SANTA CLARA – Christian McCaffrey will “continue his rehab” rather than spring off injured reserve at his first opportunity this week to save the reeling 49ers.
Such a status quo was expected. Just don’t be so quick to assume that his fill-in, Jordan Mason, will routinely run through and stiff-arm defenders Thursday night when the 49ers (2-3) visit the Seattle Seahawks (3-2).
That tops my list of five things to preview this week – and to review from Sunday’s 24-23 home debacle against the Arizona Cardinals.
1. MASON’S MULLIGAN
Mason is coming off the biggest mistake of his career: fumbling on first-and-goal from the 8-yard line Sunday with 6:11 remaining against the Cardinals, who converted that turnover into their winning drive.
“It’s a hard one. He was fighting for yards and it’s just an unfortunate situation the ball came out,” left guard Aaron Banks said. “Would I tell him to stop fighting for yards? Hell no. He’ll learn from it.”
“We all know it’s not his fault,” tight end George Kittle added. “He’s running his tail off every play. Hey, stuff happens. Don’t let things snowball.”
That later line is this week’s motto for Mason — and the 49ers. He quickly skipped out of the locker room after the game, after the first lost fumble of his three-year career (excluding a 2023 preseason fumble). Ball security is a massive concern now. He also fumbled (and recovered) two exchanges with Purdy in the backfield of last Sunday’s win against New England.
Mason has set a 49ers record with the most rushing yards (536) five games into a season. Problem is, he had 540 yards before the Cardinals blasted through the 49ers’ blockers and hit him for a 4-yard loss, with linebacker Jesse Luketa swiping first at Mason’s facemask and then at his left-handed grip to free the football.
“I saw the guy coming and, ‘Pop.’ It just sucks. He got us down there on that drive, too, with the big stiff arm,” Juszczyk said referring to Mason’s 20-yard run and midfield stiff-arm of Sean Murphy-Bunting. “(The fumble) just came at a bad time.”
Among the 49ers alumni honored at Sunday’s game was Wendell Tyler. Yes, he had his own fumble issues in his 1983-86 tenure, but he also relayed some great advice in a 2006 interview after Frank Gore fumbled four times in the first four games. “Get what (yards) you can and concentrate on holding on to the ball,” Tyler told me. “A lot of times, you try to make a spectacular play and you lose hold of the ball. … It’s a matter of staying focused and working harder in practice. I’m sure he’ll be all right.” Gore became the 49ers’ all-time leading rusher.
2. PURDY’S PASSING STATS
One alligator, two alligator, three alligator … Brock Purdy is averaging 3.15 seconds before throwing a pass this season, the most sand among NFL quarterbacks’ hourglasses.
Part of that is by necessity, with Purdy innately ducking out of the pocket to avoid a sack. Part of that is to buy time for his receivers to separate from defenders. And part is due to defensive disguises that are putting stress on Purdy’s elite processing skills.
Prior to the 49ers’ last-gasp drive and ultimately Purdy’s second interception off a deflected pass, Tom Brady outlined the scenario in calling his first 49ers game as a Fox Sports announcer.
“Purdy’s composure, his poise, that’s what is tested in these moments,” Brady said. “Now again, are these moments too big for them? The question is can Arizona get enough pass rush to force him to make a throw earlier than he wants? They haven’t done that today. They’ve been pretty relentless in the rush, they just haven’t gotten home.”
They did this time. In reviewing how Purdy’s final pass of Sunday’s collapse got intercepted, coach Kyle Shanahan put the onus on his quarterback “to get rid of the ball quicker.” Purdy took only 2.5 seconds before uncorking a pass that was impacted by a hit to his right torso from blitzing safety Jalen Thomson. The Cards sent six defenders, and the 49ers deployed Mason as a sixth blocker who could only pick up one of two blitzers.
Through five games this season, Purdy has committed six turnovers (four interceptions, two fumbles) and thrown six touchdown passes. In last season’s 5-0 start, Purdy had one turnover (a fumble) and nine touchdown passes.
3. KICKER CONCERN
Jake Moody’s high ankle sprain Sunday flummoxed the 49ers’ offensive strategy, and it prompted the need for a replacement kicker to face the Seahawks. Anyone have déjà vu?
Five years ago, the 49ers were off to an 8-0 start before hosting the Seahawks and losing in overtime 27-24. Chase McLaughlin, in the first of three games filling in for an injured Robbie Gould, severely hooked a potential winning field goal in overtime from 47 yards; he converted from the same distance to force overtime.
That was McLaughlin’s only miss in eight attempts in place of Gould, the latter of whom is retired and has coached Jimmy Garoppolo’s alma mater of Rolling Meadows High (Arlington Heights, Illinois) to a 4-2 start this season.
Other kickers who’ve filled in since then: Tristan Vizcaino (3-of-3 field goals in losing the 2020 finale to the Seahawks), and, Joey Slye (7-of-8 field goals, 2-of-4 point-after kicks in 2020 as the 49ers went 1-2 with him).
4. STUMBLING TO FINISH LINE
Sunday’s broadcast by Fox Sports offered this stat: The 49ers were 38-0 under Shanahan when leading by 10 points entering the fourth quarter. “Unreal,” Brady remarked.
The harsh reality is that stat ignores three key collapses before Sunday’s:
— Super Bowl LIV, in which the 49ers led 20-10 before losing 31-20 to Kansas City.
— The NFC Championship Game after the 2021 season, in which the 49ers’ 17-7 lead turned into a 27-17 loss to the host Los Angeles Rams.
— Two weeks ago, the 49ers took a 10-point lead three seconds into the fourth quarter on Jake Moody’s field goal, before falling 27-24 to the host Rams.
This past Sunday’s second-half shutout thus assured the 49ers of a second divisional loss after blowing a double-digit, fourth-quarter lead. Only the 2002 Chiefs, the 2006 Browns and the 2014 Buccaneers suffered similar fates through two divisional games, according to ESPN; each of those teams finished in last place.
A more sobering stat, from The Associated Press’ Josh Dubow, lists the most losses by a 49ers coach after holding a 10-point lead in regular-season and playoff action: Shanahan 18, Bill Walsh 8, Dick Nolan 8, Steve Mariucci 6, and Buck Shaw 6.
5. DEFENSIVE ISSUES
Nick Bosa’s second-quarter interception showed great anticipation as he halted his pass rush. In the end, he had only one pressure on 26 pass rushes, tied for his fewest in a game in his career, per NextGen Stats, which added that Kyler Murray was pressured overall on 7-of-33 dropbacks for the 49ers’ lowest pressure rate (21.2%) this season.
Once Murray converted a fourth-down throw on their winning drive, the 49ers’ run defense caved. Of James Conner’s 86 rushing yards, 51 came in the fourth quarter and, according to Pro Football Focus, 74 came after contact. The 49ers had 12 missed tackles, PFF claimed.
Bosa said the 49ers’ preparation hasn’t been an issue in their losses but rather teams are “doing things differently and we have to adjust better.”
Shanahan pushed back on that Monday, citing on-field mistakes that allowed Murray to run 50 yards for an opening-drive touchdown and 13 yards into range for the winning field goal. “When you have an eight-man front and no one accounts for the quarterback it’s not necessarily adjustment. It’s a mistake,” Shanahan said.
As Brady said in regards to the Cardinals’ defensive blitz to intercept Purdy’s final pass: “Sometimes the players make the plays, sometimes the schemes make the plays, in this case a little of both. Big time call.” Shanahan and his first-year defensive coordinator Nick Sorensen need some of those calls Thursday night and beyond.
