I was looking at PFF grades and noticed some interesting things about the Broncos’ performance against the Rams. Of course, you have to take PFF grades with a grain of salt, but I found it interesting that….
- Lineback Justin Strnad had a decent pass coverage grade, which I initially pegged as a weakness of the Broncos.
- Patrick Surtain II had the worst game of his career against Davante Adams (just wait til he sees Dante Pettis)
- Riley Moss was also a liability on the back end for their defense.
- Bo Nix was the lowest rated player on offense.
The Broncos are the most formidable opponent yet but they’re gettable, especially on the ground. So excited for this match-up.
49ers Week 3 Trench Grades: Throwing bodies at the problem (paywall) “Shout out Sebastian Valdez, who I mentioned in yesterday’s tape takeaways. They used him in just about
everything but a wide-nine role, and he was impressive in the run game. I also feel like Osa probably should have been lower here, but I gave some deference to the fact that he faced a ton of double teamed and while he wasn’t all that impressive, he had a lot of Dom Puni-esque survivor reps.
I’ll tend to give guys credit for holding up long enough to occupy two defenders, even if they get displaced later in the rep. Some (not to say the majority, just some) “good” reps might just allow a linebacker to fill and stay clean, even if that player eventually looks to have lost the rep. It’s like how you can have a sack, but if you’re completely unblocked, I’m not counting that as a very good rep….
…..I was pleasantly surprised with Khalid Kareem’s day, though a lot of that came against Cardinals RT Elijah Wilkinson. He’s terrible. Osa’s grade ended up higher than I expected. I thought Keion White was probably the 49ers’ best pass rusher in this game, but most of their pressures came off blitzes and simulated pressures. Kevin Givens also had a few nice reps….Colton McKivitz was downright imperious this week. I thought Trent Williams underwhelmed in pass protection before leaving the game. He got attacked at his inside hip effectively a few times….Now, in the run game? Trent was magnificent. I legitimately enjoy watching him attack a linebacker in space more than anything else the 49ers do.”
How 49ers’ Fred Warner learned to stop worrying and embrace the hunt (paywall)
“There were little things going on physically early on and I was just not playing like myself,” Warner said. “But then I had people in my ear asking, ‘Hey, do you feel like you’re trying to do too much because of the contract? ’ I truly did not think that was the case. But once that got in my head, I started thinking about that …
“I developed this sense of urgency for me to make that play that would validate me making the money I was making. And then you start reaching to try to do things and that really puts you behind the 8-ball. It just all started to snowball.”
Before the 2021 season, Warner had already devoured books such as “Mind Gym: An Athlete’s Guide to Inner Excellence”; “12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos”; “Atomic Habits: Tiny Changes, Remarkable Results” and, of course, “Kobe Bryant: The Mamba Mentality.”
“Those tools I’d learned had really helped me get to a spot where I was really being successful,” Warner said. “But then once I let the negative thoughts flood my brain, there was no getting out of that. I knew about controlling the controllables. Keeping things simple. But that was all gone. I was so in my head with all the other stuff. I needed someone to bring me back into focus.”
…..“My first thought when I talked with Fred was that he was a great player who started thinking too much about being a great player,” Afremow said. “Suddenly, every play, every moment in every game, started to feel like he wanted to provide evidence: ‘Am I still that guy? Am I living up to this? ’ … He needed to stop making every play a referendum on whether he was still Fred Warner.”
Afremow’s charge: Remind Warner “who the hell he already was.” The question that unlocked it is surprising: What animal do you most identify with?
“And I’m like ‘Oh, of course, the lion. That’s the king of the jungle. There’s the hair, the mane,’” Warner said, touching his dreadlocks. “It just made too much sense.”
Afremow agreed. And he kept asking questions: If a lion goes out on a hunt and doesn’t get a kill, does that mean it’s not a lion? The answer was obvious. For Warner, the deeper meaning was transformative. His inability to get interceptions or forced fumbles didn’t make him less Fred Warner. The stats would come.
“The thing that a lion does, they don’t have to think about it, they just hunt,” Warner said. “And I just needed to get back to loving the hunt. I was focused on outcomes and things that were out of my control.
“Jim was like, ‘Why don’t you just focus on the hunt and get back to things that made you who you are? What made you the lion, what made you Fred? ’ … That truly saved my entire career. Ever since, I’ve gone out there with the mentality of ‘hunt’ and let everything else come as it may.”
…Warner felt freedom after his breakthrough, but he also worried: What did it say about his mindset if he’d allowed negative thoughts to consume him? Was he weak or, worse, broken? Afremow’s answer: He was human.
“It’s being able to understand: This is how we’re built,” Afremow said. “We all have a protective voice that says, ‘Hey, are you ready for this? Can you do this? What if it doesn’t work out? ’ We don’t have to take our first thought at face value. So for Fred, it was acknowledging and validating: ‘Of course you’re going to have negative thoughts at times. What you’re experiencing makes total sense.’”
Once-dismissed 49ers WR Dante Pettis is back. They might need him Sunday (paywall)
“If both can’t play Sunday, the only healthy receivers on the active roster would be Deebo Samuel, Jacob Cowing and Jordan Watkins. Because they need at least five receivers on game days, practice squad players Pettis and Brandin Cooks could be elevated. Pettis, 30, hasn’t started a game since 2022 with the Chicago Bears. Last year he caught nine passes for 127 yards for the New Orleans Saints.
If he’s in uniform against the Broncos, the first three players the 49ers drafted in 2018 — Broncos tackle Mike McGlinchey, Pettis and linebacker Fred Warner (a third-round pick) — will be on hand. Two others from that draft class, defensive tackle Kentavius Street (a fourth-rounder with the Bears) and cornerback D.J. Reed (a fifth-rounder now with the Detroit Lions), remain in the league.”
49ers QB Brock Purdy named NFC Offensive Player of the Month
“Purdy is the only quarterback with multiple touchdown passes and a passer rating of at least 100 in each of the first three weeks of the season.”
John Lynch on Mike Evans: ‘Mike’s going to make every attempt to try to play’
“The 49ers must’ve felt like Nick Bosa was closer to “week-to-week” since they didn’t place him on Injured Reserve. Bosa pulled his calf muscle in practice last week, missing Week 3.”
