How Pff Graded Brock Purdy, 49ers' Position Groups In Week 15 Win Over Titans

How PFF graded Brock Purdy, 49ers' position groups in Week 15 win over Titans originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

The 49ers’ PFF grades show San Francisco’s defense has a few things to clean up after its 37-24 win over the Tennessee Titans on Sunday. 

The 49ers came out of the contest with a win but there were many inconsistencies from the group that was without Jordan Elliott after the lineman injured himself while warming up and was unable to play. Kevin Givens was tapped to take Elliott’s place which may have somewhat altered the rotation. 

Titans quarterback Cam Ward, who had been sacked more than any quarterback in the NFL coming into the game, was under pressure on just eight of his 29 dropbacks (27.6 percent) and the 49ers’ defense was unable to register a takedown. 

11 pressures

Alfred Collins – two hurries

Keion White – two hits 

Kalia Davis – two hurries 

Bryce Huff – two hurries 

Clelin Ferrell – one hit, one hurry

Robert Beal – one hurry

Maybe the most glaring issue for the defense was the 11 missed tackles charged to the group. Malik Mustapha and Alfred Collins were each charged with two missed tackles while Renardo Green, Dee Winters, Keion White, Robert Beal, Kalia Davis, Curtis Robinson and Bryce Huff all missed one. 

Missed tackles were partially responsible for Titans ball carrier Tony Pollard being able to rack up 104 yards on the ground. Pollard forced two missed tackles and teammate Tyjae Spears forced another two. Shanahan sees it as a opportunity as San Francisco moves forward. 

“I thought we had some missed tackles, too many of them,” Shanahan said. “Less than we did versus Cleveland, got a little better in that way, but not to be confused with good enough.” 

Tennessee’s running backs averaged 7.8 yards per carry and averaged 3.67 yards per carry before contact. Christian McCaffrey was allowed only 0.14 yards per carry before contact. 

Offense

The offensive line gave quarterback Brock Purdy an average of 3.44 seconds to throw, the highest since Week 5 of the 2024 season. When under pressure Purdy completed six of his 10 attempts for 72 yards, a touchdown and a 115.4 passer rating when under pressure. 

For the second game in a row, Purdy excelled in intermediate passes 10-19 yards downfield. He completed nine of this 14 attempts for 160 yards, one touchdown and a 127.1 passer rating. 

The Titans managed to rack up 19 pressures but the 49ers’ offensive line only allowed 10 total, three adiitional were charged to Purdy. Trent Williams whose 95.6 overall grade was the highest of his career, only allowed one hurry. 

Spencer Burford – one sack, three hurries

Jake Brendel – one hurry 

Dominic Puni – three hurries 

Colton McKivitz – one hurry 

Ricky Pearsall received the highest overall grade of his career of 88.0. Five of Pearsall’s six receptions resulted in a first down and 21 of the wideout’s 96 yards came after the catch. 

George Kittle received an 89.8 overall grade for his eight receptions on nine targets for 88 yards and a touchdown. 80 of Kittle’s 88 receiving yards came after the catch and the All-Pro forced two missed tackles. 

Christian McCaffrey again fought to get every yard, with 70 of his 73 rushing yards coming  after contact with nine yards being his longest run of the day.

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