Often times in the NFL the scoreboard doesn’t tell the whole story. But you’d be hard-pressed to misinterpret this one. Though Buffalo was only down seven through nearly a full half of play, a crucial fumble set up San Francisco to extend the lead to 14 at the half. From that point on, it was like reliving the nightmare from last week for the Bills — the 49ers scored a touchdown on all four of their second half drives. Buffalo has done little this year to convince us that they’re really the team that started last season 5-2. Instead they look more like the team that lost eight of their last nine games in 2011.
San Francisco couldn’t have come out looking much better. Despite a sluggish start marred by a penchant for drive-killing penalties (all seven were offensive), the 49ers’ defense only let the Bills cross midfield on three drives, and prevented points on two of those. San Francisco had success with both the running and passing games, and accumulated a franchise-record 611 total yards. With four of their next five games at home, the 49ers look poised to separate from the rest of the highly competitive NFC West.
Buffalo – Three Performances of Note
A Disappointing Defensive Line
There’s plenty of blame to go around when you give up 45 points to an opposing offense. But when you get gashed for 300 yards on the ground alone, the defensive line is the first place you look. Such was the case with the Bills. Often one of the better tandems of defensive tackles, Kyle Williams (-4.0) and Marcell Dareus (-7.1) fell completely flat against San Francisco’s mauling offensive line. The pair generated just a single hurry and failed to record a stop. San Francisco’s interior line faced little resistance when trying to displace them, and Alex Carrington (-1.5) didn’t fare any better when he came in to relieve them.
While the defensive interior was dreadful, the defensive ends were merely bad. Journeyman Mark Anderson (-6.1) drew a complete blank on the pass rushing stat sheet, and conformed to the rest of the line in getting bullied against the run. Rotational lineman Chris Kelsay managed a -2.4 grade in only 26 snaps, with a lone tackle to his name. Only the prize of the 2012 free-agent class, Mario Williams (0.2), didn’t completely underwhelm. He managed slightly better in the run game, mostly against Anthony Davis (+0.3), and was responsible for half of Buffalo’s eight quarterback disruptions. Not a bad performance, but when you give a guy $50 million guaranteed, you tend to expect more than just ‘not bad.’
Consistently Inconsistent
Heading into Week 5, Ryan Fitzpatrick led all quarterbacks with 12 touchdown passes. But with Fitzpatrick the bad comes with the good, as his seven interceptions were tied for second most. San Francisco’s stifling defense saw Fitzpatrick compile a -4.8 grade. He couldn’t take advantage of what the 49ers gave him, and on several occasions threw behind receivers or missed them entirely. He had no success throwing down the field either. On passes over 10 yards in the air, he completed only one of five, with an interception.
The interception was baffling to watch. With 7:10 left in the third quarter, and first-and-10 from the 49ers’ 20-yard line, Fitzpatrick had Donald Jones on the right side one-on-one with corner Chris Culliver. Pre-snap, Dashon Goldson cheated up to the line, and gave the look of a single high safety. Culliver was in press coverage, but Jones managed a relatively free outside release and stacked Culliver behind him within 10 yards. Instead of throwing to the back pylon where Jones would have a reasonable chance to score, Fitzpatrick lobbed the ball off his back foot and it was so far underthrown even Culliver had to completely stop and come back to make the interception. The Bills will struggle if Fitzpatrick continues to turn scoring opportunities into interceptions.
Pocket Space
The rest of the team may have been falling apart around them, but Buffalo’s offensive line held strong against a formidable 49er front seven (or front six, as it was most of the game). Although Eric Wood (-4.4) had a rough outing in both pass blocking (four disruptions) and the run game, the rest of the line combined to concede just two hurries and one hit, and graded out at +4.8. Pass rushing stars Justin Smith and Aldon Smith were held to just three total pressures. Only Ahmad Brooks was able to do much of anything to upset Fitzpatrick, as he tallied a sack, a hit, and two hurries on his 20 rushes. Unfortunately, this solid display by Buffalo’s offensive line was wasted in an otherwise dismal performance.
San Francisco – Three Performances of Note
Trench Warfare
To say the 49ers’ offensive line got the better of Buffalo’s defensive line would be a massive understatement. Every offensive lineman that got playing time for San Francisco graded positively, and four of those lineman graded +3.2 or higher for their run blocking. The 49ers effortlessly relocated Buffalo’s normally stout defensive line out of running lanes, and allowed runners to pick up a combined 311 yards rushing, though they only forced three missed tackles. Against Williams and company, the 49ers’ offensive line kept a clean pocket, and allowed only four total pressures (no sacks) on 32 pass blocking snaps.
As if the offensive line’s dominance wasn’t enough, Bruce Miller (+3.5 run block) got the better of nearly all of Buffalo’s linebackers at some point. Delanie Walker (+1.1 run block) and undrafted free-agent Garrett Celek (+1.5 run block) repeatedly prevented Bills’ linebackers and defensive ends from sealing the edge on outside runs, and so helped create big gains when Buffalo lost contain.
Game Manager?
Maybe it’s his lack of gaudy stats, or possibly an unfair comparison with another quarterback drafted in the first round of 2005, but in the view of the fans and media, Alex Smith has become almost the prototypical ‘game manager.’ But Smith (+5.8 passing) did much more than ‘manage’ the game against the Bills. He punished Buffalo’s loose downfield coverage, and completed 9 of 10 balls thrown over 10 yards in the air for 234 yards and all three of his touchdowns. His QB rating of 156.3 speaks for itself.
Smith’s favorite targets were Michael Crabtree (+2.8) and Vernon Davis (+2.7), and with good reason. Crabtree (113 yards) and Davis (106 yards) had no trouble finding holes in the Bills’ secondary. Excellent ball placement, such as the deep touch pass to Davis with 10:02 left in the first quarter, allowed his receivers to pick up significant yardage after the catch.
Area of Expertise
The strength of the 49ers’ defense in recent years has been its linebacker corps, and this game didn’t disappoint. Possibly the best two inside linebackers in the game, and comfortably the best starting pair, NaVorro Bowman (+3.6) and Patrick Willis (+2.5) recorded nine of San Francisco’s 19 defensive stops. Willis allowed four of five balls thrown into his coverage to be completed, but only for 21 yards. Those receivers who managed a catch in his coverage averaged only one yard after the catch. Bowman didn’t allow any completions and managed to break up a pass. Brooks recorded four disruptions and the 49ers’ only sack on Fitzpatrick. If there’s one knock on this unit, it’s that Aldon Smith was held to two pressures (both hits), falling a bit short of what we’re used to seeing from him.
Game Notes
— All 11 of the 49ers' defensive starters (in the nickel package) played at least 40 of a possible 47 snaps. Of San Francisco’s four missed tackles, only one came from this group.
— Five different Buffalo defenders gave up a completion of at least 20 yards.
— If Alex Smith had allowed Mario Williams to sack him on his final pass attempt (11:32 to go in the fourth) rather than throwing the ball away, he would have ended up with a perfect 158.3 passer rating.
Game Ball
As good as Alex Smith was, it’s hard to ignore how San Francisco’s offensive line manhandled a talented Buffalo front four. Over 300 yards on the ground, eight y/c between the tackles, and a +16.3 grade more than justify the game ball going to the 49ers’ big men.
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