Coming off the bye week, the San Francisco 49ers faced the streaking Jacksonville Jaguars in a crucial matchup. Riding a three game losing streak, Sunday’s contest in Duval County felt like. a turning point in the 2023 49ers; campaign.
With the pressure on, Kyle Shanahan, Brock Purdy and Steve Wilks answered the bell in a big way. Behind an impressive performance on both sides of the ball, the 49ers rolled to a 34-3 win on the road against the Jaguars. While snapping their losing streak, the 49ers also broke the Jags’ run of five consecutive wins.
Here’s a look at some of the good and the bad from the 49ers’ blowout win over the Jaguars on Sunday.
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Good: Defensive Line
During the 49ers’ three-game losing streak, their pash rush was a heavy point of conversation. After creating little pressure on the quarterback over their three-game slide, the 49ers’ front seven dominated the game on Sunday, wreaking havoc every time Trevor Lawerence dropped back.
The 49ers sacked Lawerence five times on Sunday with their first two sacks coming on third down to end the Jaguars’ drive on their first two possessions of the game.
It wasn’t just Nick Bosa and Chase Young causing problems up front, multiple members of the 49ers’ defensive line stepped up. Arik Armstead, Javon Hargrave and Clelin Ferrell all recorded sacks on Sunday.
With pressure up front, Lawerence barely had time to find his weapons like Christian Kirk and Calvin Ridley downfield.
Bad: Christian McCaffrey
The only thing McCaffrey didn’t do on Sunday was find the end zone. Despite a valiant late effort from the 49ers offense to get McCaffrey a touchdown, his long scoring streak came to an end on Sunday in Jacksonville.
After 17 straight games with a touchdown (including three playoff games), McCaffrey’s streak came to an end. The 17-game run of touchdowns will stand as a 49ers’ franchise record.
Good: The Buckeye Connection
Sunday marked the highly-anticipated debut of the 49ers’ new-look pass rush with former college teammates Nick Bosa and Chase Young on the defensive line together.
Young landed with the 49ers after a blockbuster trade on deadline day with the Washington Commanders. Young quickly made a positive first impression, teaming up with Bosa for a combined sack on Lawerence.
With Young on the other side of the line creating pressure, Bosa thrived. The reigning Defensive Player of the Year recorded three tackles, 1.5 sacks, three tackles for loss and a tackle for loss. Bosa also tacked on a pass deflection.
In his debut, Young finished with a tackle, a half sack and a quarterback hit.
Bad: Colton McKivitz
Although Trent Williams was back at left tackle, the other side of the line struggled to slow down the Jaguars’ pass rush. Colton McKivitz drew the assignment of Travon Walker and the former No. 1 overall pick had his way. Walker was all over Purdy,
Despite not recording a sack, Walker continued to put pressure on Purdy, flushing him out of the pocket multiple time. Walker recorded two quarterback pressures and a pass deflection against the Niners.
Good: Brock Purdy
While he made some risky throws, including one that resulted in a touchdown pass to Brandon Aiyuk, Purdy was steady and decisive on Sunday against an underrated Jaguars’ defense.
Purdy finished the game with 296 yards on 19-of-26 passing to go along with three touchdowns and most importantly, no interceptions.
Good: Steve Wilks
For the first time this season, defensive coordinator Steve Wilks coaches from the sideline instead of the booth. With Wilks on the sideline, the 49ers’ defensive showed out, limiting the Jaguars offense to only 221 total yards. The 49ers’ run defense shutdown Jaguars star running back Travis Etienne, holding him to only 35 rush yards on nine carries.
Along with sacking him five times, the 49ers’ defense forced Lawerence to throw two interceptions. Lawerence finished with only 185 yards passing and zero touchdowns. Lawerence’s 185 yards through the air was his lowest total in three games and his first game without a touchdown pass since Week 2.
With Wilks on the sideline, the 49ers’ defense looked to have edge they were lacking over the last two weeks. When the 49ers defensive coordinator was shown on the sideline, Wilks appeared to be animated.
