3 quick takeaways from the 49ers 35-10 loss to the Bills: Missed chance after missed chance leads the way

One week after getting blown out 38-10 by the Green Bay Packers, the San Francisco 49ers had yet another ugly loss, losing 35-10 on the road to the Buffalo Bills on Sunday Night, falling to 5-7 on the season.

In a game marred by snowy conditions, the 49ers looked as they have all season: undisciplined, mistake-ridden, and out-physicaled.

As a result, San Francisco lost in ugly fashion yet again, and their season is looking bleaker and bleaker by the day.

Offensively, the 49ers got less than 100 yards in the air, while missing out on a number of chances in the first half.

Defensively, San Francisco was beaten in the run game, as Buffalo cruised on the ground all game long, while Bills quarterback Josh Allen was able to make the most of his chances in the air with some sweet throws.

Here are three quick takeaways from the 49ers 35-10 loss to the Bills on Sunday.

Missed chances

The 49ers have been the epitome of missed opportunities this season, be it their red zone struggles, penalties, or turnovers.

Well, they had ample chances to open Sunday’s game, yet only came away with three first-half points.

San Francisco drove 48 yards on their first drive of the game, but were limited to a field goal in the red zone, taking an early 3-0 lead. After Buffalo responded with a touchdown, the 49ers moved down the field again, but had a missed 45-yard field goal from Jake Moody in the tough conditions.

Then came a punt on a drive where San Francisco had six plays out of seven in Buffalo territory before ultimately punting at the Bills 41-yard line. And finally, down 21-3 with 48 seconds left, the 49ers moved the ball during a two-minute drill, but Jake Moody’s 55-yard field goal fell just short.

So, the 49ers had themselves in Bills territory on every single one of their drives in the first half, but came away with only three points. Yikes.

In the second half, things didn’t slow down either, as fullback Kyle Juszczyk fumbled on a run at the one-yard line, killing any momentum the 49ers had and serving as what would essentially be the killer for San Francisco in the blowout.

The 49ers have really struggled to make the most of their chances this season. Opportunities were there on Sunday. Just happened that the team didn’t capitalize on them yet again.

Run defense

It feels like the run defense has become a common talking point this season for the 49ers.

Well, the run defense was awful on Sunday, as San Francisco allowed 223 yards and three touchdowns on the ground, while Buffalo ran the ball 38 times in comparison to Josh Allen’s 17 passes.

James Cook was the star, going for 107 yards and a touchdown, which included a long 65-yard breakaway. But, backup Ray Davis was in there as well, getting 65 yards and a touchdown on 11 carries.

Overall, the 49ers failed to tackle once again, and they really just couldn’t be more physical than their opponent, leading to dominance for Buffalo on the ground.

The team’s run defense has been a problem all year, but there was a clear issue on Sunday, questioning the heart of the team.

Injuries

Coming into the season, it was clear that San Francisco was going to rely on the stars of a major top-heavy team.

That meant younger players were going to have to step up into impact roles, while the stars were going to have to take on a bigger load in order for the 49ers to see the success they had a season ago.

Well, things were derailed initially, as star running back Christian McCaffrey was placed on Injured Reserve with bilateral Achilles tendonitis. Additionally, safety Talanoa Hufanga was ruled out for the first few weeks as he returned from his torn ACL, while stars Brandon Aiyuk and Trent Williams were rusty early after not practicing with the team following their extended contract negotiations in the fall.

But, the problems have extended throughout the year and to a wide array of stars.

Brock Purdy has dealt with shoulder issues that caused him to miss a week. McCaffrey only really started to look like himself on Sunday, but suffered a PCL injury and could be out for the year. Aiyuk is out for the season with a torn ACL. Samuel hasn’t looked like himself the whole year. Williams has dealt with ankle injuries. And that’s only on the offensive side.

Defensively, Nick Bosa has recently dealt with hip and oblique issues. Javon Hargrave is out for the year. Fred Warner has struggled after dealing with a fractured ankle. Charvarius Ward was inconsistent early in the year and recently dealt with an awful tragedy that kept him out for nearly a month. And Talanoa Hufanga has virtually been out for the entire year after suffering a number of injuries following his recovery from a torn ACL.

With all of those issues on a top-heavy roster, it’s placed the burden on the backups and younger players, who just haven’t been able to compete at a high enough level.

And that’s a microcosm of the 2022 and 2023 draft classes, where San Francisco has gotten virtually zero production outside of lucking out on Brock Purdy with the final pick in the former draft.

The 2022 class has produced zero quality starters outside of Purdy, while the 2023 class has just safety Ji’Ayir Brown, who has struggled for much of the year, and kicker Jake Moody, who has been wildly inconsistent over his first two seasons.

Without quality younger players coming out of the draft, there just hasn’t been enough talent on this team, and that’s a big part of why they’re 5-7 at this point.