games this season, McCaffrey is only averaging 3.5 yards per attempt, on pace to set a new career-low and just his third sub-4.0 average in his ten-year career and first since 2020. It even took McCaffrey 28 attempts to manage his 106 yards on Sunday, his seventh game of the season, averaging less than four yards per attempt.
Brian Robinson, on the other hand, had his best game as a 49er. He took his five carries for a season-high 56 yards, including his first touchdown of the season, an 18-yard rumbling carry to put the game out of reach.
Robinson is averaging a career-high 4.8 yards per attempt on a career-low 4.6 attempts per game. Only three times has Robinson seen more than five carries in a game this season, with nine in Week 1 and 7 and six in Week 2. Other than that, it’s been five or fewer in every other game, including zero in two of the last four games.
This isn’t calling for a 50/50 split between McCaffrey and Robinson, but it’s currently sitting at an 80/20 split. With how effective Robinson can be, as shown against the Giants, it certainly couldn’t hurt to get that ratio closer to something like 70/30.
Allow McCaffrey to continue to be an impact in the passing game, while trying to find a consistent seven to ten rushes per game for Robinson.
