Elite cornerback play and strong edge pressure masked significant struggles elsewhere, proving PFF grades reveal a different story than the final score.
Despite the final score showing another frustrating loss, the 49ers’ defense delivered a performance that was far more impressive than the scoreboard suggests. Pro Football Focus grades reveal a unit that generated pressure, competed in coverage, and largely kept Seattle in check.
Defensive Standouts
Cornerback Upton Stout led the way for San Francisco, earning an elite 85.6 overall grade on 27 snaps. Stout also posted the best coverage grade in the entire game (90.4), allowing just two catches for two yards on three targets. His ability to hold up on the outside was one of the few constants for the 49ers throughout the night, even as the defense logged far too many snaps.
Safety Jason Pinnock continued the strong secondary play with an 80.4 overall grade on 22 snaps. Pinnock was the 49ers’ highest-graded run defender (78.7), which was his best run-defense mark of the season and his highest since Week 16 of the 2021 season. Pinnock also contributed one pressure.
Along the defensive front, Sam Okuayinonu turned in a productive outing, grading at 73.1 while recording a sack and four total pressures, tying for the team lead. Keion White finished close behind with a 72.8 grade, but his impact as a pass rusher stood out even more. White earned the team’s best pass-rush grade (76.1) and also tallied four pressures.
Clelin Ferrell rounded out the top performers with a 68.3 grade in a rotational role, adding a pressure and holding up reasonably well against the run.
Pass Rush: Productive, But Uneven
The 49ers generated pressure at a respectable rate, led by Okuayinonu and White, but production dropped off quickly beyond the top contributors. Bryce Huff added three pressures, while Pinnock, Ferrell, Bethune, Dee Winters, and Stout each recorded one.
Yetur Gross-Matos struggled, he finished with a 38.4 grade and failed to record a single pressure on 17 pass-rushing snaps, earning the lowest pass-rush grade on the team.
Coverage and Linebacker Struggles
While the secondary largely held up, linebacker play told a very different story. Tatum Bethune, despite recording one of the team’s two sacks, finished with a 25.2 overall grade, the lowest among all 49ers defenders. Bethune also posted the lowest coverage grade in the game (27.7), allowing six receptions for 78 yards on seven targets, resulting in a 113.1 passer rating when targeted.
Bethune’s struggles extended to run defense as well, where his 28.8 run-defense grade ranked lowest in the game.
Other low performers included Garret Wallow (36.1), Kalia Davis (35.8), and Alfred Collins (38.3), as the interior defense had trouble finishing plays and maintaining consistency snap-to-snap.
Tackling Issues Pile Up
Perhaps the most concerning takeaway from the PFF data was tackling. As a unit, the 49ers defense recorded a season-high 18 missed tackles, repeatedly allowing yards after contact.
Bethune led the team with five missed tackles, followed by Malik Mustapha (3). Ji’Ayir Brown, Deommodore Lenoir, and Dee Winters each missed two. Even standout corner Upton Stout was charged with one miss.
The lone bright spot was Renardo Green, who earned an 81.2 tackling grade, finishing with eight tackles and zero misses.
Final Takeaway
The 49ers’ defense played hard, fast, and often well enough to win, especially in coverage and along the edge. But missed tackles, linebacker coverage breakdowns, and uneven interior play eventually took their toll.
With the playoffs ahead, the ceiling of this defense remains high but tightening up fundamentals will be essential if this unit is going to carry its strong performances into the playoffs.