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00:00All right, guys, always love doing grades after a win,
00:03and that's what we have this time around.
00:05Niners knock off the Giants a couple of days ago, 34-24.
00:08As always, we'll go by position groups,
00:10and we begin with the quarterback, which once again was Mac Jones.
00:14I thought Mac had himself a really good game once again.
00:17One turnover, it was technically a fumble,
00:19but could have been an interception.
00:20I don't really blame him for that all that much,
00:23and the run game was awesome in the second half,
00:25so I don't think he was asked to do a ton specifically in the second half,
00:28but what he was asked to do, I thought he executed to near perfection.
00:33I thought he was really good, 235 yards, two touchdowns.
00:36That one turnover came at the very end of the first half.
00:38He got an A.
00:39There was not much more that I wanted from Mac Jones.
00:42I give him my Kendrick Lamar.
00:44He gets an A-, and that's only because of one play.
00:48You got to know in that situation,
00:50I have no problem with Kyle Shanahan trying to be aggressive before the half,
00:54but if the pocket is closing, that's a tuck and fall.
00:58The only thing you can't do at the end of the half is turn the ball over,
01:02so that is partially, not all, but partially on Mac Jones, that one turnover.
01:07But, Grandy, I'm with you outside of that.
01:09I thought it was just a fantastic professional football game for the quarterback,
01:14so for me, A-.
01:15He did what was asked, and he had the huge turnover,
01:18which would have been huge if the Giants didn't fail to cash it in.
01:22They missed the field goal.
01:23I gave him a B+, not only because of the turnover,
01:26but other than that, he didn't really do a lot for me.
01:29He had about 6.5 yards per attempt in the air.
01:32It was a lot of dink and dunk and check it down,
01:35and the Giants couldn't stop it, so good on you.
01:38But I was not blown away by the performance.
01:40He gets a sturdy B+.
01:42Yeah, overall, very good grades from the three of us for the Niners quarterback.
01:45Up next is skill positions.
01:47That's running backs, wide receivers, and tight ends.
01:51Running backs scored three touchdowns in this one.
01:53McCaffrey had one on the ground and through the air.
01:55Brian Robinson had his first touchdown as a 49er.
01:59Juwan Jennings, I think, had one of his better games of the season.
02:01I know it wasn't an incredible game in terms of numbers, four catches, 41 yards,
02:06but had a touchdown as well.
02:08Kittle was more involved than he was last week.
02:11What can we say about McCaffrey?
02:13Led the team in rushing yards and receiving yards, those two total touchdowns,
02:16and then really good to see Brian Robinson get going on the ground as well.
02:20Much like the quarterback, I don't think we could have asked for a ton more from this group.
02:25I gave skill positions an A for their performance on Sunday.
02:28Yeah, solid A.
02:28I don't know what they technically did wrong.
02:31I'm trying to remember a drop in the game.
02:33I don't remember one.
02:34There were a few plays that didn't go great.
02:36I'll get to that later when we discuss coaching,
02:38but you had Watkins make a huge catch.
02:42Nice play.
02:43And Juwan had a couple of tough catches.
02:44McCaffrey finally with the burst.
02:46And you mentioned B-Rob, who I love.
02:48You do.
02:49That was a great run and broke a couple tackles and scored,
02:52so I gave him an A as well.
02:53Bromance.
02:54I know it's actually a man crush, but you have a bromance.
02:57I do like Brian Robinson, yeah.
02:58B-Rob bromance.
02:59But, yeah, there's not a whole lot more to say.
03:02It's an A.
03:03I can't find the big mistake that any of the guys made.
03:06I've got a major bromance with Fred Warner.
03:08Right, and Dan Dibley has a major bromance with Brian Robinson.
03:13But I co-sign.
03:15It's an A.
03:16It was a very clean game from this group.
03:20The other side of the field with the Giants cannot say that,
03:23and you could see the difference.
03:25So, A for me.
03:26Yeah, absolutely.
03:27Up next is the offensive line.
03:29Interesting that the Niners benched Connor Colby,
03:31who is not expected to be a starter this year,
03:33but has been filling in for Ben Barch at left guard.
03:35They go with Spencer Burford.
03:37You guys were just talking with John Feliciano about that.
03:39Burford's basically only been a tackle and used sparingly,
03:43because he's never really been a starter for the Niners either.
03:46I thought he filled in pretty darn good at left guard,
03:48and Hennessey continues to be pretty solid at center as well.
03:51And then you look at the run game numbers.
03:53I mean, the Niners ran for 159 yards on 39 attempts.
03:57That's over four yards per carry.
04:00And the last two drives, it was all runs and two passes.
04:03That was it.
04:04And those were both touchdown drives.
04:06They salted the game away on the ground.
04:08Obviously, McCaffrey and Robinson get credit for that,
04:11but so does the offensive line.
04:13Mack was still pressured a handful of times.
04:15This is also a really good defensive front in terms of rushing the passer.
04:19So it wasn't perfect, but it was really good, an A-minus for the offensive line.
04:23Yeah, I struggled with A-minus or B-plus.
04:25I went B-plus because if I'm going to take some points away from Mack Jones
04:29for that turnover, I've got to take some points away from Colton McKivitts as well
04:34because Burns went right around him.
04:36And that really could have changed the momentum of the game if the Giants,
04:39I mean, they tried a field goal.
04:41Heck, what if they had actually gotten a touchdown?
04:43That could have changed the entire outlook of this entire football game.
04:47And, yes, Mack Jones was pressured a time or two.
04:50It's excusable.
04:51As you said, these are really, really good pass rushers for the Giants,
04:56but all in all, a very good game and a B-plus.
04:58B-plus for me as well.
04:59And McKivitts also had a false start,
05:01and the aforementioned Spencer Burford actually had a big old ole on the other time
05:08where Mack Jones got sacked,
05:10and that was one that pushed him back into deep field goal range.
05:13But they ran it well.
05:14They got to the second level in the ground game,
05:17and only the two sacks, one of which, Mark, you're right,
05:19it did kind of lead to that awkward not-an-interception.
05:23I guess it's called a fumble, but I gave him a B-plus as well.
05:26Good game.
05:27We switch over to the defense now, and we go to the front seven.
05:30That's the down linemen and the linebackers.
05:33I thought that Tatum Bethune had himself a hell of a game.
05:36He was all over the place in this one,
05:38and you've got to give credit to Cleland Furrell for a sack that he had on Jackson Dart.
05:42I have no idea how Jackson Dart managed to hold onto that ball, by the way.
05:46I thought it was going to be a strip sack and maybe a turnover.
05:49Sam Okawonu is having a really good season,
05:51and it's very needed considering the injuries all over the place to the 49ers defense.
05:57I know the Giants did have some success on the ground.
06:00I think most of it was Jackson Dart and his scrambling ability.
06:03That is something to keep an eye on.
06:05Niners versus mobile quarterbacks has been an issue.
06:07But, again, considering who you were putting out there on the field,
06:11I thought it was pretty darn good.
06:13Not too much to be upset about.
06:15Wasn't great by any stretch, but pretty good.
06:17A B-plus for me for the front seven.
06:19Yeah, B-plus.
06:20I'm right in lockstep.
06:21You had a couple of penalties in there,
06:23and I'm looking at the unnecessary roughness on Bethune after a dart scramble.
06:27That's really where I ding them the most is they had a hard time containing.
06:31That felt like a bad call to me.
06:33Definitely.
06:33And Sterator said so on the broadcast.
06:36I mean, it's unfortunate.
06:37It cost you 15 yards, so we're not –
06:39I don't think that referees are one of the categories.
06:42So you commit the penalty, and it counts against you,
06:45and it's part of your permanent record.
06:46And I thought that the first drive was like an uh-oh kind of a thing
06:50where they went tempo, and the Niners were on their heels.
06:54But by and large, after that, they kept the Giants down.
06:56It's a B-plus.
06:57I'm actually going to upgrade from an A-minus or from a B-plus to an A-minus
07:02just because of the comment you just made.
07:05So the referees get an F.
07:07But, yeah, like I'll put it this way.
07:09Sure, there were a few mistakes in there.
07:11Same thing with the uh-oh feeling after the opening drive.
07:15But then I was mindful of, like, great teams of the past with the 49ers
07:20and even, like, the great USC teams with Pete Carroll that I covered for a few years.
07:27And they often would get – they would let you kind of get a punch in the mouth
07:31early in the game.
07:33It was almost like, let's see what you're going to do.
07:35And then as soon as you do it, they're like, great, we've got the adjustment for that.
07:39And then they didn't do much the rest of the way.
07:41I know the Giants ended up with 24 points, but a lot of it was garbage time stuff.
07:45And so, yeah, I'll go A-minus for the front seven.
07:48Maybe I should add, you know, referees to Grandy's greats.
07:52F every week.
07:53Yeah, maybe.
07:54Up next is secondary safeties and cornerbacks.
07:57I thought largely it was a pretty positive day for this group.
08:01I do think the Niners have issues at safety.
08:03I know I'm not breaking any news there, but Jair Brown, I'm still not convinced
08:08he's a starting level of safety in the NFL.
08:10He had a really good pass breakup in the end zone in the fourth quarter.
08:13Besides that, he was lost out there more often than not.
08:16On the touchdown run by Jackson Dart, I think that was early in the fourth quarter,
08:21he was the spy on Jackson Dart.
08:24He was playing essentially linebacker depth.
08:26And as Jackson Dart runs to the right with his running back as his lead blocker,
08:30Tatum Bethune, or pardon me, Tatum Bethune, Jair Brown is running the opposite direction.
08:34I have no clue what he was seeing.
08:36Just to highlight one, I think, of the issues for this Niner secondary.
08:40Wasn't terrible.
08:41This is also a Giants group that doesn't have a lot of receivers, given the injury to Malik
08:45Neighbors.
08:46Wasn't bad.
08:48But I think of the defensive units, this was the worst of the two.
08:52I gave the secondary a B.
08:54Not bad, but they didn't amaze me.
08:55Yeah, I ended up with a B as well for a lot of those same reasons.
08:59The one thing I will point out, though, is that when the pass rush is not great, it's
09:03kind of impossible on a secondary in the NFL.
09:05And the one thing, the compliment that I really want to give a lot of those secondary players
09:11is this.
09:12How many times did Jackson Dart on third and seven throw the ball four yards, or on third
09:18and 12 throw the ball nine yards, and they made the tackle every single time and knocked
09:25him down short of the sticks and caused a punt?
09:28That's their job, and they did that one very well.
09:31Which is why I gave them an A-.
09:32And if you look at the explosives they allowed, they had a Slayton catch late in the game.
09:38It was already 27-10.
09:39And then on that final drive, Olszewski, Olszewski, 24-yard touchdown.
09:45That's about it.
09:46The secondary was bend but don't break.
09:48And I love what you pointed out there, Mark, about the tackling, because they were rallying
09:52up.
09:53They weren't missing tackles after that opening drive, and they were supporting in the run
09:57game.
09:57And yeah, the Jair Brown play, a little bit confused on the Dart touchdown, but he had some
10:02good plays as well.
10:04And, you know, Renardo Green in coverage, Diomedo Lenore doing his feisty thing, getting in
10:09people's face.
10:10I thought they had a great game.
10:11I gave them an A-.
10:11All right.
10:12And then up next, as we move along here on Granny's Grades, it is special teams.
10:17Another week and another really solid performance by Niner special teams.
10:21Eddie Pinheiro made two field goals, one from 54, another from 33, made all of his extra
10:27points.
10:28Brian Robinson had a long kickoff return again.
10:32You didn't have any crazy mistakes by Sky Moore.
10:35That's a positive.
10:36And it felt like...
10:37Almost.
10:38But you didn't.
10:40It felt like they won the possession battle most times in this game as well.
10:44So I thought it was a really, really solid day for special teams.
10:46And this is becoming kind of common, which is a good sign for the Niner special teams
10:51for me.
10:51They got an A.
10:52Absolute A.
10:53Yeah.
10:53And Sky Moore, not only did he not field a punt that went in for a touchback, but he
10:58fielded another one and had a nice little 13-yard return in the first half.
11:02The Brian Robinson, big-time kick return for 41 yards.
11:06Pinheiro is money.
11:07And also, he didn't kick any touchbacks.
11:10He kicked one about a yard deep.
11:11They brought it out.
11:13Eddie Pinheiro is putting it inside the 10 consistently.
11:15They were awesome again.
11:16It's an A.
11:17I also ended up in an A, but in a weird way.
11:19I was going to knock it down to an A-, because you're right, Sky Moore let one bounce into
11:23the end zone.
11:24But you notice, he's decided to stand right next to it, which is not what you're supposed
11:29to do.
11:29Like, if you're going to let...
11:30Sky, just leave.
11:31Just run off of the field if you're going to let it go over your head, because that
11:36thing could bounce any direction.
11:37But then as I knocked it down to an A-, I knocked it back up to an A for what I think
11:41was the coolest field goal in the NFL this year.
11:44I've never seen someone kick a field goal that never went more than a foot off the ground.
11:48Good on you.
11:49Eddie D is so good, he's now doing trick shots.
11:52That's fun.
11:53A for the special teams.
11:54He still only missed one kick as a Niner, and it was his first kick.
11:57His first one, yeah.
11:58And it was a point after touchdown.
12:00In a dome.
12:00In a dome.
12:01It was not a field goal.
12:02He has still not missed a field goal for the 49ers.
12:05Up next, and last but not least, it is coaching.
12:09I mean, this kind of performance, it's going to be hard for the coaches to not get a good
12:12grade, and they certainly did get a good grade from me.
12:14I was a little confused.
12:16End of game.
12:16I know it's unfortunate, the Michael Williams injury.
12:19The game's over at that point.
12:20I was also confused.
12:21The last Niner offensive drive, why was it McCaffrey's helping the clock away as opposed
12:26to Brian Robinson or Hel Garendo?
12:28It does not matter.
12:29Just anybody but Christian McCaffrey.
12:32That was really the only major gripe I had in this game.
12:35Maybe the defense became a little soft in that fourth quarter, giving some easier yards
12:39away to the Giants, but I can't really be that upset by that.
12:43Coaching was very good, and A- for me.
12:45I went to B-plus, but for the exact same reason.
12:47I thought the game plan was great.
12:49Execution was wonderful.
12:50Again, they're getting more out of their players than in theory they should be getting.
12:55That, to me, says great coaching.
12:57But I knock it to a B-plus for the exact reason that you mentioned, and I said it out loud,
13:03end the moment.
13:04This is not hindsight is 20-20.
13:06Just take a look at what happened to Jaden Daniels the other night, and I'm sitting there
13:11thinking, this game is in the bag.
13:13Christian McCaffrey should not be out there taking carries, and for that, I go B-plus.
13:19It's a B, and I think they got bailed out by the Giants by not going up-tempo more.
13:25They went tempo in the opening drive.
13:26The Niners had no answer, and they didn't go back to it for a long time.
13:29The real reason that I had to drop it down is it's threefold.
13:33One, that overhand pitch back six yards, that play sucks, and McCaffrey lost five.
13:40And the one that really, two of them stuck in my crawl, George Kittle in a jet sweep?
13:45Really?
13:46We're going to give it to, I know he's a speedy tight end, but that play was embarrassing.
13:51The one that really got me, though, was the, look at Mac Jones, I'm looking at my wristband,
13:56and I'm talking to McCaffrey, and Juszczyk goes in motion and runs in
14:00and tries to steal the snap and sneak it forward.
14:03Act like you're a pro football team and get the yard.
14:06You don't need to do all this trickeration.
14:08And by the way, it was illegal formation because he didn't come set.
14:12Yeah, I never understand.
14:13I didn't understand what the call was.
14:15The call was, he didn't come set, so it's illegal motion, five yards.
14:19Line up and just get the yard.
14:21You get a B, Shanahan.
14:22You were trying to be too cute.
14:24Wow, I think I was the softest grader this time around.
14:28Well, you're a big softy.
14:29Oh, okay.
14:30Yeah.
14:30I mean, you got a B as a coach because you won the game, and by and large, I like the
14:34game plan.
14:35Those plays, though, it's like, what are we doing?
14:37I don't know.
14:38And referees get an F, and that's granny's grades.
14:41Referees get an F.
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