It was a valiant effort that fell short of the mark in San Francisco. The defense played better than I expected (especially with 2 key starter injuries). The offense played a little worse than I expected. The 49ers played a little worse than I expected, honestly.
This game came to me as largely no surprise. I was encouraged that the score was 3-3 at halftime. I was still feeling okay going into the 4th quarter, but the Denver Broncos just couldn’t put enough impact plays together to overcome a very
excellent San Francisco 49ers team, some extreme heat, and referees who were quite actively calling a different game for the home team than what I’ve come to expect from the NFL rulebook.
Offense
The offense produced decently overall. The 3rd down conversion rate was still close to 50% (last week was just a hair better). Drives looked more like drives, and the offense was able to move the ball in spurts.
But the offense just looked a bit disjointed. They never got the 49ers on the back foot defensively, outside of one drive in the 4th quarter where the running game largely took over (likely due to fatigue from the heat for the defenders).
Credit the 49ers’ defense for part of it. Credit Bo Nix’s inconsistency for part of it. Credit the offensive line’s choppy play for a good chunk of it. Finally, credit some of our skill players for lacking focus and execution (I’m looking at you, Cortland Sutton, Evan Engram, and Marvin Mims).
Let’s give Davis Webb some credit. This game was called very well, but executed by the players pretty darn poorly. The run-pass ratio still looks off, but I have an extremely hard time faulting a play caller for that when the run game was given 20 opportunities and only came up with 82 yards.
Quarterbacks
Bo Nix really needs to work on his short throw accuracy. He missed two passes early by throwing too low, and had a couple that slowed down his receivers (which really cuts into their ability to gain extra yards).
Payton in his press conferences is dancing around the critiques of Nix’s footwork and inaccuracy, but I don’t have any qualms calling it like it is: Nix has always been in love with throws on the move off platform. He leans on it, and doing so will predictably lead to the accuracy problems like we saw in this game at times.
But let’s also give credit where it is due. When it works, it is magical. A good example of this is when Nix did a superb job leading Badie on his check-down route running to the left on 3rd down for 25 yards. If you can hit your back in stride, they can get big chunks of yards after the catch.
I guarantee you Payton and Webb are going over these throws with Nix. I am also sure Payton is rightly being cautious about overcorrecting him. Nix, when he’s on, is a dime-dropping magician who throws some of the most amazing passes the league has seen. We don’t want to lose that, especially when there are so many other problems on this offense that clearly need correction.
Line
The offensive line has yet to round into the form we know they are capable of playing at. They still are the same guys from last season who pass block really well but struggle moving blocks in the run game. They also still get dumb penalties that set the team back (Bolles with 2 inexcusable false starts and McGlinchey with a bad hold on a run play that was already beat).
I don’t know if these guys didn’t eat enough Wheaties this offseason or what, but from what I saw, they just don’t get wins in the trenches to open up run lanes for their backs. They are absolutely capable of it. Last season it wasn’t consistent, but sprinkled throughout their game were big holes for Harvey that he took advantage of.
The run game’s longest run was 9 yards (both Dobbins and Harvey hit this mark). But there were 9 runs out of 20 by the backs that went for 2 yards or less, and the backs just didn’t have room to create. There was only one play out of the 20 that I saw a cutback lane I think Harvey could have gotten to with better vision.
Until this line gets locked in on doing the other half of their job at a high level, this offense is going to continue to be limited.
One thing I’ll be watching for is to see how the run game looks next week against a Chargers team that is in the bottom third of the league in run defense. To be fair to the line, the 49ers’ defense is a top-10 run defense in the NFL as it stands.
Running Backs
RJ Harvey put on a master class on making tacklers miss and high effort. If we had been able to pull out a win, he would have gotten my game ball for the high level of effort and play he left on the field. He absolutely trucked Upton Stout to gain an extra 3 yards on a 3rd and long, gaining field position for a field goal attempt. His play was inspiring, with 10 catches on 10 targets for a team-leading 68 yards passing with a touchdown, as well as 7 runs for 25 yards.
I sure am glad that Tyler Badie is on this team. As the #3 back, he’s doing a ton of the dirty work and is honestly doing everything asked of him at an above-average level. His pass blocking is consistent; he chips in decent runs on the rare occasion when his number is called, and he’s shown that he’s a reliable pass catcher out of the backfield. You know your coaches trust you when you get the call to take a direct snap on a 2-point conversion attempt. Well done, Tyler!
Dobbins had so many ineffective runs of 3 or less (7 out of 11 by my count). I’ve already stated above that the line gets a good chunk of the blame, but I will say that Dobbins got signed as a free agent to be our #1 running back. I’m not seeing him produce like one, and part of that is on his play. I still have yet to see the Dobbins we saw last season, which leads me to believe his hip injury is taking something out of him on game day.
Receivers
Pat Bryant is the best wide receiver on this team currently. He’s running gorgeous routes and constantly making plays for this team. Hopefully he gets his ankle right soon, as the offense needs him. Heck, if I had my druthers, he’d be getting a good share of Sutton’s targets.
Jaylen Waddle got more touches this game, but many of them were on pretty short routes. He also had a bad drop early that hit his hands directly. His touchdown catch was a great scheme, and he made a superb play once he caught the ball to get it free into the end zone. I’d love to see him get more deep crossers, though. If teams want to play 2-high with zoned linebackers underneath, he should be able to tear up the no-man’s land between them.
Cortland Sutton had a stinker of a game catching only 1 of 6 targets for 4 yards. He was losing his footing multiple times and looked very much like an aging WR who’s lost a step. I love this guy and what he’s shown us as a Bronco, but he’s got to play at a higher level than what we saw in this game.
We can say the same about Evan Engram and Marvin Mims while we’re at it. Engram had 1 catch on 5 targets, and Mims had 1 catch on 3 targets. Mims was part of a play where it was a poor throw, but he wasn’t even ready for the ball and cost the team a completion because of it. Engram had a couple of poor throws he couldn’t get to, but he dropped a couple of catchable passes.
Defense
Outside of one bad play, I thought the defense played a pretty great game against one of the league’s best offenses. Vance Joseph had the team ready to play. They lost both starting corners and held it down.
The defense didn’t break the code on how to get Purdy sacked, but heck, no one has this season. It was a heck of a battle for the defense, and they responded well, short of a silly play sprung open by a block in the back that, of course, went uncalled.
Front 7
Zach Allen is a game wrecker up front. He powers 2 guys into Brock on the 4th and 1 sneak to blow up the play and get the ball back for his offense. He was one of 2 players to get hits on Purdy (3).
On one hand, I want to say Nik Bonitto needs to wake up. He had a nothing-burger of a game on Sunday. But I can’t really go all the way through with that. I stopped counting at 4 holding penalties that went uncalled. It is hard for a pass rusher to do much when the opponents get to hold, pull, and clothesline drag you back when you are going by them.
The Broncos are still searching for the production that John Franklin-Meyers provided last season in this defense. Malcolm Roach didn’t do much outside of a batted-down pass. Eyioma Uwazurike got held once, but outside of that, wasn’t able to do anything of note.
Secondary
Let’s start off by giving Jahdae Barron and Kris Abrams-Drane props for stepping in and holding it down on the outside. Barron had a pass defense, and both of them had 3 tackles. It is a real blessing for a team to have backups as talented as the Broncos have.
Patrick Surtain was putting together another superb game before he got dinged up. He had excellent coverage on Kittle with a crossing route and 4 tackles in the game.
Talanoa Hufanga was our MVP last week, but took a solid step back this week. He whiffed on a tackle on Deebo Samuel by not wrapping up. He had another whiff later with a shoulder tackle that bounced off Samuel and let him keep running for a big gain off an end around. He did have one good play where he saved a touchdown inside the 5-yard line with a tackle by the ankle.
Special Teams
Zach Allen showed how much of an athletic freak he is by blocking a field goal at the end of the first half. This guy has to be averaging like 3-4 big plays a game so far this season.
Wil Lutz missed a 58-yard field goal once again, seeming to refuse to angle his kick toward the middle of the goalposts. They were lined up to the right side of the hash, and he missed right. I’m pretty sure this is the 2nd time I’ve seen that this season. I would think with the big leg he has, you can just adjust that angle slightly and up your chances of getting 3.
Final Thoughts
Keep the faith, Broncos Country. I think the Broncos lose this game somewhere close to 8 times out of 10. The 49ers are a great team and have been for years. It is hard to find a weak spot on either side of the ball or on the sidelines.
When you get refs botching basic things like the ground not being able to cause a fumble / a forearm not counting as being down by contact, the mountain your team needs to climb in order to win gets pretty steep. That, plus the block in the back that sprung Kittle for his touchdown pass not being called, really were the two plays that won the game for the 49ers.
I’m encouraged to see how well the team fought on both sides of the ball. This was an excellent test for our team that they will grow from. We’re on to the Chargers.
