Inman: Our regular-season awards for the 49ers, from MVP to best coaching move (and everything in between)
Brock Purdy, Christian McCaffrey and Fred Warner led the way in one of the most prolific regular seasons in 49ers history.
SANTA CLARA — Here are the highs, lows and good deeds from the 49ers’ regular season, which yielded the NFC playoffs’ No. 1 seed, a second straight NFC West title, 12 wins, and five losses (three at home):
Most Valuable Player: Brock Purdy
It’s not just that he passed for a franchise-record 4,280 yards within a year of having his throwing elbow repaired. Purdy’s first full season as the 49ers’ starter exhibited an idyllic leader who defers credit to his all-star supporting cast, all while blending a humble approach with gutsy throws, fiery celebrations and an uncanny ability to read and react to defenses.
Offensive Player of the Year: Christian McCaffrey
McCaffrey is the 49ers’ best all-around football player and undeniable offensive catalyst. He was the NFL’s rushing leader from wire-to-wire, starting with a season-best 152 yards in the opening win at Pittsburgh where he also scored the first of 21 touchdowns (second-most in a 490ers season).
Defensive Player of the Year: Fred Warner
His coverage skills make him the NFL’s modern-day prototype at linebacker and he produced career-highs with four interceptions and 11 passes defensed. For a sixth straight season, he led the 49ers in tackles (132, second-most of his career), and no one delivers more motivational speeches before games and practices.
Special Teams Player of the Year: Mitch Wishnowsky
This honor goes to the punter on the 49ers’ highest-scoring offense since their last Super Bowl-winning team in 1994. Wishnowsky’s net average of 42.7 yards per punt was the best of his five-year career. Of 52 punts, 26 pinned opponents inside the 20-yard line, and only two went for touchbacks. As a holder, he provided mentorship to rookie kicker Jake Moody, as did long snapper Taybor Pepper.
Best win: At Philadelphia
The 49ers returned to the scene of last year’s NFC Championship Game trauma, and while this 42-19 win put the 49ers in the NFC driver’s seat, that Dec. 3 afternoon absolutely broke the Eagles, who went from a 10-1 conference leader to an 11-6 wild-card.
Worst loss: vs. Baltimore
Sure, a three-game slide in October was alarming, but even more so was a 33-19 home defeat to the AFC-leading Baltimore Ravens on Christmas night. It was Purdy’s first career game with four interceptions.
Best run: McCaffrey’s eye opener
He led the NFL with 272 carries, but his first of 14 touchdown runs set the tone for his special season. He ripped off a 65-yarder in the opening minute after halftime of their season opener, and it came with downfield blocks by Aiyuk and Ray-Ray McCloud. “The Pittsburgh one was cool: first game of the season, and it was a long one. That was fun,” McCaffrey said. “There’ve been a lot (of great runs), man. I think of a couple where Jauan (Jennings) goes and kicks out safeties. I don’t know if I have a favorite. I like them all.”
CMC 65-YARD TOUCHDOWN
: #SFvsPIT on FOX
: Stream on #NFLPlus https://t.co/G4uoYVOqQn pic.twitter.com/zi4Pfvw8zv
— NFL (@NFL) September 10, 2023
Worst play: Moody’s Cleveland miss
Moody pushed a 41-yard field-goal attempt wide right in the final seconds of a 19-17 upset loss in rainy Cleveland, the 49ers’ first defeat of the season and their first in 16 regular-season games dating to 2022. “Hopefully I’ll have plenty more opportunities like that in my career,” Moody said. “I just didn’t hit it great.”
Best block (kind of): Trent Williams
Jaguars defensive back Darious Williams (5-foot-9, 187 pounds) twice turned his back in the open field and retreated from blocks by Trent Williams (6-5, 320), first on a McCaffrey run and later on a Deebo Samuel touchdown run. “It’s kind of weird because (No.) 31 turned around and ran,” Williams said. “I’ve never seen that.”
Best pocket presence: Purdy in the swamp
Purdy bought as much time as he could in a collapsing pocket before launching a 66-yard touchdown pass to George Kittle in Jacksonville, prompting Shanahan to describe his view as “somebody is throwing a grenade out of a bunker.” Or out of a Florida swamp.
GEORGE KITTLE 66-YARD TD
What a throw by Purdy too
(via @NFL)pic.twitter.com/AIMBjliW61
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) November 12, 2023
Ironman award: Colton McKivitz
McKivitz, in replacing Mike McGlinchey at right tackle, played the most snaps on this team (1,040 on offense, 87 on special teams). He worried coaches by allowing three sacks to T.J. Watt in the opener, but rebounded with a tough mindset. Line coach Chris Foerster said last week that whenever he asks McKivitz what went awry on a bad play, McKivitiz’s typical response: “I didn’t do what you’ve told me to do 1,000 times.”
Biggest milestone: McCaffrey’s TD streak
McCaffrey matched Lenny Moore’s 60-year-old NFL record by scoring a touchdown in 17 straight games (playoffs included). McCaffrey appreciated Shanahan letting him try in vain to break that record, only to be stopped short of the goal line at the end of their win in Jacksonville.
Best interception: Ward’s pick-six
Charvarius Ward’s first-career pick-six came last month in Arizona, on the first of his two interceptions in that 45-29 win. That 66-yard interception return provided the go-ahead points. “I had a big smile on my face probably the whole first half after that touchdown,” said Ward, who earned his first Pro Bowl honors this year.
Best forced fumble: Buckeyes reunite
Nick Bosa and Chase Young, in their first game together since Ohio State, met in the Jacksonville backfield to sack Trevor Lawrence at midfield, with Bosa recovering the fumble amid a 10-0 lead.
Worst injury: Hufanga’s ACL tear
Hufanga, somewhat shaky in coming off an All-Pro season, tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee while attempting an open-field tackle of Tampa Bay’s Rachaad White in a Nov. 19 home win.
Biggest injury scare: Purdy’s stingers
Purdy getting leveled in Arizona on Dec. 17 and sustaining his first-ever nerve stinger to his left shoulder. A similar stinger struck Purdy in their next game and he sat out the final eight minutes of that loss to Baltimore. Honorable mention: McCaffrey (oblique/ribs, Cleveland), Williams (ankle, Cleveland), Deebo Samuel (shoulder, Cleveland).
Biggest call: Trading Trey Lance
Trey Lance lasted only two seasons as the 49ers’ pricey, No. 3 overall pick in the 2021 draft. After he couldn’t beat out Sam Darnold as Purdy’s top backup, Lance was dealt to Dallas for a fourth-round pick just hours before the preseason finale.
Biggest coaching move: Wilks to sideline
Defensive coordinator Steve Wilks descended from the booth and to the sideline, and the 49ers promptly ascended on a six-game win streak. Wilks had drawn a lot of criticism amid a losing streak, including a public chastising by Kyle Shanahan for a blitz call that backfired before halftime of their loss at Minnesota. The same call led to Ward’s win-clinching interception near the 49ers’ goal line at Washington on New Year’s Eve.
Best hat trick: Kittle vs. Dallas
Kittle’s first-career game with three touchdowns propelled the 49ers to their 42-10 rout of the Cowboys. His second touchdown was a gem, as that ball went from Purdy-to-McCaffrey-to-Samuel-to-Purdy-to-Kittle for a 38-yard score and 14-0 lead.
Best foursome: McCaffrey vs. Arizona
McCaffrey came within one touchdown of the 49ers’ single-game record when he scored four against Arizona, overshadowing Purdy’s 21-of-22 passing day (franchise-record 95.2 completion percentage). Purdy capped the scoring in that 35-15 Week 4 win with a 2-yard run, and Shanahan was apologetic afterward about McCaffrey’s record hunt, saying: “Honestly I had no idea until I just came in here that he had four touchdowns. I never know that type of stuff. I’m actually shocked. Now I kind of feel bad.”
Worst throw: Purdy’s gift-giving
Which of Purdy’s 11 interceptions? The worst wasn’t his first career pick-six on Thanksgiving in Seattle. Nor were his two interceptions in the fourth quarter at Minnesota, which may have been instigated by a concussion. Nor were the two interceptions in their next loss to the Bengals. The worst: an end zone theft, for the first of his four-interception fiasco Christmas night against the Ravens.
Best worst throw: Purdy-to-Aiyuk TD
Shanahan called it one of Purdy’s worst-ever throws until he saw the end result: a cross-field touchdown pass to Brandon AIyuk (over George Kittle and two defenders) for the 49ers’ first score in a slump-busting win in Jacksonville.
Brock Purdy picks out Brandon Aiyuk in a crowd!
— NFL on DAZN (@NFLonDAZN) November 12, 2023
Best fumble recovery: Givens vs. Dallas
Kevin Givens slid near the sideline to nab a ball Fred Warner popped free from Dallas’ Tony Pollard in their Week 5 showdown; McCaffrey fumbled two snaps later to offset that takeaway. Other nominees: 1. Ambry Thomas stripping Christian Kirk at the 6-yard line in Jacksonville, with players and coaches (Shanahan included) then coming onto the field during the return; 2. Purdy trapping a loose ball behind his back while sacked by Watt in the opener; 3. Oren Burks recovering Ray-Ray McCloud’s muffed punt in Seattle.
Best streak: 100-yard rusher denied
No opposing rusher has run for 100 yards in the past 44 games, the NFL’s second-best streak since 2000 behind the New Orleans Saints’ 50-game stretch from 2017-2020.
Best quote: Poise of Purdy
“The kid’s got poise. I don’t know if you can coach or teach that quality. He’s got it.” — Sam Darnold, about Purdy as training camp began.
Best explanation: Kittle on offense
“My No. 1 thing for this year is we have a veteran offense. Aiyuk is in his fourth year. Deebo is in his fifth year. I’m in Year 7. We’ve been in the offense. We understand what Kyle wants. Kyle knows what our strengths are. He does a really good job putting his players in the best position to succeed. Once you’re in this offense for a while, you understand it. There’s not so much, ‘Oh my gosh, I don’t understand these play calls.’ There’s less confusion. Everyone is on it, because they’ve been in it for a while.” – Kittle on Dec. 7.
Turning point: Week 9 bye
Shanahan saw a tired team that took a three-game losing streak into its (regular-season) bye. Players scattered to recharge themselves physically and mentally, which, in Purdy’s case, entailed going back to Iowa, driving a John Deere tractor on his fiance’s family farm and not throwing a ball for the first extended time in five months.
Fab Four: Offense’s horsemen
The 49ers became the NFL’s first-ever team to get 1,000 scrimmage yards from two wide receivers (Aiyuk, Samuel), a tight end (Kittle) and a running back (McCaffrey).
Samuel also made history thanks to an 11-yard run to the Rams’ 15-yard line on Sunday’s opening series. It sent him over the 1,000-yard rushing mark in his career, so he joined only Hall of Famer Charley Taylor as the only players in NFL history with that many rushing yards and over 4,000 receiving yards. Kittle passed all tight ends in 49ers history by reaching 6,274 career yards and five Pro Bowl berths. Aiyuk’s 1,342 yards are the 12th-most in a 49ers season.
As for more on McCaffrey, well, see above … and then look to see what he and the 49ers do in their playoff return.