49ers vs Jaguars Week 4 Game Review
What A Mess...
Alight folks, it’s the first game review coming off a Niners loss for 2025. There’s so much one could say about what occurred Sunday, key factors that preceded these events, the implications, what it all means for the rest of the season, etc. We’ll keep this to a review of the key units, and how they graded out from kickoff to kneel down.
Offense
Quarterback: F
Brock Purdy went 22/38 for 309 yards, 2 touchdowns, 2 interceptions, and a Fumble. He posted a QBR of 52.1. First game off injury notwithstanding, when he’s out there playing it is fair to judge the product on the field. This was a terrible product. When he did get the ball out he was high on almost all his throws over the middle. The two biggest completions on the day were more tremendous plays by Rickey Pearsall, picking a shoestring back shoulder throw off the turf, and Demarcus Robinson valiantly catching a hospital ball and taking the hit that followed.
His first interception came off a high throw to McCaffrey out of the backfield, which is equally credited to CMC letting the ball skip off his hands. The toss wasn’t great, but certainly catchable. The second pick was horrendous. The defense had battled through a ticky tack PI call on Stout and returned them the ball. It was 1st and 10 in a tight game. Brock was given plenty of time to throw, and lobbed a duck up to the dropping linebacker. The pass was tipped but would have been picked either way. Purdy now has 19 interceptions in his last 20 games.
The last Purdy blunder came by way of his fumble with just under 3 minutes left. This was also a 1st down play, it was blocked for almost 3 seconds. There was no reason to not tuck the ball and live for another down. All in all, one of, if not the worst game I’ve ever seen from him.
Offensive Line: D
This grade is almost entirely a Trent Williams grade, unfortunately. Trent looked like a boy amongst men out there. He generated little to no push in the run game, and was throwing what my old offensive line coach would call look out blocks in both phases of offense. Josh Hines Allen looked like prime Aldon Smith on Sunday. There were very few rushing lanes opened up between the tackles, CMC only averaged 2.9 yards per carry. Pass blocking was decent, allowing 5 pressures on 36 snaps. But the fact is, the Shanahan scheme cannot really function without an effective rushing attack, that simply was not there on Sunday. I could not even bring myself to give them the C.
Running Backs: B-
This one is a weird eval because Christian has been lethal in the passing game and pretty awful running the ball. He had several excellent plays last week, and a game-altering one letting the pass skip off his hands, leading to the first Purdy INT. I’m inclined to blame the rushing woes on the blocking in front of him, given that he has shown plenty of burst and wiggle in the receiving game. The fact still remains, the offense would not function without his receiving usage. That is enough to keep the position group in B territory.
Wide Receivers and Tight Ends: B-
The receiving work was the lone bright spot in week 4 for the offense. Jake Tonges scored his second touchdown in Kittle’s stead, as well as converting a key third down over the middle prior to that. Pearsall continued his elite season with a flashy one handed grab down the sidelines. He was racking up first downs left and right until leaving with an injury. Jauan Jennings had his second big game of the year, not so much in box score but in impact. After converting a massive third down on their first drive of the third quarter, and completed that same sequence with a double coverage catch for the 2 point conversion, bringing the game within 3 points. Robinson also had a gritty third down conversion where he took a lick over the middle late in the third quarter. Despite the + moments, the Luke Farrell fumble was a back breaker, as was the massive Kendrick Bourne drop late in the third. It both ended their drive and set up the following play, a punt return touchdown. That mixed bag is the definition of a B- performance.
Defense
Defensive Line: D
In the passing game the line forced the least pressures on any QB in week 4. They did not even record a single hit on Trevor Lawrence, much less a sack. With the linebackers and secondary playing pretty damn good football, the failure to generate any real pressure continually led to these little 5-10 yard in and outbreaking routes picking at the defense all game long. The outside runs were not entirely on them, but the ends failed to set any form of an edge. Etienne was killing them all day. In their first game sans Bosa, this unit looked far from competent. D’s get degrees, but they don’t win division titles.
Linebackers: A
Fred and Dee Winters accounted for 18 total tackles in another excellent performance from the latest iteration of deadly 49ers linebacker duos. Winters added a huge third down pass break up to his team leading tackling line. When runs were busted it was often a result of blockers freely getting to the second level, that goes on the defensive line’s ledger. They get the lone A for this week.
Cornerbacks and Safeties: B+
So so close to an A here, and they may well have gotten it had the Stout interception stood. They held Lawrence to a 66.3 QBR, and 174 yards on the day. For the most part the coverage was excellent. Clearly the game plan was to not allow chunk gains, which they didn’t. The most effective passes the Jaguars had were swings to Etienne and medium stuff BTJ or the tight ends. Sign me up for sub 200 passing yards week in and week out, this is a well earned B+.
Special Teams: F
Longstanding issues resurfaced with this special teams showing. The first followed the 49ers offense cutting it to a one score game in their two minute drill. Failed kick coverage allowed Bayhsul Tuten to return the ball to mid field with 30 seconds left in the half. The resulting field goal erased the momentum and successful drive they had just posted. Parker Washington’s touchdown late in the third quarter felt like the watershed moment for the game, he was barely touched on his way to an 87 yard punt return. 10 points swung from incompetent special teams, that’s an easy F.