The San Francisco 49ers didn’t play their best game against the Tennessee Titans, but they still left Week 15 with a 37-24 win.<\/p>\n
A 10-4 record keeps the 49ers in the thick of a wild NFC playoff race and moved their win streak to four games. The Titans figure to end the year with one of the worst records in the NFL, so Sunday’s game wasn’t a great indicator of where the 49ers stand in the NFL hierarchy. However, it did provide plenty to learn and take away.<\/p>\n
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Here are our takeaways from the 49ers’ Week 15 win:<\/p>\n
San Francisco needed to go 4-0 from Weeks 11-15 and they did just that with Sunday’s win. They beat the Arizona Cardinals, Carolina Panthers, Cleveland Browns and the Titans to move to 10-4 and put a vice grip on a playoff spot. They still haven’t clinched and there are some things they have to clean up to be effective in the postseason, but taking care of business in this late-season stretch was a good start.<\/p>\n
Purdy looked as good as he has all season Sunday. He was effective at evading pressure, racked up a 26-yard scramble, made some good throws on the run, and didn’t put the ball in danger a ton. He completed 23 of his 30 throws for 295 yards and three touchdowns. A lost fumble on a strip sack is the most notable mistake he made in the type of game the 49ers will need from Purdy if they’re going to make noise in the playoffs.<\/p>\n
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Yikes! San Francisco’s run defense was not good in Week 12 when the Panthers racked up 69 yards on 13 carries. It wasn’t good in Week 13 either when the Browns ran it 31 times for 138 yards. Things didn’t improve after the bye week with the Titans rolling for 136 yards on 20 carries. Over their last three games the 49ers have allowed 343 rushing yards on 64 carries, good for an abominable 5.4 yards per carry.<\/p>\n
Jennings on Sunday notched a pair of touchdowns to give him a career-high seven on the season. He also has at least one touchdown in five of his last six games. His emergence after an injury-riddled start to the season provides a lot of optimism about the 49ers passing game entering the final three weeks of the regular season.<\/p>\n
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Kittle looked like his old self after the week off. He hauled in eight of his nine targets for 88 yards and a touchdown. More impressive than the numbers was how well he moved after the catch. He looked spry while breaking tackles and running away from defenders. The 49ers will need the best version of Kittle down the stretch and they got it Sunday.<\/p>\n
One rough part of the 49ers win was their missed opportunities on defense. Malik Mustapha dropped an easy interception right before the half that nearly cost the 49ers three points. Later in the game Ji’Ayir Brown couldn’t haul in an overthrow from Titans quarterback Cam Ward. San Francisco’s pass rush isn’t particularly effective so they need their secondary to be on point. Dropping sure interceptions is a survivable mistake against a team like Tennessee. It will not be a survivable mistake in the playoffs.<\/p>\n
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It took a couple of games but Pearsall was back to looking like a No. 1 wide receiver again. After three ineffective outings in his return from a knee injury, he hauled in six-of-seven targets for 96 yards while dealing with an ankle injury he suffered on the first play. Later in the game he tweaked his knee and had to exit. Injuries have defined Pearsall’s young career. Ideally for the 49ers this won’t be a long-term issue that slows down Pearsall right after he regained his footing.<\/p>\n
Morstead punted zero times despite the 49ers possessing the ball eight times. Four drives ended in touchdowns, three drives ended in field goals and another ended with a Purdy fumble.<\/p>\n
More 49ers: Kyle Shanahan bluntly explains 49ers decision on WR Brandon Aiyuk<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n This article originally appeared on Niners Wire: 49ers vs. Titans: 8 takeaways, standouts from San Francisco’s win<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" There was plenty to take away from the San Francisco 49ers victory over the Tennessee Titans in Week 15.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":130822,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[580,84,3694,478,94,100,718,255,486,90,12,1215,4829,2416],"class_list":["post-130819","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nfl","tag-arizona-cardinals","tag-brock-purdy","tag-cam-ward","tag-carolina-panthers","tag-cleveland-browns","tag-george-kittle","tag-jauan-jennings","tag-malik-mustapha","tag-ricky-pearsall","tag-san-francisco","tag-san-francisco-49ers","tag-tennessee-titans","tag-the-titans","tag-thomas-morstead"],"yoast_head":"\n