The 49ers are heading into their bye week on a seriously sour note, as they squandered a winnable game in Atlanta with self-inflicted wounds, offensive line breakdowns, a no-show from the defensive line, and backbreaking turnovers to fall 29-20.

In short: the Niners beat themselves.

The secondary was a horror show. Jack Jones couldn’t stop grabbing jerseys until he got benched, while Ji’Ayir Brown took atrocious angles. Up front, Connor Colby was a turnstile, wiping out big runs and surrendering free-running sacks. The offense had four turnovers, including two from Brock Purdy. And they even added a missed extra point for good measure.

And yet this team had every opportunity to win. If only they could get out of their own way.

Here are the studs and suds from a real thud of a performance:

Studs 💪

Christian McCaffrey • Running BackNiners coach Kyle Shanahan saw that Atlanta’s had two rookie linebackers, looked at his wide receiver depth chart, and made a simple call before the game started: He’d use as much McCaffrey as possible.

The issue? McCaffrey really only played in the first and fourth quarters.

McCaffrey had 39 yards and a touchdown on seven carries, the score coming on an opening-drive fourth-and-goal leap into the endzone. He added six receptions on seven targets for 61 yards, highlighted by a 24-yard chunk catch and a tough six-yard conversion to the 1-yard line in the fourth quarter.

George Kittle • Tight EndKittle was Brock Purdy’s cleanest chain-mover and a key blocker in the run game. He sealed the perimeter on McCaffrey’s early rushes, executed routes with perfect timing on third downs, and torched Jessie Bates for a 20-yard strike over the middle in the third quarter. Kittle hauled in eight of 10 targets for 89 yards. Yeah, there was a fumble late, but the game was over by then.

James Thompson Jr. • Defensive TackleThompson provided immediate interior disruption upon entering the rotation on a day where the Niners’ defensive line was a non-factor. On Atlanta’s opening possession of the third quarter, he single-handedly anchored the front against the run: shedding his block to drop Bijan Robinson for a 1-yard gain, rallying to tackle Kyle Pitts for a 2-yard gain, and plugging the A-gap against Khalil Herbert on consecutive snaps. If only the Niners’ defensive line had followed his lead.

Jordan Watkins • Wide ReceiverThe Niners’ primary perimeter option, which isn’t saying much, Watkins delivered San Francisco’s most explosive passing plays, finishing with three catches for 56 yards on six targets. He posted a nice 15-yard over route in the third quarter and tracked down a 35-yard deep post in the fourth. You have to ding him after he had an acrobatic 23-yard touchdown overturned on review, but his downfield vertical separation created the offense’s few clean, deep windows.

Fred Warner • LinebackerWarner’s sideline-to-sideline range produced multiple tackles for loss. He remains as good as it gets at the position — Robinson had only 63 yards on 20 carries Sunday.

Duds 📉

Jack Jones • CornerbackJones experienced a defensive meltdown on the boundary. Playing because Upton Stout couldn’t play with a shoulder injury, which shifted Deommodore Lenoir to the slot, Jones was benched by the end of the game for a rookie.

He was flagged for illegal contact on second-and-20, blew an underneath assignment on a 19-yard Robinson conversion, and surrendered a crushing 20-yard defensive pass interference penalty on a critical third-quarter third-and-8. And those were just the highlights. The Falcons targeted him for easy first downs on every extended scoring drive.

Ji’Ayir Brown • Free SafetyBrown was brutal on Sunday. Atlanta systematically hunted his zone depth: he whiffed on a perimeter tackle against Robinson, was consistently late (at one point Malik Mustapha made a tackle on Brown’s side of the field, despite having to run 30 more yards than Brown, who was not blocked), and posted no-show efforts to tackle, like the one that came on an erased 31-yard run from Robinson. Atlanta targeted him early and often and they were rewarded for that decision. It was a benchable performance amongst so many this season for Brown.

Brock Purdy • QuarterbackPurdy had two game-killing errors in this game. Did he have much help? No. Does a quarterback get that benefit of the doubt? No.

In the third quarter, an off-script scramble drill resulted in a totally unacceptable throw that was intercepted by Bates at the 10-yard line.

Purdy then sealed the loss with 2:42 remaining, locking onto Watkins on third-and-9 that was read perfectly for a game-sealing 29-yard interception by rookie Kendal Daniels.

The Niners needed an MVP performance from Purdy to win this game. That, for starters, means no turnovers. He didn’t come close to providing it.

Connor Colby • Left GuardColby struggled mightily across the interior. Maason Smith bullied him into the pocket for a first-half pass deflection, he wiped out a 10-yard McCaffrey run with an offensive holding flag, and then he surrendered an unblocked pass rush to Za’Darius Smith on fourth-and-10 for a four-yard sack that forced a turnover on downs. The Niners have a legitimate left-guard problem, again, with Colby regressing after a nice start for the second straight year.

Brandin Cooks • Wide ReceiverIn the fourth quarter, a third-and-9 slant route was all off with Purdy, falling incomplete. Then, trailing 26–20 with less than three minutes left in the game, Cooks committed a devastating false start on third-and-4 at the Atlanta 47, setting up the third-and-9 interception that put the game out of reach.

Eddy Pinero • KickerIt’d be ridiculous to suggest that Pinero’s extra-point miss in the fourth was the reason the Niners lost this game, but it sure didn’t help. Sunday was Pinero’s fourth missed extra point this season. Remember when the Niners quizzically gave the kicker — signed off the street in-season in 2025 — a four-year extension this past offseason? Well, if they cut him now, he’s a $6 million dead-cap hit for next year, when the Niners are a bit cap-strapped. Great work, everyone!