Grading the 49ers to watch from Week 12 win over the Seahawks
The San Francisco 49ers have clear daylight between themselves and the Seattle Seahawks after crushing their arch NFC West rivals 31-13 on the road on Thanksgiving night. San Francisco improved to 8-3 in style to move two games ahead of the Seahawks in the division and leapfrog the Detroit Lions, who lost at home to […]
The San Francisco 49ers have clear daylight between themselves and the Seattle Seahawks after crushing their arch NFC West rivals 31-13 on the road on Thanksgiving night.
San Francisco improved to 8-3 in style to move two games ahead of the Seahawks in the division and leapfrog the Detroit Lions, who lost at home to the Green Bay Packers, into the second seed in the NFC.
Before the primetime contest, we identified seven players who needed strong performances for the 49ers to prevail. Though most were overshadowed by the play of Christian McCaffrey and Deebo Samuel on offense, let's look back at how those players fared.
QB Brock Purdy: B
Purdy didn't produce the perfect passer rating performance from the Week 11 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and it looked at one point as if his glaring error, a pick-six thrown from inside his own endzone, would spark a second-half Seattle comeback.
It never materialized, however, Purdy making sure of that with a pinpoint 28-yard strike to Brandon Aiyuk off play-action to end any realistic hope of a Seattle turnaround.
"That's what you call a dot," Aiyuk said of that throw.
Save for his costly turnover, Purdy did everything required to put the 49ers in position to win the game and delivered the dagger when it mattered.
WR Brandon Aiyuk: B
Aiyuk was otherwise pretty quiet as McCaffrey and Samuel proved the talismen for the offense.
But Aiyuk had another touchdown taken away by an excellent Devon Witherspoon pass breakup and was typically impressive in the blocking game. After a career-high 156 yards in Week 11, Aiyuk was not as prolific this time around, but he was ultimately decisive even in a game in which he managed only 50 yards.
George Kittle: B –
Kittle looked likely to be a focal point of the offense against an aggressive Seattle defense after shredding the Buccaneers as a receiver on quarterback bootlegs last week.
Instead, he managed just three catches for 19 yards as McCaffrey and Samuel took center stage. Kittle, though, was key to the Niners racking up 169 yards on the ground with his play in the blocking game, and stole the show by running away with the Thanksgiving turkey afterwards.
Aaron Banks: A
Many of the 49ers' best runs came on rushes to the left side, manned by All-Pro tackle Trent Williams and returning guard Banks.
Banks was still not 100 percent after missing the last two games with turf toe, and head coach Kyle Shanahan was vociferous in his praise of the former second-round pick in his post-game press conference.
"Banks, it was unbelievable he was able to play today," said Shanahan. "For him to tough it out when he wasn't 100 percent, it's pretty impressive."
Chase Young: C
Young certainly played a role in the 49ers continually collapsing the pocket around Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith, but was second fiddle to the likes of Nick Bosa (2 sacks), Javon Hargrave (1.5) and Arik Armstead (1) on this occasion.
Young was the final piece of the D-Line puzzle that has arguably cemented the 49ers front's status as the best in football, but his influence was more subtle than it was in his home debut last week.
Ambry Thomas: A+
After coming through the challenge of facing Mike Evans and Chris Godwin largely unscathed, Thomas, in his role as a starting outside corner in nickel packages, faced perhaps an even bigger test against DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett.
The former third-round pick absolutely aced it. Charvarius Ward was the star in the secondary for his play in coverage against Metcalf, but Thomas was also excellent, picking off a pass intended for Lockett in the second quarter and breaking up a potential touchdown throw to Jaxon Smith-Njigba at a key juncture in the third.
Three games into his promotion up the depth chart, it is a move that is paying huge dividends.
Ji'Ayir Brown – B
It was expected that the Seahawks would look to pick on Brown in his first start at safety following Talanoa Hufanga's season-ending knee injury. In truth, they never really had the chance because of the dominance of the San Francisco front.
Brown was guilty of a missed tackle on Zach Charbonnet in the flat, but it's tough to pick any real holes in his performance.
George Kittle pulls hilarious stunt after the 49ers’ Thanksgiving win
Sharing is caring.
