It’s hard to find a lot of things that have gone right for the 49ers over the last few weeks. A string of bad games came to a head Sunday at Levi’s Stadium when the Bengals trounced the home team 31-17 in a contest that didn’t really feel as close as the final score.
Miscues galore painted a perfect picture of an ugly outcome for San Francisco. Finding the bad was easy. Finding the good was harder. Here’s some we came up with from each side of the spectrum:
Bad: 1st quarter mistakes
The 49ers got their day off to a rough start. In the first quarter alone they had the following slate of miscues:
1. On their first drive the 49ers got into a second-and-2 situation. A run with RB Christian McCaffrey only gained one yard. Then a run to FB Kyle Juszczyk lost one yard and San Francisco had to punt.
2. Bengals WR Ja’Marr Chase fumbled on his team’s first play. The ball was on the ground for the taking, but no 49er fell on it.
3. Isaiah Oliver dropped what should’ve been an interception a couple plays after Chase’s fumble.
4. On a third down the 49ers had Arik Armstead and Nick Bosa in the backfield with hands on QB Joe Burrow. Neither brought him down and he hit WR Tee Higgins for a first down. (All of the above was on the Bengals first drive on which they went on to score a TD).
5. After the 49ers scored a tying touchdown, they gave up a long kickoff return that set the Bengals up at their own 43.
Good: George Kittle
Kittle had his best game since Week 13 of the 2021 season. On Sunday he had 11 catches on 9 targets for 149 yards. With Deebo Samuel out, Kittle has to be as involved as he was against Cincinnati. He’s too good to be as much of a non-factor as he’s been at times this year.
Bad: 2nd half Brock Purdy
Purdy in the first half went 7-for-10 for 114 yards. In the second half he went 15-for-21 for 251 yards, one touchdown, two interceptions and a fumble. The trio of turnovers are alarming considering it’s the second week in a row Purdy has turned the ball over when they need him to drop back and throw to win them the game. The first INT was the most egregious when he waited to long to try and flip one to an open Elijah Mitchell deep in the red zone. Instead of getting it up high, he left it where LB Germaine Pratt could corral it for a turnover. Leaving those points on the board was the beginning of the end for the 49ers in Sunday’s game.
Good: Brandon Aiyuk
Aiyuk was excellent again, grabbing five of his nine targets for 109 yards. He’s just uncoverable down the field and the fact he got loose in Week 8 makes his one target in the second half of Week 7 an even bigger head scratcher. It was already clear, but it’s becoming increasingly apparent how much better Aiyuk is at getting open and catching footballs than anyone else on the 49ers’ roster.
Bad: Tackling
There were way too many missed tackles by the 49ers on Sunday. Bengals RB Joe Mixon was finding his way into the second level with ease, and then once he was there he was able to slip tackles pretty consistently. San Francisco’s defense stiffened up a little in the second half, but it was still an alarming tackling display from what used to be one of the NFL’s best defenses.
Bad: Steve Wilks
Wilks has to make a dramatic change in the way the 49ers play defense because what they’re doing right now isn’t working. Quarterbacks are getting rid of the ball quickly and finding wide open receivers all over the field. This is the second week in a row the 49ers have had this issue and it’s never been a problem prior to the last few games. That Burrow was so comfortable all afternoon is something that can’t continue happening and Wilks doesn’t appear to have any buttons to press to fix what ails his defense.
Good: Arik Armstead
Armstead posted a pair of sacks for his first multi-sack game since Week 18 of the 2021 season. The first one was more of a coverage sack, the second one he just one his matchup and got a straight shot on Burrow. The 49ers would love to see No. 91 come to life.
Bad: 49ers run game
Running the ball has been a real problem for the last three weeks. Minus Brock Purdy’s scrambles, the 49ers ran it 17 times for 57 yards against Cincinnati. It’s their second game in a row averaging fewer than 4.0 yards per carry. That’s not conducive to winning for an offense that’s built to make life easy on its QB.
Bad: Key drops
While Kittle and Aiyuk were stellar for the most part, both had key drops in Sunday’s game. Aiyuk dropped one at the end of the first half that would’ve kept the 49ers’ drive alive and perhaps helped them get into field goal range to cut the Bengals lead to one point. Then Kittle had a third-and-7 drop in the third quarter that was a real killer. The catch would’ve gone for at least nine yards and first down inside Bengals territory with the 49ers still trailing by one touchdown. Instead they punted.
