San Francisco, CA
Maiocco's 49ers Report Card: Team grades in crushing loss to Bills
ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — These are the cold, hard facts.
The 49ers received another snowball upside their heads — figuratively and, perhaps, literally — when the Buffalo Bills hit them with a 35-10 beatdown at snowy Highmark Stadium.
Their second blowout loss in a row played out in front of a national television audience on Sunday night.
It was the second blowout loss the 49ers absorbed in back-to-back trips to Green Bay and Buffalo — the two coldest-weather locales in the NFL. A week ago, the 49ers lost to the Packers, 38-10.
The 49ers lost back-to-back games by 25 points or more for only the fourth time in franchise history and the first time since 2015 when the Jim Tomsula-coached team was blasted by Pittsburgh (43-18) and Arizona (47-7) in Weeks 2 and 3.
Here is the report card from their Week 13 loss to the Bills:
Rushing offense
The 49ers felt their best chance of winning this game was to run the ball down the throats of a Bills defense that is susceptible on the ground.
San Francisco largely succeeded in that area. Christian McCaffrey gained 53 yards on seven carries before leaving with a potentially season-ending injury to the posterior cruciate ligament in his right knee.
Jordan Mason led the 49ers with 78 yards on 13 carries. Isaac Guerendo added 19 yards and a touchdown on four attempts.
Isaac Guerendo gets the 49ers in the end zone 🙌 pic.twitter.com/ZGSHRE6U5G
— 49ers on NBCS (@NBCS49ers) December 2, 2024
On the negative side, fullback Kyle Juszczyk fumbled at the goal line in the third quarter to prevent the 49ers from closing the gap to a two-score game.
Grade: C-plus
Passing offense
First, the 49ers’ passing game gets credit for not committing any turnovers.
Brock Purdy committed one giveaway when the ball slipped out of his hand as he attempted to throw a pass on the first play of the fourth quarter.
Jauan Jennings had 56 yards receiving on three catches.
Fourth and Jauan 😤 pic.twitter.com/6htpbNFywn
— 49ers on NBCS (@NBCS49ers) December 2, 2024
Tight end George Kittle caught a 7-yard pass from Purdy on the 49ers’ first offensive play of the game. He did not have another reception the entire game.
Purdy completed 11 of 18 passes for 94 yards with no touchdowns and no interceptions.
Grade: D
Rushing defense
The game turned in the second quarter when the 49ers’ run defense was gashed for James Cook’s 65-yard touchdown run. On that play, linebacker Jalen Graham and safety Ji’Ayir Brown had their chances to stop Cook near the line of scrimmage.
Cooks had 100 yards rushing on nine carries in the first half.
Quick 65-yard run to celly with a snow angel.
📺: @SNFonNBC pic.twitter.com/N0aAWEEHjQ
— Buffalo Bills (@BuffaloBills) December 2, 2024
The Bills finished the game with 220 rushing yards on 38 carries for a gaudy 5.8-yard average.
Grade: F
Passing defense
The Bills did not throw too much but they succeeded whenever Josh Allen dropped back to throw.
Allen’s big arm helped him cut through the wind against the 49ers’ short-handed defense.
Allen completed 13 of 17 pass attempts for 148 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions. He had a passer rating of 141.3. Allen was even credited with a touchdown pass to himself when Amari Cooper lateraled the ball back to him after a short third-quarter pass.
THIS IS THE MOST RIDICULOUS THING WE HAVE EVER SEEN.
📺: @SNFonNBC pic.twitter.com/LzaOt3MDLj
— Buffalo Bills (@BuffaloBills) December 2, 2024
The 49ers got only one hit on Allen, and that came from undrafted rookie Evan Anderson in his first start.
Grade: F
Special teams
It’s difficult to place too much blame on kicker Jake Moody, considering the weather conditions.
But he did miss field goals of 45 and 55 yards in the first half.
Deebo Samuel tried to give the 49ers a spark to open the second half with a 60-yard kickoff return. But he also lost a fumble on a kickoff return early in the fourth quarter.
Grade: D
Coaching
The 49ers had the right idea to keep the ball on the ground. But one highly debatable decision that killed the 49ers came when coach Kyle Shanahan put the ball in the hands of a player who had just three carries coming into the game.
Fullback Kyle Juszczyk fumbled on a first-and-goal play from the Buffalo 4-yard line early in the third quarter when Taylor Rapp punched the ball loose.
Goal line stand. 😤
📺: @SNFonNBC pic.twitter.com/hJ0qQi4W51
— Buffalo Bills (@BuffaloBills) December 2, 2024
Granted, Mason was out of the game. But rookie running back Isaac Guerendo, who entered the game with 38 carries this season, should have gotten the call over Juszczyk.
But, clearly, that play call did not cost the 49ers the game. Generally, the 49ers had the right idea from a tactical standpoint. They just did not have the players to compete with the Bills.
Grade: C-minus
Overall
Did you expect anything else?
The 49ers have not been good this season, period. And they were short-handed and going up against one of the best NFL teams.
A botched play from the 49ers’ run defense while Fred Warner was out of the game and a fumble at the goal line were the plays that stood out and prevented them from keeping it close.
The loss drops the 49ers (5-7) another game behind the Seattle Seahawks (7-5) in the NFC West.
Grade: F
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SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. – Walk SF and Families for Safe Streets held a vigil Monday evening to honor a 2-year-old girl who was struck and killed by a driver Friday night in San Francisco’s Mission Bay neighborhood.
The crash happened just before 9 p.m. at Fourth and Channel streets near Oracle Park. Police said the child’s mother was also injured and taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. The driver remained at the scene, and authorities said drugs or alcohol are not believed to be factors.
Community heartbroken
Community members gathered at the intersection Monday to light candles and lay flowers. Among them was the Howard family.
“We’re just heartbroken and sad,” said Hidelisa Howard.
“I was thinking about heartbroken parents, someone who cannot get their daughter back,” said John Howard.
The intersection is designated as part of San Francisco’s 2022 High Injury Network, identifying streets with the highest concentration of severe and fatal traffic crashes. Speed cameras were recently installed in the surrounding neighborhood.
Jodie Medeiros, executive director of Walk SF, called the crash a tragedy, noting a previous fatal collision involving a child at Fourth and King streets several years ago.
Traffic intensifies
Parents in the area said traffic has intensified with nearby events and development.
“We love having people here in the neighborhood, and it’s brought a lot of life to the area,” said Hidelisa Howard, who lives nearby. “But at the same time, we have people coming in from out of the area. They’re not familiar with the streets, they’re running the lights, they’re running the crosswalks.”
District 6 Supervisor Matt Dorsey said the intersection has been problematic.
“Sometimes people go too fast. I don’t know that this was the issue here, but we need to do everything we can to make our neighborhoods and our streets safer,” Dorsey said.
On Monday, crews with the SFMTA repainted crosswalks and re-timed traffic signals at the intersection.
“It just feels like there’s so many young children in this neighborhood that there should be improvements made to the way that the traffic flows around here,” said Aanisha Jain, a San Francisco resident.
Sometimes life requires an easy hang, without the need for reservations and dressing up, and preferably with food that’s easy to rally folks behind. The newish Hamburguesa Bar is just such a place, opening in December 2025 and serving a tight food menu of smash and tavern burgers (made with beef ground in-house), along with hand-cut duck fat fries, poutine, and Caesar salad. The best part? Nothing here costs more than $20. Seriously, this spot has so much going for it, including solid cocktails and boozy shakes. It’s become a homing beacon for post-work hangs, judging by a recent weekday crowd.
Hamburguesa Bar’s drinks are the epitome of unfussy: Cocktail standards, four beers on tap, two choices of wine (red or white), boozy and non-boozy shakes, plus 21 beers by the can or bottle. Standards on the cocktail menu are just that, a list of drinks you’ve heard before — such as an Old Fashioned, daiquiri, gin or vodka martini, or Harvey Wallbanger — with no special tinctures or fat-washed liquors to speak of (that we know of, at least). I’m typically split on whether boozy shakes are ever worth it, but the Fruity Pebbles option ($14) makes a convincing case, mixed with a just-right amount of vodka and some cereal bits. (I’ll leave the more adventurous Cinnamon Toast shake made with Fireball to others with more positive experiences with that liquor.)
Downtown and SoMa has a reputation for restaurants closing early, but Hamburguesa Bar keeps later hours, closing at midnight from Monday through Saturday (closed Sundays). It’s also open for lunch at noon during those days, with the exception of Saturdays when it opens at 5 p.m.
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