Maiocco's 49ers Report Card: Team grades in deflating loss to Seahawks

SANTA CLARA — The 49ers are too good for games like this to happen again and again and again.

Or maybe not.

The 49ers dropped to 5-5 on the 2024 NFL season with a 20-17 loss to the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday at Levi’s Stadium.

“It’s infuriating,” 49ers All-Pro linebacker Fred Warner said.

It might be infuriating for Warner and his teammates to continue to stumble around the .500 mark, but that has become this team’s identity.

The 49ers want to believe they are better than what they have shown through the first 10 games of the season. But that is a difficult argument to make at this point.

Their best performance probably was in the opener against the New York Jets. They have not played anything resembling a complete game since that contest more than two months ago.

The 49ers advanced to the Super Bowl last year after deep playoff runs in the previous two seasons. But this is a different season — and, clearly, a different team.

Here is the 49ers’ report card from their Week 11 loss to the Seahawks:

Rushing Offense

The 49ers had some success on the ground but not enough to extend drives and consistently get into the end zone.

Christian McCaffrey gained 79 yards on 19 rushing attempts. Quarterback Brock Purdy added 40 yards and a touchdown on five scrambles.

Brock SOARS for the TD ✈️ pic.twitter.com/UC0yElOWGp

— 49ers on NBCS (@NBCS49ers) November 17, 2024

Jordan Mason saw limited action. He picked up 13 yards on two rushing attempts.

Grade: B-minus

Passing Offense

Wide receiver Jauan Jennings gets an “A,” but the rest of the 49ers’ offense did not perform well in the passing game.

Purdy was sacked twice and did not consistently have enough time to get the ball down the field due to issues with the 49ers’ pass protection.

Purdy completed 21 of 28 pass attempts for 159 yards and one touchdown with one interception and a passer rating of 85.3.

Jennings had 10 receptions on 11 targets for 91 yards and a touchdown. The 49ers’ next-leading receiver was McCaffrey, who caught four passes for just 27 yards.

Deebo Samuel managed just four receptions for 22 yards, and Ricky Pearsall did not have any catches on two targets.

Grade: D-minus

Rushing Defense

The 49ers contained Seahawks running back Kenneth Walker III, holding him to 54 yards rushing on 14 attempts.

The 49ers also came up with a fourth-down stop in the fourth quarter against Zach Charbonnet.

THE NINERS STAND TALL ON FOURTH DOWN ❌ pic.twitter.com/WXGJPa44n3

— 49ers on NBCS (@NBCS49ers) November 17, 2024

But they could not handle quarterback Geno Smith when it mattered most.

Smith scrambled for 16 yards on a second-and-13 play late in the fourth quarter. Then, he scored the  winning touchdown on a 13-yard run with :12 remaining in the fourth quarter.

Grade: C-minus

Passing Defense

Smith came into the game averaging a league-leading 284 yards passing per game. The 49ers kept him in check for most of the day.

Smith completed 25 of 32 passes for 221 yards and no touchdowns with one interception. Cornerback Isaac Yiadom came up with an interception. The 49ers settled for only a field goal after getting the ball at the Seattle 27.

The Seahawks had a lot more success after Nick Bosa left the game with a hip/oblique injury that is different than the one that had him listed as questionable, 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan said.

Bosa had 1.5 of the 49ers’ four sacks in the game. Leonard Floyd had 1.5 sacks and Yetur Gross-Matos added one sack.

Bosa in the backfield 🐻 pic.twitter.com/822tqZIDcq

— 49ers on NBCS (@NBCS49ers) November 17, 2024

Grade: B-minus

Special Teams

The 49ers did not lose this game on special teams, though it was not great, either.

Pat O’Donnell, who took over for injured Mitch Wishnowsky, had a touchback with 2:38 remaining in the fourth quarter when the 49ers were looking for him to drop a punt inside the 20-yard line.

Jordan Mason was back deep for one kickoff, which he mishandled and bounced out of bounds.

Jacob Cowing had one punt return for 12 yards but sustained a concussion on the play.

Grade: C-minus

Coaching

All areas of the team had their issues that led to the 49ers’ loss. And coaching certainly carries its share of the burden, too.

Purdy said during his postgame address that Shanahan took his share of accountability for the loss that dropped the 49ers’ record to 5-5.

This was not a game the 49ers should have lost, and Shanahan could not come up with the answers for the offense with tight end George Kittle out of action.

The 49ers managed only 277 yards of total offense, and that is against a defense that gave up an average of 357.6 yards entering the game.

The 49ers had a chance to close it out in the final four minutes but had a disjointed series that went nowhere and gave Smith and the Seahawks a final chance to win the game.

Defensively, the 49ers appeared to have a good plan against Seattle’s high-powered offense. But that unit tired down the stretch as Smith took over.

Grade: F

Overall

Seven of the 49ers’ nine penalties came on offense, which accounted for 44 yards.

“I’m just extremely disappointed,” Shanahan said. “[We] let them hang around. When you let people hang around, that’s what happens.”

There is no way the 49ers should have been held to only 17 points. Shanahan should have dialed it up, and Purdy should have delivered it.

But the offense looked out of sync, and the defense did not make the plays to win the game down the stretch.

Grade: F