The San Francisco 49ers have been able to rally and overcome poor performances all season, but that wasn’t the case Sunday against the Jacksonville Jaguars who went into Levi’s Stadium and snuck out with a 26-21 victory.
Four 49ers turnovers stick out on the stat sheet, but there were more problems for the home team in their white road uniforms.
Here are six takeaways from San Francisco’s first loss of the year:
49ers run game is officially a problem
Jacksonville’s defense is good, but San Francisco’s run game failed to get going on the ground for the fourth game in a row. Sunday they managed 83 yards on 24 carries, moving their season totals to 106 carries for 352 yards − a putrid 3.32 yards per carry. They’re also the only NFL team without a rushing touchdown this season. That’s not a sustainable way to operate in the run game and the fact they’ve not gained any traction through four weeks is a signal that this is a problem that will plague them for the entire season.
QB Brock Purdy was not good in his return
The stats tell a story that Purdy wasn’t bad Sunday. He threw for 309 yards and two touchdowns with two interceptions while completing 22-of-38 passes. Purdy also fumbled and in general struggled with his accuracy in his return from a toe injury. The hope is the issues were simply related to the rust accumulated through two weeks off. Reality may be a little darker for San Francisco and their franchise quarterback.
NFC West standings shift
San Francisco still technically leads the NFC West, but they’re tied with the Los Angeles Rams and Seattle Seahawks. A division game vs. the Rams looms on Thursday night. In a division as tight as this one looks to be, falling to Jacksonville closed the tight lead San Francisco had and they may not be able to regain it if they lose Thursday.
Nick Bosa injury looms large
The 49ers defense wasn’t bad against the Jaguars, but the cracks showed with Bosa out. Their pass rush was nonexistent. San Francisco was credited with zero quarterback hits and zero sacks. Jacksonville also had its way on the ground with 151 yards on 32 carries overall. If we remove all three Trevor Lawrence kneel downs at the end of the game the Jags went for 156 yards on 29 attempts.
49ers injury problems linger despite WR returns
Jauan Jennings and Ricky Pearsall both suited up after being listed as questionable, but both players left the game with injuries at various points. Jennings got hit hard on a two-point conversion and had to briefly leave the game. Pearsall came down awkwardly on a throw to the sidelines and was favoring his knee. Both players eventually returned to the game, but neither had a catch after their respective injuries. With a short turnaround to Thursday Night Football, those two injuries could be very problematic.
49ers special teams still not fixed
Two special teams breakdowns played a role in the 49ers loss. While kicker Eddy Pineiro has been nails, the rest of the special teams wasn’t good Sunday. The 49ers kick return unit allowed a 52-yard kick return after kicking a field goal late in the first half that allowed the Jaguars to quickly get back into field goal range for a field goal of their own before the half ended. Then San Francisco gave up an 87-yard punt return touchdown to Parker Washington in what turned into the game’s deciding score. New coach − same issue for the 49ers.
Too many Christian McCaffrey touches
It isn’t a surprise the 49ers are leaning hard on McCaffrey with George Kittle out and injuries demolishing the wide receiver room. However, his 23 touches Sunday gave him 100 on the season through four weeks. He’s still on pace for 425 touches this season. That isn’t a sustainable number and San Francisco has to find a different way to create offense.
One silver lining for 49ers
As absolutely horrific as the 49ers were Sunday, they still had the ball in the final four minutes with a chance to take the lead. They gave up a punt return touchdown and were losing the turnover battle three-to-zero going into their final offensive possession. Had one of five or six plays gone their way instead of Jacksonville’s we may be looking at a San Francisco victory.
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