Browns scouting report: San Francisco 49ers
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Editor's note: Tony Grossi is an analyst on the Cleveland Browns for TheLandOnDemand.com and 850 ESPN Cleveland. He has covered the Browns since 1984.
Browns v. San Francisco 49ers
Sunday, 1 p.m., in Cleveland Browns Stadium
Record: 5-0.
Last game: Defeated Dallas Cowboys, 42-10, October 8, in Santa Clara, CA.
Coach: Kyle Shanahan, 57-46, seventh year.
Series record: Browns lead, 12-8.
Last meeting: 49ers won, 31-3, October 7, 2019, in Santa Clara.
League rankings: Offense is third overall (third rushing, eighth passing), defense is third overall (second rushing, 12th passing) and turnover differential is plus-7.
Things to watch
1. Goodness, where do we start? They’re second in offense with a scoring average of 33.4 and first in defense, yielding 13.6. So they’re winning games by an average margin of about 20 points a game. They’re tied for first with eight interceptions on defense and first with only two giveaways on offense. Oh, and they have a rookie kicker who hasn’t missed a kick, with a field goal long of 57 yards. The first coach who finds a weakness in this team should be fitted for a bronze bust in Canton.
2. How many teams have two leading contenders for defensive player-of-the-year? Defensive end Nick Bosa is the reigning DPOY. But the truth is, linebacker Fred Warner is a more legitimate candidate this season through five games. Warner makes plays everywhere on the field. His game against Dallas was fairly typical – led the team in tackles, punched out a fumble, had a sack and had an interception. On one play, Warner covered speedy wideout Brandin Cooks 30 yards downfield.
3. The offensive machine built by Kyle Shanahan has now scored 30 or more points in 12 of its last 15 regular-season games – all wins, by the way. Shanahan schemes players open with mismatches created by the versatility of his key playmakers. Running back Christian McCaffrey (510 rushing yards, 5.2 average, 7 touchdowns) runs pass routes like a receiver, and receiver Deebo Samuel (20 receptions, 15.1-yard average) emulates a running back as a ball-carrier (84 rushing yards, 5.3 average). George Kittle (3 TD v. Dallas) doubles as the best blocking tight end in the league and deep threat receiver Brandon Aiyuk averages 18.0 yards per catch. Did we mention Trent Williams is the best left tackle in the business?
Brock Purdy is an insane story, a seventh-round draft pick emerging as legit MVP candidate in his second season, quarterbacking an undefeated juggernaut.
4. Which brings us to phenom quarterback Brock Purdy. The last pick of the 2022 draft is now 10-0 in his brief career in regular-season starts, completing 69.3 percent of his passes for 22 touchdowns v. 4 interceptions. His passer rating in all 10 games is 114.4. Purdy won two playoff starts last season and then suffered a torn elbow ligament in the NFC Championship Game, which the 49ers lost to Philadelphia. After offseason surgery, Purdy has been better than ever. In his five starts this season, he has a passer rating of 123.1 built on 72.1 percent completions, 9 touchdowns and 0 interceptions. His uncanny poise, accuracy and processing speed – while possessing no “plus” physical traits – is rapidly bringing sacrilegious comparisons to Joe Montana.
5. The only issues on the team beginning the season were at offensive right tackle and nickel back. On those counts, Colton McKivitz recovered from allowing three sacks to T.J. Watt in the opener and has been good since, and Isaiah Oliver and Deommodore Lenoir have been more than adequate alternating at nickel back; each has an interception on a pass defense yielding a scant 5.48 yards per pass attempt.
Did you know … ?
1. Purdy has had only one fourth-quarter or overtime comeback among his 10 wins because the 49ers are always ahead.
2. An early frontrunner for MVP honors, Purdy ranks 45th on the 49ers’ pay scale with a salary cap number of $889,252. QB2 Sam Darnold is 11th ($5.052m) and QB3 Brandon Allen is 36th ($1.092). The 49ers can’t even extend Purdy’s contract, per NFL rules, until after 2024. His low salary enables the 49ers to spend on superstars at other positions, like recent acquisitions Javon Hargrave and McCaffrey, etc.
3. Purdy’s unforeseen emergence as an MVP candidate has made the 49ers’ epic draft whiff on Trey Lance almost an amusing footnote. The 49ers gave up first-round draft picks in 2021, 2022 and 2023 for Miami’s third overall pick in the 2021 first round to select Lance as their future “franchise” quarterback even though Lance had 17 career college starts at North Dakota State. Lance suffered a season-ending ankle injury in 2022 and lost his job to Purdy. In September, the 49ers unofficially declared Lance a draft bust and traded him to Dallas for a fourth-round pick. How did 49ers ownership view this enormous draft mistake? A month after trading Lance, Shanahan and GM John Lynch were given multi-year contract extensions through 2026.
4. Safety Tashaun Gipson notched his first interception of the year last week, bringing his career total to 33, third among active players behind Patrick Peterson (35) and Harrison Smith (34). Gipson began his career as an undrafted free agent with the Browns in 2012. Gipson’s words after the Dallas game should be heeded by the Browns. “We’d kind of been in a drought,” Gipson said after the team’s three interceptions v. Dallas. “So we wanted to make sure we did our job defensively. That’s what great defenses do. You have to take the ball away.”
Small world: Shanahan was Browns offensive coordinator in 2014. After the season, he successfully asked out of his contract during a power-point presentation in front of owner Jimmy Haslam … Former Browns assistant coaches include defensive coordinator Steve Wilks, tight ends coach Brian Fleury, linebackers coach Johnny Holland and assistant head coach/running backs Anthony Lynn … Defensive passing game specialist/nickel coach Nick Sorensen played safety for the Browns 2007-10 … Fullback Kyle Juszczyk is a native of Medina … Gipson was an undrafted free agent of the Browns in 2012 and played for them through 2015.
