Barber: 49ers’ loss isn’t all on Nick Mullens’ shoulders

SANTA CLARA - It wasn’t just Nick Mullens’ fault.

That needs to be said right off the bat, because Mullens was indeed very, very awful in Sunday night’s 25-20 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles. He was bad enough to be the focal point of this dismal, shocking upset, and his performance only looked worse when No. 3 quarterback C.J. Beathard shined far brighter as his replacement.

Mullens’ decrepit night of football was amplified by the recent chatter, quiet but persistent, that suggested he might be challenging for the starting QB position even when Jimmy Garoppolo returns from his ankle injury. That was never a realistic outcome, but Mullens was so good against the Giants last week, with so few weapons at his disposal, that he deserved a moment of airwaves glory.

Just as he now deserves a giant raspberry. But it would be easy to let Mullens’ scattershot evening obscure the fact that other 49ers contributed to this debacle. One man cannot lose a football game, even when that man decides to throw the ball to the other team.

Even some of the 49ers’ best players had their fingerprints on this one. Like Kwon Alexander and Jimmie Ward. Alexander, the Will linebacker, and Ward, the free safety, have been important cogs in San Francisco’s defensive machine the past year and a half. But on the Eagles’ first touchdown Sunday night, it was Alexander who bit on play-action and gave Philadelphia quarterback Carson Wentz an open running lane, and it was Ward who got juked at the 2-yard line and came up empty.

And then there were those 49ers cornerbacks. The fact that Dontae Johnson and Jason Verrett started this game was, in itself, shocking. Johnson is a guy the Niners gave up on a couple years ago, only to bring back when the roster got thin. Verrett’s NFL career looked done last year when he made a brief appearance in one 49ers game, got roasted for a long touchdown, and returned to the injured reserve that has defined much of his career.

But injuries to Richard Sherman, Emmanuel Moseley and Ahkello Witherspoon forced the 49ers into drastic action — forced them to start Johnson and Verrett, and to play Ken Webster, who was signed in mid-September.

At times, the result was about what you would expect. The 49ers’ pass rush is very good, even without Nick Bosa, and it mostly kept Wentz off-balance. But when he got time, San Francisco’s vulnerabilities in pass coverage were exposed.

That was especially true on the drive that gave Philadelphia the lead in the fourth quarter. Wentz feasted on that possession. Here’s a representative play: Eagles had second-and-22 at the 49ers’ 39-yard line after a blown play. The Niners’ pass rush flushed Wentz right, and he looked like he was in trouble. But he stopped and threw complete to Boston Scott, who was way too open, for 17 yards. As if that weren’t enough, two SF defenders committed penalties on the play, illegal contact by Johnson and holding by Ward. The Eagles were awarded a first down.

Two plays later, Wentz beat Johnson for a 42-yard touchdown pass. To be fair, it was a perfect pass to Travis Fulgham, fresh off the practice squad.

The biggest mystery of the night, though, was the 49ers offensive line. It was never, perhaps, considered one of the NFL’s best. But it had looked capable over the first three weeks of the season. That was not the case Sunday.

At least four of the five starting O-linemen — tackles Trent Williams and Mike McGlinchey, and guards Laken Tomlinson and Daniel Brunskill — were beaten for sacks, or for hits on the quarterback. That was certainly part of the explanation for Mullens’ forgettable outing.

“I think it was on everybody,” 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan said after the game. “I mean, that’s a good (Philadelphia) front. They did that on the team they played last week. We’ve got to play better all around.”

Williams and McGlinchey certainly do. To be frank, they were terrible.

That isn’t entirely new for McGlinchey, the right tackle, who has yet to completely define himself in his third year with the team. McGlinchey has been solid for weeks-long stretches, and he has struggled more than once. Sunday, with the 49ers desperately trying to claw back behind Beathard, he more or less gave away the game.

On second-and-10 from the Philadelphia 33-yard line, McGlinchey let defensive end Genard Avery bull-rush him into Beathard’s face. On the next snap, it was Brandon Graham who lined up over McGlinchey, and he simply raced past the former first-round draft pick. Both plays resulted in hurried, incomplete passes, and there was nothing left to try after that but a Hail Mary into the end zone.

Williams’ night was more puzzling. He has been nothing but a welcome addition since the 49ers swung a trade with Washington for him in April. Williams is a true freak of nature, a 6-foot-5, 320-pound left tackle who, even at age of 32, shows the type of nimble footwork that most 250-pounders only dream of.

Williams’ teammates have waxed poetic over his offseason work ethic. And he spent most of the first three games of 2020 tossing opponents around like sandbags.

That wasn’t the case against the Eagles. Williams was guilty of false start and holding penalties, and he, too, was bullied by the Philadelphia defensive line, getting beat on pass plays and on some runs, too, like the one where Jerick McKinnon lost 5 yards.

“He’s healthy,” Shanahan said of Williams. “He just didn’t have one of his best games.”

Mullens was a problem against the Eagles, but one that should be easily solved. Garoppolo is likely to return to action this week, or certainly next week. He isn’t perfect, but he’s the 49ers’ starting quarterback, and Mullens will have plenty of time to regain his confidence.

The offensive line is a deeper concern. The line is healthy. This is more or less who the 49ers have to keep their QBs upright and efficient. They play the Rams and Aaron Donald in two weeks, and they have games against the Patriots and Packers, two good pass rushing teams, soon after that.

If Williams, McGlinchey and their compatriots on the O-line don’t get their act together soon, the Niners’ .500 record won’t be an early-season curiosity. It will be a long-term prognosis.

You can reach Phil Barber at 707-521-5263 or phil.barber@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @Skinny_Post.