49ers overreactions: Is it time to replace Moody after rocky season? originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
The 49ers set a high bar in recent seasons.
The team advanced to the NFC Championship Game, with two Super Bowl appearances, in four of the past five NFL seasons.
But this season has been a disaster.
Tight end George Kittle is the only one of the 49ers’ big-name, star players whose play did not fall off this season, while Brock Purdy and Deebo Samuel were among those who saw significant drops in statistical production.
If the only game you saw this season was the 49ers’ 29-17 loss to the Miami Dolphins on Sunday, you saw all you need to know about the team.
Here are the observations of the fanbase via Bluesky on this elimination edition of 49ers overreactions:
The Niners OL is amongst the worst in the league and upgrades are required at multiple positions. — @irishgiantsfan.bsky.social
Everyone except Puni should give back their free truck. — @andrewh49.bsky.social
Overreactions? Yes, no and well-played.
Yeah, the offensive line did not exactly reward Purdy (and Toyota) for the generosity.
Their return gift to Purdy amounted to a stocking full of coal.
The 49ers’ offensive line in Sunday’s game was not good. But it was also to be expected. Trent Williams missed his fifth consecutive game. And after a couple more injuries, the 49ers had their third-string players in the game at left tackle and left guard.
There will be changes on the offensive line for the 2025 NFL season, for sure. It’s unlikely Aaron Banks will be back as an unrestricted free agent.
The offensive line is definitely a spot where the 49ers must look to improve.
But some perspective is warranted, too. The 49ers are not alone. Just about every team in the NFL has needs along the offensive line.
Defensive linemen generally are more explosive and better athletes than those on the offensive line.
Believe it or not, the 49ers’ offensive line is considered better than most. Pro Football Focus, which assigns grades to every player in every game, ranks the 49ers No. 1 in the NFL in run blocking and No. 14 in pass protection.
Purdy is far from the 49ers’ biggest problem. However, at some point he has to find a way to win games like this week’s or last week’s. These were winnable games had there been better QB play. — @michaelpedhirney.bsky.social
Overreaction? No.
The quarterback’s job is to win games.
And the 49ers did not win nearly enough games this season.
Is it all on Purdy? Of course not. But his position gets an outsized portion of the credit and the blame.
Nobody cares about injuries or anything else, either.
“It doesn’t matter who’s out there, we have what it takes to win and move the chains and put up points, give our team a chance to win,” Purdy said. “That’s my mindset. That’s where I’m hard on myself is we’ve had some guys that have been banged up and all that and we haven’t been able to get it done. So I’m just hard on myself when it comes to that.”
The bottom line is all that matters, and Purdy did not step up to save the team.
Purdy agrees he must come up with the answers to give the team what it needs to be saved — as he did in fourth-quarter comebacks in the NFL playoffs last season.
Purdy is a robot in Shanahan’s system (which he loves) but the 49ers actually need a QB with some creativity who will cover up some of Shanahan’s mistakes — @pdxlagniappe.bsky.social
Overreaction? Yes.
I thought we dispelled the myth a long time ago that Purdy is purely a paint-by-numbers quarterback.
He makes a ton of second-reaction plays or goes off script to find receivers who are not even in the progression.
This season, he added the running element to his game. With two games remaining, Purdy has 311 yards and four touchdowns rushing. That’s more than twice what he produced on the ground in 2023, when he finished fourth in the NFL MVP voting.
Those are plays that are not drawn up as runs. Those are plays in which he improvised and found ways to escape pressure and make a play.
Overreaction? No.
It’s not an overreaction that the 49ers need more consistency from the kicking game. That’s for sure.
Among kickers who appeared in 10 or more games this season, only four have worse field-goal percentages than Moody.
He is 23 of 30 on field-goal attempts (76.7 percent). All of his misses have been from beyond 40 yards.
This was Moody’s second season after arriving as a third-round pick in the 2023 NFL Draft. Nothing should be guaranteed any more.
While cutting him now is probably not the answer, the 49ers need to treat him on equal footing with anyone they bring to the team in the offseason.
He should have to earn the job through a competition in training camp.
Overreaction? Yes.
Have the 49ers made up their minds on Deebo Samuel? Probably not.
On Sunday, he looked like the Deebo Samuel we’ve seen for most of his first five seasons in the NFL.
Although it did not help the 49ers get a win on Sunday, the team is better when Samuel gets the ball in his hands and trucks defenders like he did on his 16-yard touchdown catch.
He produced 96 yards receiving and 25 yards rushing. The question the 49ers must answer is what kind of player would they be getting in 2025.
It could go either way.
With uncertainty surrounding Brandon Aiyuk’s recovery from ACL surgery, Ricky Pearsall not established and coach Kyle Shanahan’s unwavering support of Samuel, it might be that the 49ers will determine he is part of the solution for next season.
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