A loss and big injuries.
That’s becoming a near weekly occurrence for the San Francisco 49ers, who will be without kicker Jake Moody (high ankle sprain), defensive lineman Yetur Gross-Matos (knee) and perhaps safety Talanoa Hufanga (wrist) for the foreseeable future.
Kyle Shanahan did not have an update on Hufanga when he spoke with reporters at 8:45 a.m. PT Monday, which is nearly seven hours earlier than he usually speaks the day after a game and underscores the team’s truncated schedule this week ahead of their “Thursday Night Football” game against the Seattle Seahawks.
The 49ers defense played 58 snaps — versus 64 for the offense — against the Arizona Cardinals, the fourth time this season that unit has been under the 60-snap mark. Of course, those snaps came in temperatures hovering around 100 degrees, and Shanahan said a big emphasis was placed on hydration Sunday night and Monday, especially with the Seahawks looming on Thursday.
The 49ers will have a glorified walk-through practice on Tuesday before leaving for Seattle the next day.
Here’s how the individual snaps were divided against the Cardinals:
Quarterback: Brock Purdy 64
Purdy completed just 54.3 percent of his passes, his lowest of the season. He found targets especially hard to find in the deep red zone and was 8-of-17 (47 percent) inside the Cardinals’ 25-yard line. The 49ers rank 30th in red zone touchdown percentage after finishing first last season.
Tight end George Kittle briefly had the ball in his hands on a first-quarter throw to the end zone, but it would have been a tough catch. On another quick-option throw to Kittle, who was streaking toward the pylon in the second quarter, Purdy’s throw was too high and outside, leaving Kittle short of the goal line. Pressure from the Cardinals forced the quarterback to throw off his back foot.
George Kittle was a frequent red-zone target for Brock Purdy on Sunday and nearly hauled in this touchdown in the first quarter. pic.twitter.com/b6BHvt5ahs
— Matt Barrows (@mattbarrows) October 7, 2024
Who has Purdy been looking for in the red zone? Kittle was targeted on seven of 18 red-zone attempts with one touchdown; Jauan Jennings was targeted four times, all of them incompletions.
Over the last three weeks, it’s taken Purdy a long time to get rid of the ball with several epic scrambles accounting for that time. His time-to-throw stat on Sunday was 3.18 seconds. His time to throw for the season is 3.15 seconds, the highest in the NFL.
Running back: Jordan Mason 41, Kyle Juszczyk (fullback) 40, Isaac Guerendo 9, Deebo Samuel Sr. 5
Who says Mason is merely a power back? Per Next Gen Stats, he reached 21.21 mph on his 34-yard run in the second quarter, the eighth-fastest speed in Week 5.
To put that in perspective, Kyler Murray reached 21.27 mph on his 50-yard touchdown run. Even faster: Deommodore Lenoir, who topped out at 21.33 during his 61-yard return of a blocked punt.
Mason’s fumble in the fourth quarter was just the second of his career (Week 2 at Minnesota) and the first he’s lost.
Shanahan said Christian McCaffrey would continue his ramp-up work this week. There’s no plan to remove him from injured reserve on the short week, although he’s eligible to come off at any point now.
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Wide receiver: Brandon Aiyuk 59, Samuel 47, Jennings 36, Ronnie Bell 10, Trent Taylor 2
The rule of thumb for Aiyuk: The 49ers tend to target him against teams that play man coverage, which the Cardinals were in a lot on Sunday. Per Fantasy Points Data, Aiyuk’s 12 targets were his most ever in a game in which Samuel also played the whole game.
Purdy was off target on his first attempt to Aiyuk, but they connected on their next six. The seventh also probably should have been complete, but a high throw from Purdy glanced off the receiver’s hands. Aiyuk’s 147 passing yards were the most for him since he had 156 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 11 last season.
Shanahan said Chris Conley (oblique) and Jacob Cowing (shoulder) would be day to day this week. Neither played against the Cardinals.
Tight end: Kittle 58, Eric Saubert 13
Despite dealing with a rib issue, Kittle has been a focal point in the passing game, including on Sunday when, like Aiyuk, he was targeted 12 times. His 0.25 targets-per-routes-run rate leads the team, according to Fantasy Points Data.
Offensive line: Trent Williams 64, Aaron Banks 64, Jake Brendel 64, Dominick Puni 64, Colton McKivitz 64
The 49ers’ last-minute drive was foiled when Purdy was hit as he threw and Arizona intercepted the resulting errant throw. But it wasn’t a bad protection day for the offensive line. The Cardinals brought an extra rusher on that play and he hit home before Purdy got rid of the ball.
“They had a blitz,” Shanahan said. “When two guys blitz the back, that means you’re hot. And we’ve just got to get rid of the ball quicker.”
CARDINALS!!!!!! pic.twitter.com/d7nfKh9Gpn
— NFL (@NFL) October 6, 2024
Williams and Puni surrendered three quarterback pressures each, per Pro Football Focus, but no offensive lineman gave up a sack.
QB pressures allowed
- Puni 3
- Williams 3
- Banks 2
- Brendel 2
- McKivitz 2
- Kittle 1
Defensive line: Nick Bosa 45, Maliek Collins 38, Leonard Floyd 36, Jordan Elliott 28, Kevin Givens 25, Sam Okuayinonu 24, Kalia Davis 19, Robert Beal Jr. 13, T.Y. McGill 11.
James Conner finished with 86 rushing yards. Per PFF, 74 of those yards came after contact.
The 49ers had 12 missed tackles. Three were committed by Bosa, who was active against the run — four tackles, two behind the line of scrimmage — but who also glanced off Conner’s legs like everyone else.
Missed tackles
- Bosa 3
- De’Vondre Campell Sr. 2
- Malik Mustapha 2
- Ji’Ayir Brown 1
- Hufanga 1
- Lenoir 1
- Charvarius Ward 1
- Givens 1
Davis played 19 snaps after being activated from injured reserve on Saturday but didn’t register an official stat in the game. Shanahan said Gross-Matos, who went on IR on Saturday, had surgery on the knee that was injured in the preseason finale in Las Vegas. The 49ers had hoped the issue would subside with rest, but it didn’t. He’s expected to miss anywhere from one to two months.
Linebacker: Fred Warner 58, Campbell 58, Dee Winters 26
Shanahan said Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles (calf) wouldn’t play this week, which ought to ensure Winters continues in the role of strongside linebacker. The question is whether he’ll start getting snaps at Campbell’s weakside role, something he started to do in Week 3. The Cardinals were 4 of 4 when targeting Campell in the passing game and opponents are 21-of-25 for 205 yards when targeting him this season.
The 49ers brought Campbell and others on plenty of blitzes Sunday. Per Fantasy Points Data, they blitzed on 36.4 percent of dropbacks, the 10th highest rate in Week 5, after blitzing 16 percent of the time over the first four weeks, the third lowest rate.
But those blitzes didn’t always thwart Murray (see below) on Sunday and haven’t been effective this year. Opponents have completed 67.7 percent of their passes for 396 yards when the 49ers have blitzed. They’ve allowed a passer rating of 150.2 when blitzing, the worst in the league.
Safety: Brown 56, Mustapha 47, Hufanga 11, George Odum 4
It wasn’t a strong day for the safeties. Hufanga missed an early ankle tackle against Conner at the line of scrimmage in the second quarter, while Brown had a similar whiff in the third quarter. In all, the safeties missed four tackles and Hufanga wasn’t in place to be the “eraser” on Murray’s opening drive touchdown run.
What happened on Kyler Murray’s TD? Too many 49ers bought the initial fake, including Talanoa Hufanga & Fred Warner. That’s the corner of Warner’s helmet peeking out behind Maliek Collins, who got scooted out of the play. De’Vondre Campbell, meanwhile, wasn’t quick enough pic.twitter.com/G1MWFUR2G9
— Matt Barrows (@mattbarrows) October 7, 2024
Hufanga may have injured his wrist on the Conner missed tackle because Mustapha was in on the next snap and played the rest of the game. Shanahan had no update on Hufanga on Monday morning. If the 49ers are down to Brown, Mustpaha and Odum at the position they could either bump rookie Jaylen Mahoney from the practice squad or re-sign veteran Tracy Walker III, who was on the team in September.
Cornerback: Lenoir 56, Ward 55, Isaac Yiadom 27, Renardo Green 1
Shanahan heaped praise on Murray for his fourth-and-5 heave to Marvin Harrison Jr. on the Cardinals’ game-winning drive. The 49ers brought a blitz and were crashing in on Murray, who threw it to a spot he knew Harrison would be.
“We had an all-out blitz,” he said. “(I) thought it was really good defense, but an unbelievable play by their quarterback. He had no one blocked there and just backpedaled, retreated, threw it up and found the right guy that kept him on the field.”
The completion to Harrison came against Yiadom, who was back as the team’s No. 3 cornerback after yielding snaps to Green last week. Yiadom had a good game. That was the only completion he allowed and he also had a pass breakup in the second quarter. Lenoir, meanwhile, also allowed just one completion, for 0 yards. Ward, however, gave up three catches for 75 yards and a 116.7 passer rating when targeted.
Special teams: Saubert 19, Odum 19, Jalen Graham 14, Tatum Bethune 14, Guerendo 14, Yiadom 13, Patrick Taylor Jr. 12, Jake Tonges 12, Mustapha 9, Rock Ya-Sin 9, Moody 8, Green 8, Mitch Wishnowsky 7, Okuayinonu 7, Winters 7, McKivitz 5, Puni 5, Jaylon Moore 5, Nick Zakelj 5, Spencer Burford 5, Banks 5, Collins 5, Campbell 5, Elliott 5, Givens 5, Lenoir 5, Brown 5, Warner 5, Trent Taylor 2, Juszczyk 1, Bell 1
Only the Dallas Cowboys’ Brandon Aubrey had kicked more field goals (14) than Moody (13) this season and Moody is far and away the team’s leading scorer. He has 51 points so far. There’s a three-way tie for second place among Jennings, Kittle and Mason, who have 18. Last year’s leading scorer: McCaffrey with 126.
Shanahan said the 49ers will have four kickers coming in for a tryout Monday. Expect one of them to be on the roster in time for Thursday’s game in Seattle.
(Photo: hearon W. Henderson / Getty Images)
