49ers 38, Cardinals 13: Grades

SANTA CLARA — The 49ers simply beat the Arizona Cardinals 38-13, gained their tenth sport in a row and secured the No. 2 seed within the NFC playoffs. Listed below are the 49ers’ grades for this efficiency.

BROCK PURDY: A

He confronted far more strain than typical — he bought sacked 4 instances. However he nonetheless was almost excellent. He accomplished 15 of 20 passes with three drops, threw three landing passes, dedicated zero turnovers and posted a passer ranking of 141.2. Purdy confirmed an unteachable potential to alter his arm slot and launch level within the face of strain and nonetheless throw precisely. And most significantly, he continued to point out the flexibility to throw landing passes within the pink zone. Right this moment, he threw two dimes to George Kittle in the long run zone — all of the sudden Kittle is a red-zone risk for the primary time in his profession all due to Purdy. He finishes drives with touchdowns when Garoppolo would usually accept subject objectives. With Purdy, the 49ers statistically have the most effective offense within the league. And when it clicks, it is unstoppable. On this sport, the 49ers scored 24 unanswered factors in fewer than 20 minutes. That is dominance.

RUNNING BACKS: A

Christian McCaffrey gained 79 yards from scrimmage and caught a landing move on a display screen play — he is nonetheless good. However so are the opposite operating backs. Elijah Mitchell returned from a knee damage, averaged a whopping 11 yards per carry and scored two touchdowns. The 49ers are so troublesome to beat when he is wholesome. And Kyle Juszczyk really bought the ball twice — he had a three-yard run and a 26-yard catch. The 49ers are so troublesome to beat when Juszczyk will get the ball.

WIDE RECEIVERS: C-PLUS

Brandon Aiyuk had 4 catches for 59 yards — he eclipsed the 1,000-yard mark this season for the primary time in his profession. Deebo Samuel performed his first sport since injuring his knee, and he had simply two catches for 20 yards plus a four-yard run. He nonetheless would not appear to be himself.

TIGHT ENDS: A

George Kittle caught two landing passes, which suggests he has caught seven landing passes prior to now 4 video games and 11 complete for the season. All of the sudden, he is a authentic risk within the pink zone for the primary time in his profession. What a disgrace that he did not get to play with Brock Purdy when he was youthful.

OFFENSIVE LINEMEN: C-MINUS

The run blocking was good however the move safety was not. The left aspect could not choose up easy twists and stunts, and the best aspect merely bought crushed one on one — proper guard Spencer Burford gave up two sacks and Mike McGlinchey gave up one. Collectively, they made J.J. Watt seem like he was 25.

DEFENSIVE LINEMEN: A

Nick Bosa recorded sack No. 18.5, which leads the NFL. Jordan Willis additionally recorded a sack and a compelled fumble which Michael Dwumfour recovered. Willis is changing into a terrific bookend reverse Bosa. Arik Armstead didn’t register a statistic.

LINEBACKERS: B-PLUS

Azeez Al-Shaair recorded 10 tackles and Fred Warner recorded 8, however the 49ers beneath move protection took a giant hit with out Dre Greenlaw, who missed the sport with a again damage. All of the sudden, test down passes can go for large positive factors towards the 49ers, when Greenlaw usually would shut them down. They want him again for the playoffs.

DEFENSIVE BACKS: B

Deommodore Lenoir gave up a 77-yard landing catch on the second play of the sport to a washed-up A.J. Inexperienced. Lenoir is a legal responsibility whom playoff groups will assault mercilessly, so he higher be prepared. On the optimistic aspect, Talanoa Hufanga did not bust a protection for the primary time in roughly a month, Tashaun Gipson intercepted two passes and George Odum picked off one. Nonetheless, the secondary made fourth-string quarterback David Blough look good within the first half. What is going to occur when the secondary faces nice quarterbacks within the playoffs? I assume we’ll discover out.

SPECIAL TEAMS: A

Robbie Gould was excellent, Mitch Wishnowsky dropped three of his 5 punts contained in the Arizona 20-yard line and Ray Ray McCloud had a 33-yard kickoff return to go together with an 11-yard punt return. This unit is improbable.

COACHES: A

The protection gave up a landing catch on the primary play of the sport however solely 7 factors the remainder of the way in which — give DeMeco Ryans credit score for adjusting on the fly. Now he has to get his protection able to play from the opening whistle, as a result of too many instances this season the 49ers have given up touchdowns on the opening drive. The 49ers offense appeared disjointed early, because it made plenty of errors and had a bunch of busted performs. Additionally, 11 of the primary 24 performs went to McCaffrey, which is not superb — the 49ers offense is at its greatest when all of the playmakers get the ball. However ultimately, the offense settled down, moved the ball with ease and scored touchdowns within the pink zone — that is the most important distinction between the Brock Purdy Offense and the Jimmy Garoppolo Offense. Garoppolo tended to stall within the pink zone, the place Purdy tends to attain touchdowns. Now the 49ers have statistically the most effective offense within the league, and Kyle Shanahan deserves big-time credit score for that. All he wanted was a quarterback he trusts who may go off script when vital. Since Purdy has taken over, the 49ers have scored at the very least 33 factors in each sport besides one. As well as, with Purdy the 49ers have scored a landing on their first possession of the second half 4 instances in 5 video games. Purdy clearly brings out the most effective of Shanahan.