PFF grades and snap counts from the 49ers win over the Cardinals

The San Francisco 49ers got off to their worst start of the season against Arizona but stormed back to a 36-26 victory. Unlike Monday night’s game against Seattle, the 49ers overcame costly mistakes. Here are the PFF grades and snap counts on both sides of the ball.

Offense-73 snaps total

Coming into this game, I was curious how the running back rotation would go. Kyle Shanahan split Coleman and Mostert’s snaps nearly right down the middle. The most important critical snap was the one snap Wilson Jr. had, the game-winning touchdown.

The same offensive line that started the game didn’t miss a snap. We don’t get to say that a lot. With Sanders down, it was Bourne who filled in to replace him. That tells you how the staff feels about Pettis and Goodwin.

Top five offensive grades

James Jr. 91

Samuel 84.4

Garoppolo 75.6

Juszczyk 70.4

Coleman 66.1

James only had one touch, but it went for 57 yards. Akash made an argument that James deserves more playing time. Samuel continued his efficiency. Eight catches and six going for first downs. He continues to rack up yards after the catch. Of Samuel’s 134 yards, 49 of those came after the catch.

It’s tough to look past two throws considering how costly those turnovers were, but there was far too much good from Garoppolo on Sunday. His adjusted completion percentage was 88.4 when you factor in four drops and two throwaways. Garoppolo continues to keep the offense ahead of the chains and perform well under pressure.

Coleman’s role in the passing game will be critical moving forward, especially if the 49ers continue to struggle running the ball. Coleman finished with three catches for 48 yards in the air and took two for first downs.

Juice wears so many hats for this offense. It’s nice to see him rewarded with targets.

Bottom five offensive grades

McGlinchey 58.0

Goodwin 56.2

Mostert 51.0

Skule 43.2

Tomlinson 35.2

Three starting linemen in the bottom five may explain the running game struggles. McGlinchey’s struggles continue this season, as he allowed six pressures. Skule versus Chandler Jones didn’t have much of a chance. It got so bad, at one point the 49ers had to triple-team Jones. Skule allowed eight pressures, while Tomlinson allowed four.

Defense-67 total snaps

The first thing I look for when the defensive snap counts are released is how much Buckner played. Save the Bengals and Panthers blowouts; this was the second-fewest snaps Buckner played all season. The first was Week 1 when the weather was scorching hot.

Elijah Lee and Julian Taylor played the most they have all season. In Lee’s case, that was probably the most the 49ers defense had played in base defense all season.

Top five defensive grades

Taylor 82.5

Greenlaw 75.8

Tartt 70.9

D. Moore 70.7

Ford 69.6

The Cardinals should get some credit for keeping the Niners on their heels all afternoon. San Francisco made timely stops, but this felt like the first game all season where a defender didn’t have a dominant performance.

Bottom five defensive grades

Buckner 59.4

Thomas 57.7

Williams 56.1

Day 49.2

Warner 48.8

It didn’t seem like any defender played noticeably poor, either. PFF disagrees, as it’s another poor game from Warner. The different run concepts put Warner in some difficult positions. This is the first game where a starter didn’t grade 80.0 or higher.

The pass-rush was non-existent for the majority of the game. The 49ers had one quarterback hit all game. They did limit the big play, and that’s how they were able to come away with a win.