49ers game review: How defensive coordinator Raheem Morris got by with crew of just-arrived guys

On Sunday, on the game-opening drive, the Arizona Cardinals faced 3rd-and-15 from the San Francisco 49ers‘ 41-yard line.

And Arizona quarterback Jacoby Brissett was facing a defense with a unique look for 3rd-and-long. Before the snap, the 49ers had eight defenders within a few yards of the line of scrimmage, and their five-man front included linebackers Fred Warner and Jaden Dugger.

At the snap, Dugger and in-the-box safety Ji’Ayir Brown dropped into coverage while cornerback Upton Stout and linebacker Dre Greenlaw blitzed through the left side of the Cardinals’ overwhelmed offensive line. The result: Greenlaw hit Brissett in mid-throw, forcing an incompletion and a punt.

To be clear, this wasn’t a particularly memorable play in the 49ers’ 36-30 win. But it was part of a game-opening sequence in which defensive coordinator Raheem Morris helped win the game.

The 49ers, of course, arrived Sunday with a threadbare defensive line that was without All-Pro pass rusher Nick Bosa and five others who were among the nine on the team’s initial 53-man roster. At one point Sunday, 75% of the 49ers’ four-man front consisted of Naquan Jones, Viliami Fehoko and Sebastian Valdez. The correct response: Who?

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Niners defensive lineman Khalid Kareem tackles Cardinals running back Jeremiyah Love on Sunday at Levi’s Stadium. Kareem was signed this month just before the team’s season opener. (Icon Sportswire/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Still, despite playing with a large group of just-arrived guys, the 49ers didn’t allow a point for the first 26-plus minutes. And that was partly because Morris kept finding creative ways to get the Cardinals off the field. Arizona opened with punts on its first three possessions while the 49ers took a 14-0 lead they never relinquished.

Before the Cardinals’ third punt, Fox analyst Daryl Johnston said Morris was giving Arizona “fits.”

That was after the Cardinals’ second drive ended when they faced 3rd-and-7 from their 44-yard line. This time, Morris employed a five-man front with Warner at right defensive tackle and Keion White playing stand-up nose tackle. The Cardinals double-teamed White, which allowed Warner to barge into the backfield unblocked. Running back Tyler Allgeier tried to stop the full-head-of-steam All-Pro – it wasn’t a fair fight – and Warner drilled Brissett as the QB heaved a deep incompletion off his back foot.

On Arizona’s third possession, the Cardinals faced 3rd-and-13 from their 26. Brissett faced a five-man front with Warner at left defensive tackle. At the snap, however, Warner dropped into coverage, Greenlaw blitzed and Brissett, under heavy pressure, was forced to flip a 4-yard pass to Allgeier to avoid a sack.

“Right now, I’m going to (give the) advantage to San Francisco‘s D-line,” Johnston said. “Arizona’s offensive line hasn’t been able to establish control of that line of scrimmage.”

That didn’t last. The 49ers defense finished by failing to get off the field. The Cardinals scored 30 points on their final seven drives, had possession for 38-plus minutes and the gassed 49ers logged 87 snaps.

Still, Morris helped buy some time with many no-name guys. Before the offense sealed the win with two late touchdown drives, the defense helped set it up by not allowing a touchdown for the first 41 minutes.

“We were able to change up our (defensive) fronts throughout the game,” head coach Kyle Shanahan said. “We asked a lot of them considering the circumstances. I thought it was a real successful game for them.”

• QB Brock Purdy is off to a torrid start. But his most impressive pass of the season was an incompletion.

QB Brock Purdy is off to a torrid start. But his most impressive pass of the season was an incompletion.

In the second quarter, after he was chased to the right sideline by defensive tackle Dante Stills, Purdy jumped above the sideline and uncorked a mid-air missile that sliding tight end Luke Farrell corralled at the 46-yard line. Farrell was ruled out of bounds, but Shanahan considered throwing a challenge flag when the video scoreboard appeared to show Farrell’s knee in bounds when he made the catch.

Purdy ended up about 10 yards out of bounds trying to see over his teammates on the sideline, hoping his jump pass would result in a completion.

“It ended up being a hell of a throw,” Shanahan said. “And it was a hell of a job that we can even have considered that (Farrell) got in. I feel like he did.”

Farrell did have a moment. Not that many people noticed.

The 82-yard hook-and-lateral touchdown from Purdy to Mike Evans to Deebo Samuel resulted in six points because Farrell walled off cornerback Max Melton, which allowed Samuel to have clear sailing down the left sideline.

George Kittle, who never missed an opportunity to praise a tight end, made sure his position mate received credit.

“The unsung hero,” Kittle said, “really is Luke Farrell.”

• One of Purdy’s worst throws was a completion. Thanks to Christian McCaffrey, who owns three of the seven 100-catch seasons by a running back in NFL history.

One of Purdy’s worst throws was a completion. Thanks to Christian McCaffrey, who owns three of the seven 100-catch seasons by a running back in NFL history.

After the Cardinals closed to within 29-27 with 2:51 left, Purdy opened the next drive by throwing an off-target short pass that McCaffrey effortlessly snagged with his right hand before he turned upfield for an 11-yard gain. It launched a seven-play, 65-yard touchdown drive to end Arizona’s comeback hopes.

It was part of a brilliant second half for McCaffrey, who helped fill the void with Evans sidelined with a rib injury. At one point, McCaffrey had consecutive runs of 14, 10, 9 and 12 yards.

His sensational second half began painfully. Early in the third quarter, McCaffrey was smacked in the facemask on a tackle attempt by Melton. McCaffrey broke the tackle on a 12-yard reception, but he needed to adjust his askew helmet in mid-run and he emerged from the game with a laceration on his lip and a hoarse voice.

“I did the lip and the throat (on the same play) – that’s why my voice sounds like this – when I got hit in the face,” McCaffrey said.

• Wide receivers are coached to have “late hands.” That is, they don’t want to alert defensive backs a ball is being thrown their way by raising their hands too soon. And Evans offered a textbook example on his 23-yard touchdown catch in the second quarter.

Wide receivers are coached to have “late hands.” That is, they don’t want to alert defensive backs a ball is being thrown their way by raising their hands too soon. And Evans offered a textbook example on his 23-yard touchdown catch in the second quarter.

After Evans got a step on cornerback Denzel Burke with an inside jab step, he broke to the right corner of the end zone and didn’t move his hands until after Purdy’s pass plopped in them.

“Mike didn’t even seem to move on the play,” Shanahan said, “and the ball just stuck in there.”

• Eddy Piñeiro ended the first half by drilling a 57-yard field goal that gave the 49ers a 17-6 halftime lead.

Eddy Piñeiro ended the first half by drilling a 57-yard field goal that gave the 49ers a 17-6 halftime lead.

And then Piñeiro missed two 33-yard extra-point attempts in the second half, pulling one left before pushing one that doinked off the right upright.

“It was such a big-time kick,” Shanahan said of Piñeiro’s 57-yarder. “I was going to probably give him a game ball or something, but he ruined that with the two extra points missed.”

Make the long one and miss the chip shots? It’s tempting to say it’s inexplicable. But it’s been a theme throughout Piñeiro’s 87-game career. Consider: His career field goal percentage (89.3) ranks second in NFL history. His career extra-point percentage (91.0) ranks 22nd among active kickers.

“He’s got to get that cleaned up,” Shanahan said.