The hits keep coming for the San Francisco 49ers’ pass catchers.
In addition to Brandon Aiyuk being lost for the season with ACL and MCL tears, Kyle Shanahan revealed on Monday that Deebo Samuel Sr. had to go to the hospital Sunday night with fluid in his lungs — “so technically pneumonia,” he said — and that Chris Conley (sprained ankle) and George Kittle (foot sprain) are day to day. This on top of the hip injury that kept Jauan Jennings out of Sunday’s game against the Kansas City Chiefs.
Shanahan said Samuel started to feel ill early Sunday morning, had trouble breathing during the game and went to the hospital Sunday night. He was still there Monday afternoon and Shanahan said he didn’t know if he’d play Sunday against the Dallas Cowboys.
“We’ll see how he recovers over the next couple of days,” he said.
The 49ers’ offensive players logged 63 snaps, the defensive players 70. Though the teams’ offensive totals were similar, the Chiefs were a lot better on third-down conversions (57.1 percent vs. 18.2 percent) and therefore held the ball longer, 35:04 vs. 24:56. It was the first time this season the 49ers had been dominated as far as time of possession.
Here’s how the individual snaps were divided:
Quarterback: Brock Purdy 63
Purdy already has more rushing yards, 154, than he had in 16 regular-season games last season, 144. Why is that? It might be because the 49ers are seeing more man coverage this season. It’s been used on 28.7 percent of their dropbacks versus 19.2 percent last season, according to TruMedia.
It’s easier for a quarterback to run the ball against man coverage because the defenders’ backs are often toward the quarterback (Colin Kaepernick did this to effect against the Seattle Seahawks more than a decade ago).
Purdy also might be running more because he’s finding it harder to throw against man coverage than he is against zone. His time-to-throw stat dropped a bit against the Chiefs, — it was 2.69 seconds, per TruMedia — but through seven games, he’s holding onto the ball longer than nearly every other quarterback. His 3.24 seconds ranks behind only the Minnesota Vikings’ Sam Darnold and is tied with the Philadelphia Eagles’ Jalen Hurts for the second-longest among qualifying quarterbacks, according to TruMedia.
Running back: Jordan Mason 54, Kyle Juszczyk (fullback) 26, Isaac Guerendo 5, Kittle 1
According to Next Gen Stats, Mason faced an eight-man box on 35.71 percent of his carries Sunday. The only Week 7 runner who dealt with a more crowded box: the Jacksonville Jaguars’ Tank Bigsby, who face eight-man boxes from the New England Patriots on 38.46 percent of his carries.
For the season, Mason’s eight-man box rate is a league-high 36.72 percent. The next highest: Baltimore Ravens running back Derrick Henry at 35.29 percent.
Mason managed 58 yards on Sunday, a season low for him but more yards than any tailback has gained against the Chiefs this season.
Asked about Christian McCaffrey’s recovery, Shanahan said the running back still hasn’t had any setbacks and pointed to the 49ers’ Week 10 game in Tampa for a possible return.
Wide receiver: Ricky Pearsall 48, Conley 44, Brandon Aiyuk 25, Ronnie Bell 24, Jacob Cowing 12, Samuel 4
Aiyuk dropped what would have been a big gain on third-and-2 in the second quarter. He’d had gotten past cornerback Trent McDuffie and Purdy hit him in the hands with room to run.
The play would have at least gotten the 49ers in field-goal range. Instead they punted, and the Chiefs returned it 55 yards, setting up their second touchdown of the day. It was Aiyuk’s third drop of the season. He had two in 19 games last season.
Lost amid Pearsall’s first NFL game was that his rookie position mate, Cowing, got his first NFL target in the third quarter. Purdy threw him a screen pass at the Kansas City 14-yard line that, for a moment, looked like it might turn into a score. Cowing instead was stopped at the 5. In the fourth quarter, Purdy underthrew Cowing on a 41-yard pass. If it had been two yards deeper, Cowing would have had the first touchdown of his career.
Pearsall led the 49ers’ wideouts in snaps, Cowing led the wideouts in yards (50). Shanahan on Monday noted that Cowing and Pearsall were put in positions they didn’t practice during the week.
“For the most part, they didn’t make too many mistakes and gave us a chance to get back in the game and gave us a chance to win,” he said. “And hopefully, we can build off of that. Those guys are going to get a lot more reps going forward with BA being out, with Jauan and Deebo — not sure if we’ll get them back this week or not. So it was a good start for those guys and they should have a lot more coming.”
Tight end: Kittle 58, Eric Saubert 14, Jake Tonges 1
Kittle’s 41-yard catch in the second quarter was his longest reception of the season. His 92 receiving yards led the 49ers, the first time he’s done so this season.
49ers receiving yards leader:
- Week 1: Jennings, 64
- Week 2: Samuel, 110
- Week 3: Jennings, 175
- Week 4: Jennings, 88
- Week 5: Aiyuk, 147
- Week 6: Samuel, 102
- Week 7: Kittle, 92
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Offensive line: Aaron Banks 63, Jake Brendel 63, Dominick Puni 63, Colton McKivitz 63, Trent Williams 54, Jaylon Moore 9
Puni had a number of one-on-one matchups against Chiefs defensive lineman Chris Jones, but not as many as predicted. Jones lined up all over the place on Sunday and seemed to have more one-on-ones against McKivitz than anyone, perhaps to escape San Francisco double-team blocks. The 49ers did a good job of getting an extra hand on Jones and he finished with just two quarterback pressures, his second-lowest output of the season.
Williams missed the last nine snaps after throwing a retaliatory punch at Chiefs safety Bryan Cook after Williams knocked Cook to the ground on a block.
Trent Williams has been ejected after this. pic.twitter.com/CDBu1hRUeu
— FOX Sports: NFL (@NFLonFOX) October 20, 2024
QB pressures allowed
- McKivitz 2
- Puni 2
- Banks 1
- Brendel 1
- Moore 1
Defensive line: Nick Bosa 56, Maliek Collins 44, Jordan Elliott 44, Leonard Floyd 43, Sam Okuayinonu 36, Kevin Givens 25, Kalia Davis 22, Robert Beal Jr. 12
Bosa spent the first nine snaps rushing from the left side of the 49ers’ defensive line. From that point on he spent the majority of the game rushing from the right against Chiefs’ left tackle Wanya Morris. He finished with two quarterback hurries, two quarterback hits and a sack.
What does the team’s depth look like at defensive end? Okuayinonu finished with nearly as many snaps as the starter, Floyd. Okuayinonu finished with three tackles, Beal with none on defense.
QB pressures:
- Bosa 5
- Collins 3
- Floyd 2
- Okuayinonu 1
- Givens 1
- Fred Warner 1
Linebacker: Warner 70, De’Vondre Campbell Sr. 49, Dee Winters 39, Tatum Bethune 2
A positive development at linebacker: Sunday’s game was Winters’ best of the season. Though he’s the 49ers’ fastest linebacker, at times he can be out of control, for example when he overran Patrick Mahomes as the quarterback scampered down the sideline for a 33-yard gain in the third quarter.
That, however, was the exception against the Chiefs. Though Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles was a full go in practice, Winters replaced him as the strongside (No. 3) linebacker and took a few snaps in the No. 2 role as well. He made a nice stop on the Chiefs’ first offensive snap and finished with four tackles.
Shanahan said Dre Greenlaw’s rehabilitation from a ruptured Achilles “is still going fine” but that the linebacker probably would be back until a few weeks after the Nov. 3 bye.
Cornerback: Deommodore Lenoir 70, Charvarius Ward 70, Renardo Green 44. Isaac Yiadom 5
Like Winters at strongside linebacker, Green appears to have fully taken over the No. 3 cornerback role from Yiadom, who was not on the injury report in the runup to the Chiefs game. Green was targeted just twice with one reception — tight end Noah Gray’s 26-yard catch in the first quarter.
Ward played well after sitting out the Week 6 game in Seattle. He was targeted five times and gave up two catches for 14 yards. He was nearly burned by a double move from Travis Kelce late in the game, but he recovered in time for a pass breakup.
Lenoir, meanwhile, grabbed his first interception of the season. Opponents have a 66.7 passer rating when targeting him through seven games. The only 49ers cornerback with a better mark? It’s Green with a 56.5 rating when targeted.
OUR BALL! @Dmo_lenoir
📺 #KCvsSF on FOX
NFL+ // https://t.co/KTh0i4oaLh pic.twitter.com/mfzbrfg3CV— San Francisco 49ers (@49ers) October 20, 2024
Safety: Ji’Ayir Brown 70, Malik Mustapha 70
Mustapha had a team-high three missed tackles, though they were overshadowed by the way he zoomed in from the secondary and thumped ball carriers. He had a game-high 12 tackles, six of them solo stops.
There was one asterisk to his physical effort. He had a safety’s dream — a clean shot on Mahomes at the goal line at the start of the fourth quarter. The rookie went shoulder-to-shoulder with the quarterback. Mahomes got the touchdown, Mustapha got flattened.
Special teams: Yiadom 20, George Odum 20, Beal 16, Flannigan-Fowles 16, Conley 14, Guerendo 13, Saubert 12, Patrick Taylor Jr. 12, Tonges 12, Okuayinonu 8, Mitch Wishnowsky 8, Jaylen Mahoney 8, Rock Ya-Sin 6, Taybor Pepper 7, Anders Carlson 6, Campbell 5, Elliott 5, Givens 5, Lenoir 5, Brown 5, Warner 5, Green 5, Winters 5, Cowing 4, Collins 3, McKivitz 3, Puni 3, Moore 3, Nick Zakelj 3, Spencer Burford 3, Banks 3, Bell 2, Davis 2, Bosa 1
How did the 49ers allow a 55-yard punt return in the second quarter? Three players fell to the ground during the return: Ronnie Bell (not pictured), Tatum Bethune and Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles. pic.twitter.com/7CYUhZdAjS
— Matt Barrows (@mattbarrows) October 21, 2024
Three coverage players either slipped or were blocked to the ground on the Chiefs’ 55-yard punt return in the second quarter. Bell seemed to misplay the coverage when he allowed Mecole Hardman to get outside of him. He then fell in his pursuit. Linebackers Bethune and Flannigan-Fowles also went down and had to play catchup as Hardman ran up the sideline.
Newly added Carlson booted a 55-yard field goal — the longest of his career — in the first quarter but missed an extra point in the third. He missed five extra points last season for the Green Bay Packers. His first kickoff — with the wind — went for a touchback. His two in the third quarter — against the wind — fell just short of the goal line and were returned.
Shanahan said that Jake Moody (high ankle sprain) might be back for the Tampa Bay game “at the earliest,” which means at least one more game with Carlson handling kicking duties.
(Top photo of Brock Purdy: Cary Edmondson / Imagn Images)
