It almost feels repetitive, but the 49ers may have had their best performance of the season Sunday against the Carolina Panthers. The running game got back on track with 232 yards on 38 carries. Jimmy Garoppolo threw just four incomplete passes, and the defense had seven sacks and forced three turnovers. All of this was en route to a 51-13 win, and the first 50-point performance from the 49ers since 2003.
There was plenty of good to talk about on both sides of the ball. Here are the studs and duds from Sunday’s win:
Stud: DL Nick Bosa
Where do we start with arguably the best defensive player on the 49ers? Do we start with the three tackles for loss, the three sacks, or the interception with a 46-yard return? Bosa now has 6.0 sacks in the last four games and a team-leading 7.0 for the season. He started the year slow with one sack in the first three weeks, but has exploded since the bye week when he recovered from a preseason ankle injury. He has the rare ability to take over the game on defense and he did that Sunday.
Stud: RB Tevin Coleman
Any time a player is put in the same sentence as Jerry Rice, they likely had a standout game. Coleman became the first 49ers player to have four touchdowns in game since Rice did it in 1990 per ESPN.
Coleman finished with 105 yards on 11 carries and two receptions for 13 yards, plus his four touchdowns – three on the ground and one receiving. His 48-yard touchdown run in the second quarter was the exclamation point on his historic day. Coleman single-handedly brought the 49ers’ run game back from the funk it was in the last two weeks when the team averaged just 2.95 yards per carry on the ground.
Dud: LT Justin Skule
It almost feels wrong finding a negative from such a dominating performance, but Skule had his worst game of the season Sunday. He’ll get dinged for one sack allowed, but he played a role in two of the three sacks allowed today. He gave up a pressure from Efe Obada that forced Garoppolo to step up in the pocket where a blitzing Eric Reid got to the quarterback. He then allowed Bruce Irvin to swim past him for another sack that resulted in a safety that almost turned the tide of the game.
Stud: QB Jimmy Garoppolo
This was the game that Garoppolo needed. Yes, he had a bad throw that resulted in an early interception, but the quarterback was solid otherwise. He finished completing 18-of-22 passes for 175 yards, two touchdowns, and an interception. His 111.2 passer rating was his highest since Week 3 against the Bengals. Sunday was the exact performance the 49ers need from Garoppolo. He was accurate, threw smart passes, and moved the ball down the field. As long as Garoppolo can do those things, the offense can have games where they explode like they did against Carolina.
Stud: LB Fred Warner
Christian McCaffrey finished with 117 yards on 14 carries. On the surface, that feels like a huge game, and it is, but 77 of those yards came on two attempts. Take those big runs away and McCaffrey only averaged 3.33 yards per carry. Warner played a huge part in slowing down Carolina’s MVP candidate. After having a career-low two tackles in Washington, Warner bounced back with six tackles Sunday. Of those six tackles, four came against McCaffrey, with the longest of those plays going for eight yards. The 49ers did fine against the offensive weapon and Warner played a big role in slowing him down.
Stud: DL Arik Armstead
It got lost a bit in Bosa’s dominant performance, but in terms of getting to the quarterback, Armstead was just as good. His career-year continued Sunday with two more sacks to add to what was already a career-best. Both of his sacks came on third downs early in the game before the 49ers took control of the game and ended Carolina drives. His first came following the Garoppolo interception and forced Carolina to kick a field goal. Armstead has been the biggest beneficiary of the 49ers’ improved pass rush, and he’s been a huge part of the improvement from the defense between this year and last.
