The 49ers went into Sunday’s game in Jacksonville with a low margin of error. A win was necessary, but a blowout win over the lowly Jaguars would give the 49ers hope to seriously contend for a playoff spot. Their resounding 30:10 beatdown of the Jags with two wins puts San Francisco in a mesmerizing position that is moving forward.
Some food stalls on Sunday:
A win over Jacksonville was no news for the 49ers in a vacuum. They thoroughly knocked out an inferior opponent, but climbed back to .500 and got into the heat of the playoff race. At 5-5, the 49ers are linked to No. 6 seed Minnesota and No. 7 seed New Orleans. San Francisco is home to the Vikings in Week 12 and the Santa Clara playoff chase is well underway.
The 49ers won the sales battle for the second straight week with two takeaways and no giveaways against the Jaguars. Giveaways sparked their home defeat to the Cardinals, and ball security has helped them implement their game plan for the past two weeks, hitting opposing defenses with sustained strikes. They used a couple of early takeaways to jump in front of the Rams and they used an early takeaway against the Jaguars to improve two points. In their last two defeats, the 49ers are in the sales column with minus 5. They are plus-5 in their last three wins.
Third downs were a big problem for the 49ers for nine weeks. You’ve been money in those spots for the last two games, however. They converted 14 out of 26 in those two weeks thanks to a consistent running game that put the Offense in a favorable second and third place. They were 6 out of 12 Sunday. A conversion in a clip at or above 50 percent will allow the 49ers to win many games on the line.
It seems that the 49ers have established an identity. You will exhaust the defense with a consistent mix of indoor and outdoor runs. If they do, it puts them in manageable situations on the second and third down and opens the playbook to some of the exotic runs they do with Deebo Samuel. Firing long attack urges shortens the games and makes enemy attacks more one-dimensional. That formula won’t work every week, but it’s the identity that the 49ers have been missing all season.
It doesn’t matter that much, but the 49ers won the city of Jacksonville for the first time ever on Sunday. Their first two games in northeast Florida were defeats and their last away game against the Jaguars was played at Wembley Stadium in London. This time the 49ers went to TIAA Bank Field and took the franchise’s first win there.
While Samuel took on the star running back role against Jacksonville, that left a void at the top of the receiver depth chart. Brandon Aiyuk filled that spot by overtaking all seven of his goals for 85 yards and a touchdown. That nearly matched the nine catches for 96 yards and a touchdown he scored in the first six games together. It will be really hard to stop the 49ers when Aiyuk is another legitimate threat to pass catching teams that teams have to grapple with.
