San Francisco 49ers 10, Green Bay Packers 38: Grades

What happened to this team?

Nov 24, 2024; Green Bay, Wisconsin, USA; San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey (23) rushes with the football during the first quarter against the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Hanisch-Imagn Images / Jeff Hanisch-Imagn Images

GREEN BAY -- The 49ers just lost 38-10 to the Green Bay Packers. Here are the 49ers' grades for this performance.

QUARTERBACK: C-MINUS

Brandon Allen was decent considering he hadn't started a game in three years plus he played with a splint on the middle finger of his non-throwing hand. Despite his rust and his injury, he made some nice throws. But he also fumbled twice. Maybe if he didn't have a broken finger he would have held onto those balls. In addition, he threw an interception. I'm not saying the 49ers would have won if Joshua Dobbs had started, but he would have given the 49ers a better chance to win than Allen, simply because Dobbs has 10 healthy fingers plus he can scramble.

RUNNING BACKS: F

The 49ers did the Packers a favor every time they gave the ball to Christian McCaffrey. He fumbled and gained just 31 yards on 11 carries. Meanwhile, Jordan Mason gained 16 yards on one carry and then didn't get another one until garbage time. I'm guessing Kyle Shanahan is trying to justify the contract extension the 49ers gave to McCaffrey in the offseason by continuing to feature him in the offense, but featuring McCaffrey is killing the team. They were better before he returned.

FULLBACK: C

Caught one pass for 14 yards.

WIDE RECEIVERS: D

Jauan Jennings was solid -- he had 5 catches for 40 yards. Meanwhile, Deebo Samuel was awful. He dropped two passes, and one of his drops got intercepted. That was his fault. The 49ers need to bench him and start Ricky Pearsall who hasn't been targeted in two weeks.

TIGHT ENDS: A

George Kittle was the lone bright spot on the 49ers offense -- he had six catches for 82 yards and 1 touchdown. He's having the best season of his career and the 49ers are wasting it. What a shame.

OFFENSIVE LINEMEN: C

Dominick Puni committed three penalties by himself and collectively this group got manhandled by the Packers defensive line. Of course, Trent Williams' absence didn't help.

DEFENSIVE LINEMEN: D

Nick Bosa didn't play and the 49ers defense fell apart. To be fair, Leonard Floyd recorded two sacks, but the run defense in particular was atrocious.

LINEBACKERS: F

The 49ers missed 20 tackles. Of course, it wasn't just the linebackers who missed them. Still, they were awful, and Fred Warner made no impact yet again.

DEFENSIVE BACKS: D

They gave up two touchdown catches and would have given up a third if Christian Watson hadn't dropped an uncontested deep pass. In addition, Ji'Ayir Brown dropped a potential interception that could have swung the momentum in the 49ers' favor. He's having a terrible season. The 49ers really miss Talanoa Hufanga.

SPECIAL TEAMS: D

Deebo Samuel had an 87-yard kickoff return on the first play of the second half that got called back because of a holding penalty. In total, the 49ers lost 104 yards on special teams due to penalties. That's on-brand for the 2024 49ers.

COACHES: F

After the game, Kyle Shanahan immediately blamed the run defense for the loss. He did not blame himself for starting a rusty quarterback with an injured finger, nor did he blame himself for featuring the wrong running back. And that's because he never blames himself for anything. If Shanahan simply played the 49ers' best players, this team would not be 5-6. Either he's terrible at evaluating his own players or he's allowing roster politics to dictate who gets to be on the field. Either way, he's holding back his team. Any other coach -- hello, Bill Belichick -- would play the best players. That's what good coaches do. Now the 49ers have to go on a winning streak just to make the playoffs. And as long as Shanahan keeps running the offense through McCaffrey, the 49ers will lose. Let's see if Shanahan ever will adust.