The 49ers were not at their sharpest coming off their victory in Mexico. They made plenty of mistakes and seemed discombobulated at times. There was one sequence where they lined up offsides on offense, then wasted a timeout. Later on the drive, an Elijah Mitchell touchdown was negated by a hold. They were also stuffed on a fourth-and-1, and they had another big gain nullified by a hold.
And yet, none of this mattered because the Saints didn’t score a single point. New Orleans made its own mistakes, particularly in the red zone. The Saints didn’t threaten to score early in the game, but that changed in the fourth quarter when New Orleans made two trips deep into San Francisco territory. One concluded when Alvin Kamara lost his second fumble of the game. The other drive was ruined by an Andy Dalton sack.
Christian McCaffrey was a major disappointment in this game. He rushed for just 32 yards on 11 carries, and he caught four passes for only 17 receiving yards. McCaffrey left the game early with some sort of a knee injury, which is why Mitchell (7-35) and Jordan Mason (5-25) had so much work late in the game.
Jimmy Garoppolo went 26-of-37 for 222 yards and a touchdown. He was fortunate that an interception of his was negated by a defensive holding penalty.
Garoppolo’s sole touchdown went to Jauan Jennings (6-49), who caught the pass after Tyrann Mathieu tipped the ball into the air. The only 49er with more receiving yards was Brandon Aiyuk (5-65). Meanwhile, Deebo Samuel (3-43) and George Kittle (3-26) frustrated their fantasy owners. Samuel got hurt on one play, but didn’t miss much action. Kittle was charged with a holding penalty that nullified a touchdown.
Speaking of disappointing fantasy stars, Kamara rushed for only 13 yards on seven carries. He caught six passes, but accumulated only 37 receiving yards in the process. As mentioned, he lost two fumbles, one of which was at the San Francisco 1-yard line.
Dalton had a miserable showing as well, going 18-of-29 for only 204 yards. He struggled to move the chains until the fourth quarter. His only viable receiver was Chris Olave, who was robbed of a catch by a bad replay review. Olave (5-62) drew a defensive hold in the end zone.
