{"id":863933,"date":"2026-09-28T20:48:10","date_gmt":"2026-09-28T20:48:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/863933\/"},"modified":"2026-09-28T20:48:10","modified_gmt":"2026-09-28T20:48:10","slug":"49ers-grades-vs-cardinals-the-offensive-line-is-officially-a-strength","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/863933\/","title":{"rendered":"49ers grades vs. Cardinals: The offensive line is officially a strength"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">If the San Francisco 49ers make the playoffs, nobody will look back and say, \u201cWell, they almost lost in Week 3!\u201d You can\u2019t say the same about the other two <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ninersnation.com\/san-francisco-49ers-news\/163342\/nfc-west-recap-49ers-win-and-take-first-place-cardinals-rams-and-seahawks-all-lose\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">playoff contenders in the division<\/a>. Winning is all that matters.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">Here\u2019s how the 49ers got there. Let\u2019s hand out some positional grades.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">If you didn\u2019t watch the game, you\u2019d look at Brock Purdy\u2019s 55.6% completion percentage and think he played poorly. After all, he only completed 15 of his 27 passes. But 14 of those went for first downs. Another four went for touchdowns.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ninersnation.com\/san-francisco-49ers-analysis\/163307\/6-winners-and-5-losers-from-the-49ers-win-over-the-cardinals\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Winners and Losers mentioned it<\/a>, but it\u2019s always a great sign when Purdy throws the ball away. No quarterback had a higher throwaway percentage in Week 3 than Purdy. The Cardinals did everything they could to condense the middle of the field. Over 40% of Purdy\u2019s attempts came outside of the numbers. That\u2019s not where the 49ers generally operate.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">Winners and Losers also highlighted how Brock Purdy passes Lamar Jackson for the all-time record for the most games in a career with at least a 130 passer rating. In Week 3, Lamar\u2019s EPA per pass was 0.51, an excellent number and second-best in the league that week. Purdy\u2019s was 0.81. A number you\u2019d be hard-pressed to accomplish in Madden. Nearly every time Purdy dropped back, he added a point to the scoreboard.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">Purdy gets an A because the Cardinals were down multiple members in their secondary, and it\u2019s the Cardinals. Plus, he wasn\u2019t perfect. There were at least two throws he\u2019d want back. And if we\u2019re going to judge him like the MVP candidate he is, then he should be graded on an MVP scale.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">Purdy\u2019s been in complete control through three games. His EPA per pass was higher in Week 2 (the 11th-best mark for any quarterback since 2022). You love to see Purdy pick and choose when to scramble. Purdy became the second quarterback since 2022 to post an EPA per pass of 0.8 or higher in back-to-back weeks.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">He was great, and the 49ers need him to be.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">Last week in this piece, we mentioned how Kaelon Black left some yards on the field. He\u2019s a rookie. There will be games like that. So it\u2019s no surprise to see Christian McCaffrey get the lion\u2019s share of carries in a divisional game.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">Purdy being awesome will overshadow how well McCaffrey played. It shouldn\u2019t.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">McCaffrey forced four missed tackles, averaged 2.6 yards after contact, and five yards per carry. When the 49ers ran the clock out toward the end of the game, McCaffrey chewed up much-needed yardage and time, keeping the defense off the field.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">McCaffrey picked up three first downs as a receiver. He gained 24 yards after the catch on 41 receptions. He\u2019s still one of the most dangerous receivers out of the backfield, despite the declining speed.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">McCaffrey played 41 snaps compared to Black\u2019s 8.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">The wide receiver group wasn\u2019t bad, but most of the production came from the quarterback or the scheme. Was it cool to see Jordan Watkins catch passes? Of course.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">Making plays in your first regular-season game could be exactly what Watkins needs to build confidence moving forward. He was wide open on both receptions. On the play before the half, he was the only player in the picture.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">Deebo Samuel didn\u2019t have a reception. He showed he can still run, but he had zero targets across 22 routes.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">Jacob Cowing was targeted twice across 14 routes.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">Losing Mike Evans changed everything. He ran only 12 routes but was targeted on six of them.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">KhaDarel Hodge played the second-most snaps behind Deebo, but that\u2019s because of what he can do in the run game.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">It\u2019s evident that Purdy really only trusts Evans. Maybe a better way to phrase it is that Purdy might be most comfortable throwing to Evans.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">If Evans is out for multiple weeks, which it seems like that\u2019s where we\u2019re headed, this group faces an uphill battle, going against two of the best secondaries in the NFL in the next two weeks.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">If Luke Farrell stays in-bounds on his one target and George Kittle doesn\u2019t egregiously hold on Purdy\u2019s touchdown run, then this is an A.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">Farrell is so much better as a run blocker than he was a year ago. His blocking prowess lets the team let Kittle run routes. A novel concept, isn\u2019t it? Both players have Shanahan\u2019s trust in pass protection:<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">Purdy\u2019s success rate targeting Kittle was 85.7%. Kittle caught his lone contested catch, forced a missed tackle, picked up 30 yards after the catch, caught a couple of touchdowns, and reached 17.06 miles per hour, which is crazy when you consider he\u2019s basically been playing football for a month after a torn Achilles.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">Jake Brendel was the only player to keep a clean sheet in pass protection, but if you allow two pressures \u2014 which a few of the linemen did \u2014 on 28 pass-blocking snaps, in no way is that a bad game. In what field is being successful 92% of the time considered bad? None that I\u2019m aware of.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">For the season, the line has allowed 12 pressures in true pass sets. They are winning almost every rep.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">A neck stinger for Trent Williams meant Vederian Lowe would finish the final 19 snaps at left tackle. He held up well. Per Sumer Sports, each lineman recorded impact plays, with Dominick Puni leading the way with three. Brendel and Colton McKivitz each had two apiece.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">McCaffrey averaged 2.6 yards before contact on his attempts. That\u2019s incredible.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">There were two to three series that felt like the Cardinals got the best of the line, but across 50 plays, the Niners won the battle and did so convincingly.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">There\u2019s no need to sugarcoat it: the offensive line is a strength for the 49ers, and pretending otherwise is either being purposely obtuse or you\u2019re living off plays from past years.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">The real test happens over the next two games.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">Since we are humans, we don\u2019t have to trash a defensive line whose longest-tenured player is Keion White:<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">You cannot have high expectations when you enter a game with two defensive tackles who were on the roster entering training camp, and one of those gets hurt halfway through the game.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">Khalid Kareem played 51 snaps. He was a last-minute add ahead of Week 1.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">Raheem Morris did everything in his power to increase the variance. He blitzed Jacoby Brissett on 50% of his dropbacks. In a way, it worked. Ogbo Okoronkwo and Keion White had a sack. Okoronkwo managed a 15.2% pressure rate. Newcomer Viliami Fehoko won a couple of his pass rushes and turned them into pressures.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">White has been closer to good than average through three weeks. His pass rush win percentage was 15.9%.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">The problem is when you ask role players, in this case pass rush first players, to play the run, they wear down, and you get the second half against the Cardinals.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">Fehoko was the only edge rusher to make a run stop. Jeremiyah Love averaged 1.81 yards before contact on 21 attempts.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">Sebastian Valdez had two run stops, and Naquan Jones added a run stuff. Those two held up well against the run but offered little in the pass-rush department.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">Kevin Givens flashed. Osa Odighizuwa made an impact rushing the passer. Gracen Halton was headed for another strong performance before an injury.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">But after he left, Odighizuwa couldn\u2019t leave the field, Givens was stretched to the max, and the lack of bodies up front really hurt the defensive line\u2019s effectiveness.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">Early on, I thought Dre Greenlaw played his best football to date this season. He lived in the backfield, whether as a run defender or a pass rusher. Greenlaw limited almost all of his damage in coverage. On five targets, he allowed seven yards. But then Greenlaw missed a few tackles and eventually left with an injury.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">Fred Warner made his usual splash plays at or behind the line of scrimmage. But something was off with Warner. He\u2019s as sure of a tackler as it gets, but he whiffed three times. The biggest surprise was that Warner allowed three first downs on seven targets as the primary defender. This might be the last time all season that Warner allows a 100% completion percentage.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">Seventeen tackles look great in the box score, but only a few of those benefitted the defense. In fairness, when you\u2019re playing behind a makeshift defensive line, the production will inevitably drop. But I view this player as a Defensive Player of the Year candidate, and I\u2019ll grade him accordingly all season.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">Warner rushed the passer a career-high nine times to offset the lack of a pass rush. I wonder if he simply ran out of gas having to do so many tasks, and that\u2019s why there was a drop in performance, relatively speaking.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">It\u2019ll be interesting to see if Jaden Dugger or Garret Wallow start next to Warner if Greenlaw is out. Wallow has Raheem Morris\u2019s trust as a pass defender, but rarely sees the field on run downs.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">The cornerbacks were a pleasant surprise to start the season, but they made Michael Wilson look like Larry Fitzgerald.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">Renardo Green allowed five first downs on 11 targets. Jack Jones gave up four first downs on six targets. Deommodore Lenoir surrendered two first downs on five targets.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">Green is still a work in progress in zone coverage. You can tell it\u2019s not something he\u2019s fully comfortable doing, especially playing underneath at the Cover 2 defender in quarters.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">Lenoir and Green both broke up a pass, but pass interference by Lenoir and Jones offset it. They\u2019ve also been superb against the run, but the unit made only two run stops, and Upton Stout missed two tackles.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">Malik Mustapha entered the game in the second quarter for Ji\u2019Ayir Brown. Mustapha played 16 defensive snaps, with 12 in coverage. On the next series, Brown stayed on the field, and Marques Sigle came off. Mustapha\u2019s play to stuff a run is why it won\u2019t be long before he never comes off the field.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">There\u2019s an obvious plan in place to ramp Mustapha up. Against Arizona, he played the entire second quarter, but never stepped onto the field with the defense for the other three quarters.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">Brown should\u2019ve had an interception. He allowed all three of his targets to be completed. But neither safety made any extreme blunders, and that\u2019s the bar for this group.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">You cannot control how the ball bounces. Siran Neal found that out the hard way. A special-teams fumble erased the defense\u2019s stop and led to a Cardinals touchdown.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">Neither returner had a big return.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">Corliss Waitman net was only 41.6. Eddy Pineiro nailed a 57-yarder, but the two missed extra points kept Arizona in the game.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">Kyle Shanahan against a secondary with three backups is like shooting fish in a barrel. Shanahan deserves credit for throwing the ball to end the game. Put the ball in your best player\u2019s hands and trust that he\u2019ll ice the game. That happened. Twice.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">Morris is trying to press every button he can. My biggest complaints were the excessive number of free releases the Cardinals\u2019 wideouts had. But that would put more pressure on his safeties to cover\u2014something Morris has made clear he does not want to do.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"If the San Francisco 49ers make the playoffs, nobody will look back and say, \u201cWell, they almost lost&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":863934,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[47545,55077,99],"class_list":["post-863933","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-san-francisco-49ers-roster","tag-san-francisco-49ers-scores-and-results","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/863933","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=863933"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/863933\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/863934"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=863933"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=863933"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=863933"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}