The San Francisco 49ers offensive starters finished off their Week 2 after three series. The second and third string players are competing for roster spots, but I thought we’d take a look at some of the winners and losers among the 49ers offensive starters. It’s not the simplest of analysis. The 49ers starters started slow, but finished with a strong third drive. However, several of the Broncos defensive starters were out at that point. It’s important for the 49ers offense to execute, but we have to consider the context.
Winners
Trent Brown: He got to face Von Miller, and had a pretty solid evening on three series. There was nothing too crazy, and that’s about all you can ask for from a starting offensive lineman.
Vance McDonald: It was a mostly good game for McDonald, who had three receptions for 38 yards. He had a potentially catchable ball he didn’t reach for, but otherwise his hands looked pretty good.
Blaine Gabbert: After last week’s performance, Gabbert showed improvement. He had the touchdown pass last week, but some bad misconnections prior to that. In Week 2, he did a better job connecting with his receivers. He finished the game 6-of-9 for 69 yards. It wasn’t anything spectacular, but it was improvement on last week. With Kaepernick sidelined for the time being, that’s what he needed to show.
Losers
Wide receivers: Gabbert hooked up with DeAndrew White for a 17-yard screen pass, but otherwise the wide receivers were not doing much. Gabbert connected with Vance McDonald on three passes and Garrett Celek on two passes. Would you blame the lack of a consistent QB-WR connection on vanilla game-planning, Gabbert’s throwing, some combination of both, or something else?