Biggest Takeaways from San Francisco 49ers' Week 4 Loss

First takeaway from the San Francisco 49ers’ Week 4 loss to the Green Bay Packers—tight end Vance McDonald is a flat-out bust.

Not only did Niners general manager Trent Baalke draft McDonald in the second round of the 2013 draft, Baalke traded up for him. Since then, McDonald has caught 12 passes and dropped five, according to Pro Football Focus.

He dropped another one Sunday against the Packers toward the end of the first quarter. Clay Matthews blitzed up the middle, Colin Kaepernick side-stepped him, spun away and threw a beautiful pass to McDonald, who should have caught the pass for a first down. But the ball bounced off of his hands.

Coaches say receivers or tight ends who have bad hands “fight the ball.” McDonald doesn’t fight the ball—he assaults it. The Niners should never throw him another pass, and McDonald should stay on the bench, even though he can block.

Here are five more takeaways from the Niners’ Week 4 loss.

The Best Player on the 49ers Defense Is Not NaVorro Bowman

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Inside linebacker NaVorro Bowman is having a bad season.

He currently is rated 25th among players at his position, according to Pro Football Focus, a scouting service that gives Bowman an overall grade of minus-2.0 through four games.

Bowman is not nearly as fast as he was before he tore his ACL and MCL. You can see it when he runs sideline to sideline. A lot of the time, he has to dive to make a tackle. Rarely did he have to dive in past—he could run down anyone.

Bowman struggles the most in pass coverage. He’s a mark. Opposing offenses are picking on him. He has been targeted 12 times and has given up 11 catches, per Pro Football Focus.

Bowman used to be the 49ers’ best player on defense. Now, their best defensive player is second-year outside linebacker Aaron Lynch, who has three sacks in four games this season.

Defensive Coordinator Eric Mangini Knows What He’s Doing

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Defensive coordinator Eric Mangini seemed incompetent after the 49ers gave up more than 40 points two weeks in a row.

He had outside linebackers covering wide receivers, safeties faking blitzes and trying to sprint back downfield after the snap—all kinds of head scratchers. Things his players don’t do well.

Maybe Mangini just needed a few games to get to know his player’s strengths. Because Week 4, he was terrific. He shut down the Packers’ passing game for long stretches.

Mangini knew Packers receivers James Jones and Ty Montgomery, usually backups, couldn’t consistently beat one-on-one man coverage. So Mangini double-covered Randall Cobb in the slot and covered Jones and Montgomery one-on-one. Rodgers had nowhere to throw a lot of the time.

Mangini seems to know what he’s doing.

Offensive Coordinator Geep Chryst May Not Know What He’s Doing

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You can’t say the same for the Niners’ offensive coordinator, though. Geep Chryst seems like a total disaster.

Under Chryst’s direction, the Niners offense ranks 31st in yards and 32nd in points. Torrey Smith, who, according to Spotrac, signed a five-year, $40-million contract during the offseason, has nine catches. Vernon Davis, who signed a five-year, $36.75-million contract extension with the Niners in 2010, has eight catches.

Meanwhile, Garrett Celek, who signed a one-year, $710,000 contract this offseason, has 11 catches. He has caught the second-most passes on the team after Anquan Boldin.

Chryst doesn’t seem to know who his playmakers are, and he probably won’t be an NFL offensive coordinator again after this season.

QB Colin Kaepernick Has Lost Confidence

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In 2010, Alex Smith seemed to have no confidence. The 49ers were scapegoating him for all of their losing, and his career was gurgling down the drain.

The same thing seems to be happening to Colin Kaepernick right now. After throwing four interceptions—two of the pick-six variety—against the Arizona Cardinals in Week 3, Kaepernick seemed terrified to throw into coverage in Week 4. He was more comfortable throwing the ball into the grass or out of bounds.

Will Kaepernick turn his career around like Alex Smith did? Maybe, maybe not. Smith’s confidence boosted once he started playing under head coach Jim Harbaugh in 2011. Boosting a quarterback’s confidence is Harbaugh’s specialty, his gift.

I don’t think the Niners are getting him back anytime soon.

The 49ers Should Have Worked Things out with Jim Harbaugh

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Jim Harbaugh wasn’t the best head coach in the NFL, but probably was in the top five. The man won more than 69 percent of his games and never lost more than eight in a season.

The Niners essentially parted ways with him for going 8-8 in 2014, or for not winning the Super Bowl the previous three seasons, or for being a jerk. Or something. We may never know for sure.

Here’s what we do know: Harbaugh’s successor, Jim Tomsula, seems every bit as overwhelmed and clueless as Harbaugh’s predecessor, Mike Singletary.

The Niners are in the same position now that they were in before Harbaugh became the head coach. San Francisco probably should have worked things out with him.

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