Snap counts and stat review: Garoppolo had his 4th-most passing attempts as a Niner

Sunday was another example of “any given Sunday” in the NFL. The 49ers lost by two touchdowns on the road to Atlanta. Thankfully, looking around the NFC and the rest of the NFL, San Francisco wasn’t the only team to put up a stinker. And with the injuries building up, the result against the Falcons felt more inevitable as the game got closer. Still, the 49ers had a chance to win.

Here’s a look at the snap count from Week 6 with a handful of stats mixed in.

Offense - 60 total snaps

QB: Jimmy Garoppolo - 60

Garopoplo had two interceptions but also had two drops that were guaranteed to be explosive plays, one, perhaps even a touchdown. Over half of Jimmy’s completions went for first downs. Before re-watching, it felt like he played well.

Garoppolo’s 41 passing attempts were the fourth-highest during his tenure as a 49er. Of course, that’s not how Kyle Shanahan wants to call the offense. But when you’re trailing all game, you’re not left with much of a choice.

Garoppolo handled the blitz well, going 10-for-12 for 100 yards, including five first downs. Garoppolo attempted five passes beyond 20 yards, and while neither of them were complete, it’s exactly what he needs to continue to do to keep opposing defenses honest.

RBs: Kyle Juszczyk 32, Jeff Wilson Jr. 31, Tevin Coleman, 12, Deebo Samuel, 12,Ty Davis-Price, 1

Falling behind early made the running game obsolete. Wilson’s snap of a 30 plus rush streak came to an end. The 49ers didn’t have a double-digit carry all afternoon. Mike McGlinchey is a major part of the running game. So it’s no surprise the team struggled without their two best run blockers.

OL: Jaylon Moore 60, Jake Brendel 60, Aaron Banks 51, Spencer Burford 50, Daniel Brunskill 46, Mike McGlinchey 22, Blake Hance 9

Garoppolo wasn’t sacked and only hit on three of his 42 dropbacks. Despite the shuffling upfront, the line deserves credit. What you can’t have is your center commit three penalties. When the team is banged up, the last thing the offense can afford is 2nd & 15.

Brunskill was credited with four pressures from PFF. He came in and played right tackle — a position he hasn’t been at since 2019 — on the fly. We’ll find out the extent of McGlinchey’s injury, but it’s telling that Brunskill went in at right tackle over Blake Hance, who allowed two pressures in nine snaps at left guard.

Pass catchers: George Kittle, 59, Brandon Aiyuk 55, Deebo Samuel 50, Ray-Ray McCloud 20, Jauan Jennings 19, Willie Snead 5

Brandon Aiyuk saw 11 targets against the Falcons. That was the most he’d been targeted in a game since November 15, 2020. Sunday showed you can run your offense threw Aiyuk. He was matched up against A.J. Terrell, an All-Pro last year, and won time after time. Aiyuk caught eight of his 11 targets for 83 yards, including 36 coming after the catch.

I loved the deep shot to BA the offense took. He didn’t catch it, but those should happen once a game. I did not love the deep play to McCloud. Isn’t that the reason the 49ers drafted Danny Gray? To be their home run hitter? McCloud doesn’t look comfortable catching the ball. It speaks volumes that Gray cannot play over him.

Kittle had nine targets, and caught eight of them, but the one target to Woerner should be to Kittle ten out of ten times. Those were my two biggest gripes from Sunday. Deebo had ten targets and forced nine missed tackles. Using him underneath and over the middle makes the most sense with how the 49ers function on offense.

Defense - 58 total snaps

DL: Samson Ebukam 47, Charles Omenihu 41, Kevin Givens 40, Akeem Spence 37, Hassan Ridgeway 28, Kerry Hyder 21, Kemoko Turay 14, Drake Jackson 12

I almost considered omitting the defense since this reads more like a preseason game once you list the names. Spence didn’t join the team until after training camp began. This was the first game all season where the pass rush didn’t register a quarterback hit. They sacked Marcus Mariota three times, but pressuring him was few and far between.

LBs: Dre Greenlaw 58, Fred Warner 58, Oren Burks 26, Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles 7

This was by far and away the worst game for the linebackers this season. It seemed as though Warner was trying to do too much. He was trying to do other people’s jobs to make up for the absences of multiple starters. And because of that, the rest of the team suffered.

Greenlaw has been a monster against the run all year, but that wasn’t the case Sunday. Instead, he and Warner combined to miss three tackles and looked out of sorts.

Secondary: Tashaun Gipson 57, Deommodore Lenoir 57, Talanoa Hufanga 49, Samuel Womack 36, Mooney Ward 22, Dontae Johnson 18, George Odum 6, Tarvarius Moore 4

If you knew headed into this game that Womack and Lenoir would have to win their 1-on-1 matchups against Drake London and Kyle Pitts, you’d assume the game ended the way it did. The 49ers, for the first time, were outclassed. That’s not to say it’ll be a recurring theme, but your fifth-rounders matched up against a pair of top-10 picks usually won’t end well.

Here’s to hoping Ward’s groin injury doesn’t keep him out for multiple weeks. Also, the Niners hope Jason Verrett’s body responds to practice this week. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case last week, so they had to shut him down.

If Verrett and Ward are out, it’ll be a young secondary against Patrick Mahomes.