The San Francisco 49ers are undefeated no more. San Francisco's undefeated season came to an end in a brutal 29-20 loss against Atlanta. The 49ers were competitive to start the game, but were outscored 17-6 in the second half.
So what exactly went wrong for San Fran on Sunday? And should fans be worried after the team's first loss of the season?
Here are the 49ers most to blame for their surprising loss to the Falcons in Week 7.
San Francisco's offensive injuries really showed in Week 7
It's not really possible to assign blame to injuries necessarily. That said, there's no question they've played a huge role in San Francisco's season thus far.
The 49ers did not have Mike Evans or Deebo Samuel available in Week 7. San Francisco showed that they can only do so much with the next man up and multiple skill positions.
When looking at the box score it appears that the 49ers did a surprisingly good job. Purdy finished 27-of-40 passing for 288 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions. He accomplished this with Christian McCaffrey and George Kittle as his primary weapons. Beyond them, the 49ers had to rely on rookie Kaelon Black, Jordan Watkins, Jacob Cowing, and Brandin Cooks.
McCaffrey briefly left this game with a thigh injury, showing just how close the 49ers are to complete disaster.
Credit where it is due for San Francisco doing so well despite several players being on injured reserve. Aside from placing blame on injuries themselves, Kyle Shanahan and the coaches aren't doing enough to prepare their backups for action. Even that feels like nitpicking though when injuries are the real problem.
Penalties, lack of complementary football helped the Falcons pull away from the 49ers
San Francisco deserves credit for hanging with Atlanta for as long as they did. But their litany of mistakes eventually came back to haunt them.
The 49ers committed seven penalties for 55 yards against the Falcons. Three of those penalties came on a crucial drive during the second half. San Francisco's mental mistakes gave Atlanta multiple first downs and helped them drive down the field. Ultimately, Michael Penix Jr. connected with Drake London on a touchdown pass that put Atlanta up 26-14 at the start of the fourth quarter.
Obviously the 49ers defense deserves a lot of the blame here. But it should be noted that they were on the field a ton before that sequence. If the offense was able to control the clock better then the defense may not have been so gassed. At the same time, San Francisco should expect their defense to be able to handle a middling team like Atlanta. Even in an unfavorable position like that.
The 49ers did a great job of ensuring Bijan Robinson didn't kill them with explosive plays. Ironically, it ended up costing them when the Falcons maintained possession for long stretches instead of benefitting from chunk plays.
The 49ers committed too many turnovers to survive the Falcons
The 49ers lost two fumbles and threw two interceptions against the Falcons. They could not force a turnover of their own, resulting in a -4 turnover differential. It doesn't take a football genius to realize that it is almost impossible to win a game in that scenario.
In such a close game, even one of those turnovers not happening could have changed the outcome of this one. To be fair, two of those turnovers were the result of Kendal Daniels making plays as opposed to poor execution. But one crucial turnover turned the tide against them in the second half.
Purdy explained what happened on one interception that set up Atlanta's extended drive in the third quarter.
“Yeah, I thought maybe Christian Kirk on the scramble was gonna be there, but towards the end of the throw, as I was going to throw I was like, no it's not, and sort of went to just throw it away by the sideline, and then Bates all of a sudden came across and made a play, and I was like, you gotta be kidding me,” Purdy said after the game, per David Lombardi. “So in that moment, man, I gotta completely throw the ball away if I'm not gonna make an attempt to a receiver.”
Purdy deserves blame for his part in this turnover fest. There's also some blame due for the defense for not forcing a turnover of their own.
Ultimately, nothing went right for the 49ers when it mattered most on Sunday. The best thing to do now is bury the game tape and move on to the next game.