It was clear Dre Greenlaw’s return gave the 49ers' defense a burst of energy in their 12-6 loss to the Los Angeles Rams on Thursday at Levi's Stadium, but the offense couldn’t do enough to manage a win.
San Francisco's PFF grades show a lopsided affair between the two sides of the ball. Fred Warner played even better with his partner back beside him, receiving the defense's top grade. Kyle Shanahan was impressed with Greenlaw’s return.
“Dre, he's an amazing player and it's not the first time he did that,” Shanahan said.” A few years ago, his first game that he got hurt in Week 1 versus Detroit, and the next time he played was in Week 17 versus the Rams when we needed to win that to go to the playoffs.
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“And that game, I thought he had one of the best games I've ever seen a linebacker play, and it was looking a lot like that last night, too. Exactly the same, it was just only a half a football, but it was amazing."
The offense struggled under heavy rainfall in the first half of the game and made mistakes throughout the contest. Brock Purdy and his teammates were unable to find their way into the end zone after putting up 38 points just five days prior in a blowout win over the Chicago Bears.
Here are the 49ers' PFF grades from Week 15:
Offense
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TE George Kittle - 84.4
The All-Pro tight end's dominance continued as he received the offense's highest overall grade, catching four of his seven targets for 61 yards. Kittle also forced three missed tackles.
WR Deebo Samuel - 44.7
The wide receiver only caught three of his seven targets for 16 yards and carried the ball twice for 3 yards.
QB Brock Purdy - 54.7
Three of Purdy’s four lowest passing totals as a starter in the regular season have come in his last four starts, with the quarterback completing only 14 of his 31 attempts for 142 yards and no touchdowns with an interception.
The signal-caller attempted to stretch the field with an average depth of target of 11.9 yards (second-highest of 2024), but Purdy only was able to connect on one deep attempt for 33 yards, and his lone interception.
Purdy came into the game completing 53.6 percent of his deep throws 20 or more yards downfield, which led the NFL.
After using play action on a season-high 41 percent of his drop backs last week, Purdy used play action only three times Thursday (8.8 percent) and went 0-for-3 passing.
OL Dominick Puni - 57.3
After allowing just one sack all season, Puni gave up two Thursday, including one on the last play of the game that eliminated the chance of a Hail Mary attempt.
Offensive line
The group as a whole allowed a whopping 18 pressures, while tight end Eric Saubert allowed one.
LT Jaylon Moore - 65.0 overall, 75.1 pass blocking grade - three hurries
LG Aaron Banks - 42.7 overall, 48.2 pass blocking - three hurries
C Jake Brendel - 59.1 overall, 58.7 pass blocking - three hurries
RG Dominick Puni - 57.3 overall, 44.7 pass blocking - two sacks, three hurries
RT Colton McKivitz - 56.9 overall, 58.8 pass blocking - four hurries
The offense hadn’t allowed 19 or more pressures since Week 16 of the 2023 NFL season when they allowed 22 from the Baltimore Ravens.
Defense
Fred Warner - 92.1
The leader of the defense racked up 15 tackles, 11 solo, and six stops (four run stops). Warner allowed four catches on six targets for only 23 yards and received the top grade on the defense.
Dre Greenlaw - 87.6
Greenlaw’s debut included nine tackles and four stops in just over one half of the game. The linebacker also allowed two catches on two targets for only 12 yards. Only Warner received a higher grade on defense.
DL Nick Bosa - 80.2
The third-highest grade on defense went to Bosa in his return after missing three games with a hip/oblique injury. The All-Pro totaled six pressures -- three hits, three hurries -- and one run stop.
LB Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles - 33.0
The linebacker played while hurt after De’Vondre Campbell refused to play. Flannigan-Fowles was unable to record a tackle in 26 snaps.
CB Deommodore Lenoir - 78.6
Lenoir allowed four catches on seven targets for 30 yards and two pass breakups. The cornerback also had one run stop.
CB Renardo Green - 72.8
The rookie was not targeted in 28 coverage snaps and recorded two tackles.
Missed tackles
Talanoa Hufanga — two
Maliek Collins — two
Ji’Ayir Brown — one
Jordan Elliott — one
Charvarius Ward — one
Pressures
The defense recorded 20 total pressures:
Nick Bosa - three hits, three hurries
Maliek Collins - four hurries
Yetur Gross-Matos - one hit, two hurries
Leonard Floyd - two hurries
Evan Anderson, Jordan Elliott, Deommodore Lenoir, Kalia Davis and Fred Warner all recorded one pressure.
Odds and Ends
Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford completed two of his nine attempts for 65 yards on throws of 10 yards or more downfield. Stafford was more successful when blitzed, completing nine of his 10 targets for 104 yards and a 110.0 passer rating. When not blitzed, the Rams signal-caller completed seven of his 17 attempts for 56 yards and a 50.1 passer rating.
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