Nicholas McGee:
49ers All-22 observations, Week 7 vs. Chiefs (Offense):
Not doing a clip thread as it's too time consuming for various reasons.
As many people have already mentioned, the Chiefs did excellent job of drawing up blitzes that got rushers free and significantly muddied things up for Purdy with their play in coverage. The 49ers really struggled to separate and in the first half before he got hurt it felt like there was constantly a double on Aiyuk to take him away.
That said, this was a bad, bad Purdy game, as the career-low passer rating illustrates.
I still don't feel like Shanahan is drawing up plays with enough answers in the red zone, but that doesn't excuse Purdy's performance. The hesitancy was back, in large part as a result of what the Chiefs were doing, but the decision-making he displayed was extremely poor.
The two interceptions that were forced into coverage were egregious, but the most frustrating elements of his game were the lack of deep accuracy and his continued struggles getting to his checkdown when hot. The deep ball thrown behind Cowing can partially be attributed to pocket push taking away his platform, the one to Kittle in the first half cannot. Has to be better.
I can't speak to the protection plan to handle Spagnuolo's blitzes, but, in terms of *individual pass blocking*, the offensive line play is reflective of the low pressure numbers. Felt Dominick Puni was the best of the bunch, once again hugely impressive in pass pro and got better as the game went on in run blocking when the 49ers finally started to find some joy.
Yes there was the McKivitz vs. Karlaftis rep everyone has already shared and he got beat a couple times but, on the whole, the passing game struggles were more a product of Purdy than the OL, at least in my opinion.
Run blocking is a different story. The OL emphatically lost the physical battle in the run game even if it did get better as the game went on. A lot of credit to the Chiefs, and particularly their linebackers, whose aggressiveness and speed in coming downhill and in chasing to the sideline made it very difficult on inside runs and when the 49ers tried to get around the edge.
Some WR notes. Didn't feel like Pearsall looked very explosive, which is understandable for his first game back, but he definitely grew into the game. Had some nice releases utilising the head fakes I've brought up in the past. Also showed a willingness to do work in the blocking game, confident he'll get better.
They simply must play Jacob Cowing. Obviously a lot hinges on how Deebo is feeling, but they can't carry on throwing Ronnie Bell and Chris Conley out there when they have a guy with Cowing's combination of route-running ability and speed. The 49ers have lost one of the main big-play threats in Aiyuk. Cowing is good enough to replace some of that explosive play production.
In short, the 49ers aren't going to face a defense who can do what the Chiefs did so effectively every week, but it was a troubling Purdy performance. Having Deebo back, if he's ok to go in Week 8, will help, but they desperately need the extra options McCaffrey provides them. Fingers crossed for Week 10.