Are the 49ers truly tilting?
Liz Loza and Matt Harmon outline the key takeaways from the San Francisco 49ers 10-17 loss to the Arizona Cardinals.
Hear the full conversation on the Yahoo Fantasy Football Forecast. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher or wherever you listen.
Video Transcript
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LIZ LOZA: You dubbed the conundrum of the 49ers as the Niners turn. I think you can even say, as the tilt continues.
MATT HARMON: Yeah.
LIZ LOZA: That's about right. Let's talk about the 40--
MATT HARMON: As the Niners tilt.
LIZ LOZA: "As the Niners tilt" is the perfect way to describe what's been happening. I know it's been difficult for you because you had a lot of emotional and fantasy investment equity in this squad. Trey Lance--
MATT HARMON: I hate myself for that.
LIZ LOZA: [LAUGHS] --made his first professional start. And last week, we talked about how-- Kyle Shanahan did the press conference. He was like, what you guys saw with Jimmy G is not what we're going to do with Trey, obs. We're going to open things. We're going to change the whole thing. Just you wait. I mean, I know George Kittle wasn't out there. Really, you just ran your quarterback like he was a running back, and he recorded close to 90 yards.
MATT HARMON: Yep. That was the change of the game plan, was that they were going to just turn Trey Lance--
LIZ LOZA: We're just not going to throw the ball.
MATT HARMON: Yeah, we're going to just-- well, they still threw the ball 29 times. I mean, like--
LIZ LOZA: Right. Yeah. That's true.
MATT HARMON: They still threw the ball 29 times but--
LIZ LOZA: Just not effectively.
MATT HARMON: Not well, yeah. It looked ugly. I mean, it's just this offense is tough to watch. At least the difference, though, between Jimmy Garoppolo and Trey Lance is that Trey Lance is going to throw that thing downfield. 10.5 air yards per attempt for Trey Lance, brutal. When it comes to completion percentage over expectation, not good for the second straight week, -8.3 completion percentage over expectation. So, not what you want to see there.
They threw the ball downfield, but they did not throw the ball efficiently. I think Trey Lance, from a timing perspective, is not quite there, which, again, makes sense when you consider the guy is super green. He's super young. Didn't play football, but for one BS little game last year. So this is definitely a growing and developing player.
I just don't know how I feel about them-- the over/under on his rush attempts was like 7.5 or something. That was silly. Lance was going to clear that number, no matter what. But still, running him this much-- and he doesn't really clearly have a sense of how to protect himself, just yet, either. He was taking some brutal hits, which, when you're running as the option guy that much, that is going to happen. So I don't know. I mean, Trey Sermon, forget about it. That guy touches the ball, that was like--
LIZ LOZA: Oh, girl, what the--
MATT HARMON: I cannot tell you how many people asked me questions all week like, which 49er is back, Mitchell or Sermon? I'm like, guys, I don't know. How do you expect me to know? I have no frickin' clue what Shanahan is going to do with these guys. But I was like, we will know for sure after this game. I don't know how to tell you any better than that. But we'll know, after this game is over. Boom, we know Elijah Mitchell's-- I think. I mean, I think we know Eli Mitchell is the preferred back, over Trey Sermon, because he's just-- which. I mean, Shanahan, you traded up for Trey Sermon, man. I don't know what we're doing here. But the juice that Eli Mitchell has, I guess, is just the preferred option right now.
LIZ LOZA: So, basically, without Jeff Wilson available, Trey Lance is the power option in this backfield. There is no--
MATT HARMON: So weird.
LIZ LOZA: Sermon, I think, runs in a determined way, but I definitely wouldn't call him a power back.
MATT HARMON: Yeah.
LIZ LOZA: And Mitchell, obviously, is Mostert light, right, the speed guy.
MATT HARMON: And already been hurt.
LIZ LOZA: Correct. Obviously, Shanahan has a type, but you got to find some balance. And I just don't think there's much balance here, at all. Even the receivers have so much, between Samuel and the man who we can no longer name per [INAUDIBLE], have a lot of overlap in their skill set, which is why you need a player-- it became very clear that you need a George Kittle. You need a big body, [INAUDIBLE] who can be a little bit more physical. Not the Deebo's not physical, but just more physical in a different way and really--
MATT HARMON: Yeah, not a downfield ball winner.
LIZ LOZA: Right, and also help out your rookie, with just a big body over the middle that he can chuck it to and feel comfortable, or at least gain some confidence with.
MATT HARMON: Aiyuk, at this point, he's like a downfield receiver, too. And Trey Lance does not look very good as a downfield passer.
LIZ LOZA: That's a good point. Yeah.
MATT HARMON: I have no idea. I mean, even Deebo, he gets nine targets, only catches three. He got lucky that they literally lined him up at running back and pitched him a ball. I would be nervous if I-- I mean, listen, you're already nervous if you have Brandon Aiyuk on your fantasy team. Your probably already nervous if you have George Kittle on your fantasy team because he did nothing, and then he got hurt. And he's out for the next couple of games. Deebo, I'm nervous about.
I feel like we're in the wilderness with this offense, where I'm ready to believe anything. Because all of these players are talented-- Aiyuk, Kittle, Samuel, these guys are good-- something's going to work out in the backfield. And Trey Lance, I do believe, has the physical talent. I'm ready to believe that, by November and December, this offense looks good. It's humming. And I'm also ready to believe that it looks like the slog that it was today for the next few months. I'm ready to believe anything.
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