Report Card for the 49ers Week 6 Loss
Not… Great
Week 6 is in the books for the San Francisco 49ers. It seems the mass injury bill finally came due, in fact it grew. Here’s how it reflected in their grades for this week:
Offense
Quarterback: C+
This feels a little harsh given the quality of play Jones was getting from his offensive line, but there simply cannot be a B rated game in which the QB throws 2 interceptions to 0 touchdowns. The interior of the line did not hold up to Vita Vea and Co, surrendering 6 sacks. Todd Bowles was well in his bag with the blitz calls, and masterfully disguised their coverage all afternoon long. To be fair, this was far from a disaster. Mac managed to hit an over 69% completion rate on his way to 347 yards. I really wish this could be a B, but the last thing this economy needs is more inflation.
Offensive Line: F
This was a far cry from the 5 pressures allowed against the Jaguars, or even the 11 allowed to the Rams. On Sunday Jones was pressured 16 times, and sacked on 6 of those. Right guard Dominic Puni led in the category with 6 allowed. Trent Williams allowed 4 which led to 2 sacks, Conner Colby gave up 3, and 1 sack. Colby has been a liability in the pass game all season long, and while Trent had some better reps the last two weeks, he ultimately failed to live up to his top of market contract for yet another game. Puni is either injured or massively regressed from his 2024 self, which was all too evident again in this one. Do not let CMC scoring his first rushing touchdown of the year district you from the fact they generated next to no push, now a recurring theme of the 2025 49ers offense. On 17 rushes the 49ers lead back averaged a meager 3.2 yards per carry. There are no such things as F grade performances if this isn’t considered one.
Running Back: B+
As mentioned above, Christian McCaffrey’s rushing inefficiency falls much more on the poor offensive line play than anything he is doing. He has been such a weapon in the passing game, the offense would collapse without his contributions therein. Converting 24 total touches into 111 yards and a touchdown is bellcow work from the offensive centerpiece. I would love to give him the A he deserves at some point this season, but it’s hard to do that off 57 rushing yards and 3.2 YPC.
Wide Receivers and Tight Ends: B+
This is a high grade credited to mostly backups Kendrick Bourne and Jake Tonges, who played exemplary ball yet again in Tampa. Tonges ran 40 of 47 possible routes, on his way to 6 catches for 58 yards. Bourne continued doing his best Jerry Rice impression with 5 for 142. It was inspirational to watch a practice squad TE and in-season free agent go out there and take it to an NFC championship hopeful defense. There were also meaningful contributions from Demarcus Robinson and Marques Valdez-Scantling, each responsible for key first downs. Jauan Jennings was playing well below 100%, we’ll give him a pass for only tallying one grab. All things considered, this was so close to getting an A. The miscommunication on the first Jones interception, and two key drops from Bourne and MVS kept it from getting there. So close, yet so far.
Defense
Defensive Line: D+
The Buccaneers offensive line is very good, but that doesn’t excuse only getting 6 pressures. On the bright side, Mykell Williams did turn in the 1st sack of his career. Baker had all the time in the world. On a pivotal 3rd and 14 when they did manage to hit him, they failed to wrap the tackle up. After escaping a sack and converting the down, Baker threw the 45 yard hay maker to Tez Johsnon that would prove to be the fatal blow for the game. A blow that could have been avoided had two linemen been able to take down the progressive insurance commercial guy. Too much to ask apparently. It seemed like there were constant rushing lanes to be found, both inside and out as well. Without Nick Bosa, this is one of the more lackluster lines in the sport, and they played like it Sunday. D…+.
Linebackers: F
We all know the deal, there is a hall of fame sized hole in the middle of the defense. After Fred Warner was felled, the linebackers were in shambles. From the Sean Tucker cut back touchdown, where Dee Winters ran head first into a guard instead of following Tucker laterally, to the blown coverage before half time. Nick Bellore and Tatum Bethune were allowing catch, after catch, after catch. This unit, this defense lost its quarterback. You could tell they were in complete disarray before every snap. It was a brutal watch to say the least. F’s in the chat, F’s in the grade book. https://x.com/TWSN___/status/1977486477920702699
Corners and Safeties: F
When the highest graded 49ers secondary member is Ji’Ayir Brown at 68.6, you know the performance was a bit of a mess. When that is the case against a team missing Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, and for most of the game Emeka Egbuka, even worse. Hard to say whether it was Deommodore Lenoir who was responsible for that Kam Johnson busted play, or if that falls on Dee Winters miscommunicating. It was a bad look for both.
Rookie Marques Sigle has been picked on all year , and that continued with his blown coverage on Tez Johsnon’s 45 yard touchdown. Even throwing to a depleted receiving core, Baker managed a 17/23, 256 and 2 statline. Upton Stout missed a tackle on Baker’s 3rd and 14 run which could have strangled that blown coverage in the crib. We’ll never know, since tip to tail this was a defensive trainwreck. A trainwreck in no small part due to the fully healthy secondary’s inability to cover the Buccaneers’ practice squad receivers. Eff.
Special Teams: A
There were no majorly busted kick returns, no kick off’s fumbled, and Niner Nation hero Eddie Pineiro hit 4 of his 4 field goals with a long of 54. Thomas Morstead averaged 44.5 yards per punt. On a day where quite a bit went wrong, especially teams weren’t part of it. Edd-A Pineiro thank you for the 18 fantasy points you legend.