49ers @ Broncos
Final Score: Broncos 11, 49ers 10
Writer: Mike Miklius (@SIRL0INofBEEF on Twitter)
This was an awful game. I say this despite my being a Bears fan and suffering through that offense. That’s the only thing that rolled through my mind as I sat through this slog. There were dropped passes in surplus. Both quarterbacks missed throws. There were five fumbles and a pick, and there easily could have been more turnovers. Did I mention the 17 punts or the 11 three-and-outs? Yeah, this one was no fun. Still, it was my honor-bound duty to see it through. San Francisco put up a touchdown on their second drive, and for a while, it looked like that would hold up. Denver answered with a field goal in the second quarter, and then managed a safety in the third quarter. San Francisco added a field goal to make it 10-5. With ten minutes left, the Broncos finally managed a complete drive and made it 11-10, missing on their 2-point conversion. The 49ers failed to respond and fell by one. Here’s everything I saw tonight.
San Francisco 49ers
Quarterback
Jimmy Garoppolo: 18/29, 211 Yards, TD, INT | 1 Carry, 1 Fumble (Lost)
Early on, it looked like Jimmy Garoppolo was getting into a rhythm. On the Niners’ second drive, he hit Brandon Aiyuk for a 20-yard gain. After a Jeff Wilson run for a first, he completed passes to George Kittle, Deebo Samuel, and then Aiyuk again for the touchdown. San Francisco was driving smoothly and the Broncos were stalling. It wasn’t crazy to expect a blowout. Well, the Broncos’ defense woke up. On the next drive, Jimmy G made a nice initial pass to Aiyuk before the drive ended with a sack. The following drive again saw a good pass–to Deebo–before it again stalled. Jimmy had a wide-open Deebo Samuel but didn’t see him deep and targeted Brandon Aiyuk instead.
This was the story of most of the night; the Niners made some good plays, but couldn’t put it all together. Jimmy’s worst play of the night came on the safety. He stepped out of bounds in the end zone without realizing it and then made a disastrous pass that was easily picked off and returned. If Jimmy G hadn’t stepped out, he would have given away an easy touchdown on a mind-bogglingly bad decision. This offense should have some brighter days against easier foes.
Running Back
Jeff Wilson Jr.: 12 Carries, 75 Yards | 3 Targets, 3 Receptions, 31 Yards | 1 Fumble (Lost)
Jordan Mason: 1 Carry, 7 Yards
Kyle Juszczyk: 1 Target, 1 Reception, 24 Yards
Jeff Wilson Jr. was the workhorse tonight for San Francisco, although there wasn’t much work to be done. He had some great runs, starting with a huge gain on the second drive that helped set up the lone touchdown. Wilson followed strong blocking and ran fast to pick up 37 yards. Like the rest of the offense, Wilson was mostly bottled up later and his fumble came at the end of the game–as the Niners were trying to launch a game-winning drive. Wilson is the best bet here next week to lead the backfield.
Jordan Mason saw one carry but was a non-factor in the game.
Kyle Juszczyk made a beautiful toe-tapping catch on the sideline on his one target.
Wide Receiver/Tight End
Deebo Samuel: 5 Carries, 6 Yards | 8 Targets, 5 Receptions, 73 Yards
Brandon Aiyuk: 8 Targets, 3 Receptions, 39 Yards, TD
George Kittle: 5 Targets, 4 Receptions, 28 Yards
Ray-Ray McCloud III: 1 Target, 1 Reception, 11 Yards, 1 Fumble (Recovered)
Jauan Jennings: 3 Targets, 1 Reception, 5 Yards
Deebo Samuel had a good night and it could have been a great one. As mentioned before, Deebo was wide open deep on the fourth drive, but Jimmy G just didn’t see him. It would have been an easy bomb touchdown, and San Francisco probably would have held on for this win. Deebo had a scare when he stayed down on the team’s next drive after a five-yard catch, but he came back in the game and seemed fine. Keep an eye on this situation moving forward.
Brandon Aiyuk was involved early, making all three of his catches in the first quarter. Like Deebo, he is a force with the ball in his hands and does most of his damage after the catch. On his touchdown, Aiyuk was lined up on the left side. He ran towards the middle of the field and caught an immediate pass for the score. Aiyuk is proving himself reliable and could be earning himself a bigger role on a team that needs to create more offense.
George Kittle was third in the pecking order for the 49ers, and everything stayed shorter for him tonight. He looked good running his routes and should be fine with more opportunities.
Denver Broncos
Quarterback
Russell Wilson: 20/33, 184 Yards | 6 Carries, 17 Yards, 1 Fumble (Recovered)
Russell Wilson had a rough night tonight, and this offense still looks bad. There were plays where Russ overthrew his receivers. There were plays where he hit them, but they dropped it. There was just no chemistry and Denver is lucky to escape with the W. After three drives, Russ completed two of his five passes for three yards. Despite the struggles, we saw some vintage Russ on the Broncos’ lone touchdown drive. He completed a long pass to Kendall Hinton for 27 yards. He scrambled for 12 yards on a big third-and-six. He audibled and hit Courtland Sutton for 19 yards–leading to the touchdown run two plays later. While most of this one was bad, the touchdown drive looked good and should give Broncos fans hope.
Running Back
Javonte Williams: 15 Carries, 58 Yards | 5 Targets, 3 Receptions, 2 Yards
Melvin Gordon III: 12 Carries, 26 Yards, TD | 6 Targets, 5 Receptions, 29 Yards | 2 Fumbles (Recovered)
Mike Boone: 1 Target
Javonte Williams started for Denver and was frequently running into a brick wall. He ran well against a tough defense, and we have to realize that there were multiple plays where someone was blowing him up in the backfield. Despite that, he still averaged nearly four yards-per-carry and looked good when he had some space to breathe. As we should know, though, this is a split.
Melvin Gordon was fighting for every yard tonight and made a few mistakes. He fumbled the ball twice and had a bad drop when the ball hit him right on his hands. Still, Gordon was in on the Broncos’ scoring drive. He was the one to plunge it into the endzone. Whatever I think about this backfield–ie that Williams is a much better runner than Gordon–the team splits the work. Nothing should change in my mind.
Wide Receiver/Tight End
Courtland Sutton: 10 Targets, 8 Receptions, 97 Yards
Kendall Hinton: 1 Target, 1 Reception, 27 Yards
Jerry Jeudy: 6 Targets, 2 Receptions, 17 Yards
Albert Okwuegbunam: 2 Targets, 1 Reception, 12 Yards
Eric Saubert: 1 Target
Courtland Sutton was the primary target for the Broncos tonight, and his longest catch of the night, a 34-yard grab, helped set up the Broncos’ first score. Sutton was scrambling as Russell Wilson bought time in the pocket, and found space. He made a smooth catch and ran well for more yards. Sutton made another grab on the drive and looked like a big part of the offense. The offense just couldn’t do much tonight.
Jerry Jeudy had a chance at some big plays, but he ultimately only made one real play on the night. On his 16-yard catch, Jeudy was sprung by a teammate who set a great pick for him and allowed him to run up the sideline. I saw a couple of big shots to Jeudy, including one that was just slightly tipped by a defender making an amazing play. Jeudy was close to some big gains, but this happens sometimes. I noticed one Jeudy drop that stuck out tonight as well, but this was mostly good.