San Francisco dominated the Jacksonville Jaguars in every facet of the game. Jacksonville came into week 10 hot, riding a five game winning streak while ranking third in the league in their run defense, forcing multiple turnovers in six of their last seven games, all while looking great on the offensive side of the ball.
That all changed against the 49ers, who came out looking for heads to slam; souls to take; hearts to crush; a team reinvigorated after a frustration-filled losing streak.
The Jaguars allowed a season-high 144 rushing yards to San Francisco, did not force a turnover, and gave up touchdowns to George Kittle, Brandon Aiyuk and Kyle Juszczyk through the air, while allowing Deebo Samuel to scamper 23 yards for a rushing touchdown.
The 49ers also got back to their usual prepotent ways on defense, overpowering the Jaguars with lineman strong enough to take on a buffalo; quick enough to slap away the bite of a lunging snake. The recent addition of former number two overall pick Chase Young drastically helped the defensive line, usually the best unit on San Francisco’s defense, as Young drew a lot of attention from the blocking of the Jaguars offensive line and running backs, freeing up Nick Bosa, Javon Hargrave, and Arik Armstead, and allowing them to finally get the pressure on the quarterback that fans are so used to high-fiving and slamming beers over.
Before the 49ers, Trevor Lawrence’s time-to-throw statistic, which measures how quickly he releases the ball, was second in the league. He also had a completion rate of 71 percent. Against the 49ers, that completion percentage dropped to 58 percent, and Lawrence had a hard time getting the ball out quickly.
Entering week 10, the 49ers only had 18 sacks, tied for the 25th most in the league. San Francisco finished the game with five sacks, three of those coming from Bosa and Hargrave, each with one and a half sacks. They also forced and recovered a fumble by Trevor Lawrence with the pressure, and forced Lawrence into throwing two interceptions.
The defensive backs on the 49ers stepped up massively against the Jags, mixing it up on the back-end to confuse Lawrence and force him to sit in the pocket, allowing the pass-rush to find the success it was missing. The stand-out from the defensive backs was Ambry Thomas, a former third-round pick that has struggled early in his career. Against the Jaguars, Thomas took over early for Nickelback Isaiah Oliver, an off-season signing that had fans excited. Ambry Thomas played well in coverage, but his biggest play came when he forced a fumble in the red-zone, recovered said fumble, cuddled and held it on the ground to protect it, and to the shock of the players, cameramen, and Thomas himself, returned it 95 yards for a touchdown; a play which was overturned due to the 49ers thinking the play was over and dancing around on the field to celebrate.
A big discussion surrounding the team was that of Steve Wilks in his first year as the Defensive Coordinator for the 49ers, having previously been the Defensive Coordinator and then Interim Head Coach of the Carolina Panthers.
In past Coordinators Robert Saleh (now Head Coach of the New York Jets), and DeMeco Ryans (now Head Coach of the Houston Texans), the team was used to them being on the field, having direct communication with the defense -specifically Fred Warner- and bringing a unique intensity and energy to the sideline to help fire the defense up. These guys would frequently flex so hard it looked like their heads might explode, and would dap players up with such ferocity that you could feel how much these players and coaches meant to each other.
But this year Wilks had been up in the coaching booth away from the team, something that has been criticized and questioned by about every 49er fan. Head Coach Kyle Shanahan had Wilks come down to the field against the Jaguars, a decision that seemed like it might not have much effect.
Instead, we saw the previously out-of-sync defense look like the tight-knit unit from before. The linebackers throughout the season had looked like they were in the wrong spots at times, something that was much improved in week 10. This was highlighted by Fred Warner’s interception, with the ball almost falling into his lap just by being in the correct spot. The communication was improved, and there were multiple camera shots of Wilks engaged with the players, hyping them up, nodding to them like he was one of the boys, and showing some fire.
On the Offensive end, the 49ers were also back to their dominating ways. The team started 5-0, with the 49ers scoring 30 or more points in every game of that winning streak, and quarterback Brock Purdy played turnover-free football. But from weeks 6-8, San Francisco averaged only 17 points a game, with Purdy throwing a combined five interceptions during that span.
Against the Jaguars, Purdy again went turnover-free, going 19 for 26 with 296 yards and 3 touchdowns. Purdy’s highlight came on the second play of the second half, when he tossed a 66-yard touchdown 30 yards through the air to George Kittle. Purdy was waiting for Kittle to wiggle his way free, and sat in the pocket like a modern Joe Montana, willing to take the hit that he knew was coming. He hung in there, took the hit, and still floated a perfect pass that allowed Kittle to walk into the end zone untouched. Purdy has been a constant for the team, making little mistakes, staying even-keeled emotionally, and putting the team in positions to score and win. This was again on full display in a dominant fashion in week 10.
It helped that Deebo Samuels and Trent Williams were back and healthy from injuries that kept both out in weeks 6-8, and that the week 9 bye allowed star running back Christian McCaffrey to get fully healthy as well. It was shown on Deebo’s 23-yard touchdown run, with Trent Williams leading the charge, both of them looking like the star athletes that the 49ers missed so much. These guys run with such force that defenses break down over games, with one Jags player literally turning around and running away from Williams, a 6 ‘5, 320 pound man who ran a 4.88 40-yard-dash.
The single lonesome thing that could leave 49ers fans despondent from this game: Christian McCaffrey’s streak of 17 games with a touchdown came to an end. One against the Jaguars would have brought it up to 18 games, breaking the all-time record held by Lenny Moore back in the early 60’s. It’s not like the 49ers didn’t try though; they spent their last drive of the game force-feeding McCaffrey the ball around the red-zone, trying hard to get him that final score to stand alone in the record books. The starters were out of the game, all except Christian McCaffrey. He was close, getting within 5 yards, but it just wasn’t meant to be.
But the fact that McCaffrey not getting the record was pretty much the only slightly negative thing to point out from the game shows that San Francisco’s losing ways are over. The slump is gone. The 49ers dominated one of the hottest teams in the league, showing that the team is still right there at the top of the NFL. The Niners are back.
