By Scooter_McGTrey Lance's starting debut saw the 49ers put up a brave fight against the undefeated Cardinals, going down 17-10, but ultimately this was another game where the 49ers squandered an excellent defensive effort through offensive miscues.
The 49ers now find themselves three games behind division leaders Arizona, and two back from the second place Rams. Heading into the bye week the team finds themselves with a lot of work to do to get themselves into the playoffs.
Here's what stood out to me in this one.
Trey Lance has plenty to learn, but the talent is there. There were plenty of throws Lance would no doubt like back in this one as he again demonstrated there is considerable work to be done on improving his accuracy. He also found himself having many passes batted down at the line of scrimmage, which can partly be blamed on the OL, but when it happens at the rate it did in this one it is also a case of the QB taking too long to get the ball out and not properly using subtle movement to set up passing lanes.
But Lance also demonstrated his natural physical talents to move around and escape the pocket, numerous times getting himself out of trouble and creating plays in chaos. Lance led the team in rushing attempts and yards, and many of those runs were not designed runs. This is one of the key assets Lance brings and once it can be combined with improved accuracy and timing in the offense will allow Lance to be a true all purpose threat. His big arm also enabled him to thread some balls into very tight windows, in particular two balls to Aiyuk that had no right to be completed.
Lance showed excellent poise throughout the game. Gone was the frantic looking player that stepped in after half time against the Seahawks. This was a much calmer and in control version of Lance that didn't let bad plays faze him. That demeanour will be an asset as Lance adapts to the NFL game.
It was by no means perfect, but based on this performance by Lance there should be reason for optimism regarding Lance's future.
Lance didn't get much help on offense. Dropped passes. Penalties. Constant pressure. Blown blocking assignments. Yes, Lance made a few mistakes, but the rest of the 49ers offense did everything they could to stop themselves scoring in this one. On the drive which led to Lance being stopped on the Cardinals goal line on 4th and 1, Deebo dropped two passes, both of which should have been easy grabs. The second one took 7 points off the board, as he dropped a screen pass to the right sideline inside the red zone, with blockers and open space in front of him. That would have levelled the scores at the time. Deebo wasn't alone on the drops as a number of other drives were stymied by receivers unable to haul in catchable balls - the Sanu drop in particular rankled on what should have been a very impressive third down conversion.
Not to be outdone, the offensive line (led by McGlinchey and Williams), as well as some skill position players, decided to bring back numerous nice gains with holding calls, some of which were very unncessary. Add in some false starts and the offense was repeatedly putting itself behind the chains throughout the game.
The offensive line was also responsible for a number of missed blocks in the running game (which led to some of the woes on 4th down) and decided collectively that the best plan was to maximise Lance's athletic ability by forcing him to flee from pass rushers that all too easily got pressure.
Despite this, the offense was still reasonably able to move the ball, in large part due to Lance's ability to create with his legs as well as some nice runs from Mitchell. The inability to convert short yardage situations ultimately cost the team.
Shanahan went aggressive on 4th down... but would probably like some of those back. It can be nice to see a head coach be aggressive when it comes to 4th downs. However, there is still a time and place for punting the ball. In a tight game, with a rookie QB, and an offensive line that is getting overpowered, there were probably three ocassions I thought they should actually punt but instead went for it - a 4th and 2 on the 49ers second drive of the game, and two 4th and 4+, all around midfield. Ironically one of those was converted with a nice completion to Sanu, but the other two put the defense in a tough situation that seemed unncessary. The last one was particularly baffling at just 10-7 down given how well the 49ers defense was containing the Cardinals offense and directly led to the Cardinals last TD.
The 49ers defense was excellent. Sure, they gave up some plays on that last scoring drive, but for the most part during this game the 49ers defense was excellent and did a great job slowing down the Cardinals offense which through the first four weeks had been putting up Madden-like numbers. The pass rush in particular stood out to me - not only did they creat pressure on Murray consistently in this one, they did a very good job defending the running game while also not allowing Murray to use his legs to make plays too often. That is a very tough ask for any defense and was particularly encouraging for the 49ers defensive line which has had its struggles with mobile QBs in the past.
Final Verdict. Lance provided some exciting glimpses, but a loss is a loss, and this one sinks the 49ers into an early hole. Seeing the offense continuously shoot itself in the foot in this one rather than come together as a unit to help out its rookie QB making his first start was both frustrating and worrisome in terms of where this team is at mentally and emotionally right now.
Seeing the offense squander yet another excellent defensive performance, and again fail to score points when in positions to do so, is of even greater concern. Kyle Shanahan is widely regarded as one of the best offensive minds in the NFL but the team is really struggling to score points right now and has botched numerous scoring opportunities. Both the coaching and the player performances on offense (as individuals and as a team) need to improve significantly after the bye week to turn this season around.
