49ers report card: Grading San Francisco in a 27-24 overtime loss to Seattle

The 49ers were dealt their first loss of the season Monday, falling in overtime to the Seattle Seahawks, 27-24, in a wild, back-and-forth affair at Levi’s Stadium.

Here are our grades.

Passing offense: C-

Jimmy Garoppolo completed 7 of 11 passes on his first two series, including a 10-yard touchdown pass to Kendrick Bourne. The Seahawks loaded the box to stop the run and San Francisco seemed intent on getting the ball out of Garoppolo’s hands quickly to receivers on slant routes. But Seattle took advantage of a hand injury to center Weston Richburg when defensive lineman Jarran Reed beat Mike Person and backup center Ben Garland for a strip sack on Garoppolo, who fumbled, leading to a Jadeveon Clowney touchdown to give Seattle its only points of the first half.

The 49ers lost top receiver Emmanuel Sanders in the second quarter with a rib injury, which proved crucial with tight end George Kittle already out. Making things worse, Bourne in the third quarter batted a catchable pass in the air that went right to safety Quandre Diggs. He returned it deep in San Francisco territory, leading to Seattle’s second touchdown of the game. Bourne had another drop on a would-be first down near the goal line that led to a the game-tying field goal in the fourth quarter.

The story of the night for the passing game: too many drops and too many sacks. The (five) sacks Garoppolo took were the most this season, but he did enough to get the team in range for the game-tying field goal as regulation expired (though the Seahawks dropped two interceptions). And Garoppolo converted a huge third-and-6 to Raheem Mostert to set up a field goal to win it. And yet ...

Rushing offense: D

Tevin Coleman popped a 22-yard run on San Francisco’s first touchdown drive. Otherwise, it was a tough go for the running game as the Seahawks loaded the box throughout the game, putting pressure on tackles Joe Staley and Mike McGlinchey, who didn’t look like they were close to 100 percent following their long absences with leg injuries. Matt Breida dealt with another ankle injury in the second half. San Francisco finished with just (74) yards in regulation and play-action was made moot by the team’s inability to slow the Seahawks’ pass rush. The 49ers finished with 87 yards on 27 carries (3.2 average). They’ve gone two straight games without a rushing touchdown.

Passing defense: B

Nose tackle D.J. Jones logged his second sack in as many games with a third-down takedown of Russell Wilson, tossing backup center Joey Hunt on his back. Jaquiski Tartt made one of the best plays of his career, ripping the ball from rookie receiver D.K. Metcalf at the 2-yard line just before halftime. Middle linebacker Fred Warner recorded the first two sacks of his career, both coming on third down, and made one of the biggest plays of the game when he punched a fumble from offensive tackle Germain Ifedi (seriously) that was recovered by DeForest Buckner for a touchdown.

The Seahawks’ converted a third-and-16 in overtime, but rookie linebacker Dre Greenlaw, replacing the injured Kwon Alexander, made the play of his life, intercepting Wilson and making a 47-yard return to give the 49ers the ball back at midfield. But it led to a missed field goal to win the game from new kicker Chase McLaughlin. Wilson finished with 232 yards on 24 of 34 completions for an 86.9 rating.

Rushing defense: B

The 49ers allowed just 33 rushing yards in the first half. And they forced a fumble from Rashaad Penny on Seattle’s first drive of the second half when K’Waun Williams knifed into the backfield on a blitz and punched the ball out. The Seahawks finished with 122 yards on 32 carries.

Special teams: D

McLaughlin, replacing Robbie Gould (quadriceps), made his first field goal of the game and tied it with a clutch 39-yarder in the fourth quarter — and tied it again with a 47-yard field goal with 6 seconds left in the game. But he missed the biggest attempt of the game, a 47-yarder to win it with 3:10 left in overtime. Mitch Wishnowsky averaged 46 yards on four punts. Richie James Jr. had just 2 yards yards on three returns.

Coaching: C

Kyle Shanahan had done well throughout the first half of the season making up for the absences of key players on offense. But the 49ers offense struggled without Kittle and later, Sanders. Staley and McGlinchey weren’t in peak form and Clowney was an issue all night. Shanahan’s team showed resiliency throughout, but they couldn’t devise a plan to get players open like they have all season. It’s fair to question whether Staley and McGlinchey came back too soon given the way they played. San Francisco has to hope the injuries to Sanders and Kittle aren’t long term, otherwise the passing game is going to struggle mightily.

This story was originally published November 11, 2019 at 9:16 PM.