Week 13 Post Game Review: 49ers vs Dolphins

By Scooter_McG

The battle between ex-49ers OC Mike McDaniel and his old mentor Kyle Shanahan went the way of the master, with the 49ers coming away with the victory 33-17. The win makes it five on a trot for the 49ers and keeps them a game ahead of the Seahawks in the division race. 

Ahead of the game much was made of the battle between the Dolphins offense and 49ers defense. I outlined in my game preview that the 49ers should have little trouble making the Dolphins one dimensional and that proved the case as they were held to just 33 yards on the ground on 8 carries. 

It was always going to come down to how the 49ers defense held up against the Dolphins passing game that mattered, and in this contest it was a very one sided affair. The Dolphins started fast start with Tua Tagovailoa connecting with former 49er Trent Sherfield on a 75 yard catch and run on the opening play of the game. It's not the first time the 49ers defense has been a bit slow out of the gate this season and is an area they could stand to improve moving forward. But after that first play the defense played well for the most part, while Tagovailoa, who has been excellent on the season, really struggled throughout with his accuracy as he missed a lot of passes that he should have made and could have been big gains while also being picked off twice. 

It could be easy to say the 49ers got a little lucky with some of the missed opportunities the Dolphins had. But that would do a disservice to the 49ers defense and their game plan. Part of Tua's struggles can be placed on the excellent coverage over the middle of the field which forced Tua to look to other areas where he is less accurate. Warner and Greenlaw in particular were excellent once again in this one. And part of it can be attributed to the 49ers DL getting good pressure throughout the game, in particular Nick Bosa who finished with three sacks all told, including the game sealing sack fumble that Greenlaw returned for a TD. 

Really the only downside on defense was the two long TDs they gave up - the one to Sherfield as well as a 45 yarder to Tyreek Hill. On both occasions it looked like Hufanga made the wrong decision on who to cover, leaving his receiver wide open for the easy catch with room to run. As good as Hufanga has been, and as good as his instincts on the field can be, he can be found out of position and has been responsible for some ugly big plays against the defense this season. 

While the defense won the matchup against the Dolphins explosive offense quite handily, the main story out of this game surrounds the 49ers offense and the QB position. Disaster struck for the 49ers at the end of their opening drive as Jimmy Garoppolo got his foot caught underneath a defender, and is reported to have broken bones in his foot. He is now scheduled for season ending surgery on his foot and will join starting QB Trey Lance on IR. 

The injury opened the door for this years Mr Irrelevant, Brock Purdy, to step in and make his first meaningful contributions as the 49ers QB. It is hard enough for any rookie QB to step in and lead his team to victory, let alone a rookie QB taken in the 7th round against an opponent with an 8W-3L record. But he not only came away with the all important win, he looked composed throughout. In the end he outplayed his more illustrious opponent and did a nice job hitting his receivers despite the Dolphins bringing plenty of pressure to try and rattle him and keeping the 49ers running game in check. He was able to keep the offense moving and getting into scoring positions to keep the 49ers ahead for most of the game and putting scoreboard pressure on the Dolphins. 

Looking forward, the loss of now both their starting and backup QBs for the season should be seen as a significant hurdle to the team's chances of making the playoffs and being a contender if they make it. While Purdy looked competent and composed in this game, we should expect to see some ups and downs over the next few weeks, which could cost some games. And there is no mistaking that Purdy is a limited passer - he will struggle to threaten the perimeter or deep. But then... the same can be said of Jimmy G. And Purdy has shown throughout his college career that he is a winner and is a 'gamer'. 

To help Purdy out the 49ers really need the OL to step up. They've been good this year, but the past two weeks have seen them struggle to create holes for the running game and keep defenders off the QB. It is no coincidence that Jimmy G picked up a knee injury last week and the foot injury this week, as the past two games have, at least to my eyes, been the worst performances by the OL this year. 

But while losing Jimmy G will make for a bigger challenge, there should still be strong belief this team can make some noise. The play of the defense continues to be excellent and so long as the offense can limit its errors and take its opportunities the defense is good enough to keep winning games.