4. San Francisco 49ers
Sure, the game against the Baltimore Ravens will go down in the archives as a loss—in the same column as the Panthers, regardless if theirs was against Redskins.
But not all defeats are lesson-less throwaways, where each facet was so terrible that coaches start peeling off those achievement stickers from the player’s helmets—they don’t do that in the NFL anyway, but you get the point.
The 49ers played a strong game, on the road, in very rough weather. From the get-go, it was clear the Ravens’ defensive scheme would be to blitz Jimmy Garoppolo to the point of madness and force the 49ers QB to make quick decisions with almost zero time to do it. Blitz! Blitz! (Watch Lamar do his thing.) Blitz!
The 49ers’ offensive line, though not as highly regarded as the Ravens’ front, accepted the challenge and held their own. While the passing game wasn’t exactly lights out, the pressure that Baltimore hoped to achieve wasn’t strong enough to disrupt Garoppolo’s timing. He was sacked only twice—while that’s not indicative of the lineman per se, it’s definitely worth mentioning when they’re facing a Blitz-Bonanza.
And the run blocking was well above average, opening lanes for Raheem Mostert’s 149-yard outing.
GOT HEEEEM! @RMos_8Ball answers with the 40-yard TD.#ProBowlVote 🌊 pic.twitter.com/5Sq5OEJv56
— San Francisco 49ers (@49ers) December 1, 2019
Weston Richburg, Laken Tomlinson, Michael Person, Daniel Brunskill, and Mike McGlinchey: Although it was a loss, I think we’ve shown that your efforts are an example of what to do.