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2022 Week 5 Game Recap: 49ers 37, Panthers 15 (by Ross Jacobs)

This game wasn't quite as bad as the final score said, but obviously the 49ers are much better than Carolina. A Mayfield pick 6 and a late turnover on downs inside the 5 that set SF up for a short TD make it looks like SF's offense blew the doors off the Panthers. That's just not true. It was fine for a Jimmy Garoppolo led offense but nothing special.

SF is clearly one of the better teams in the NFC and league in general because of their dominant defense and serviceable offense. They are going to walk away with the NFC West and a top seed for the playoffs. It's the same team they've been the past 2-3 years but healthy (for now). I just hate this for Trey Lance. How favorably would he be seen right now if it was him out there demolishing teams like this?

This morning the Panthers finally pulled the cord on Matt Rhule like I've been saying was going to happen. It was obvious to everyone really. Steve Wilks is replacing him as interim head coach. Hopefully I don't need to tell anyone in FFM-land how that's going to go...Steve Wilks, Destroyer of Prime David Johnson...

For Rhule it's nothing but good news. He gets to walk away from the brutal world of the NFL being owed $40 million because of the ridiculous contract he was signed to, and now he'll get his choice of juicy college programs to go revive and they'll give him a blank check to do it. I've already talked about what's likely to happen with the Panthers head coaching search so I won't go too much into that now. Basically it's almost certain that they'll hire the opposite of Rhule which means a long time NFL name that's well respected inside the business (deserved or not), and likely someone with a defensive background. I threw out a list of 5 names off the top of my head last week (Dan Quinn, Raheem Morris, Vance Joseph, Leslie Frazier, or Mike Caldwell) but RC's suggestion of Brian Flores is absolutely perfect. That's almost certainly where they will look.

To make matters worse, Baker Mayfield was seen in a walking boot after the game. He's undergoing MRI's this morning so we should learn something soon. I can't imagine he's playing again anytime soon. A walking boot means it's an extremely painful injury and with the coach fired and the team and fans hating on Mayfield, everyone quitting...why would he rush back to play? Remember what that got him last time? No, I'll be shocked to see Mayfield play for Carolina again this season. They'll throw PJ Walker to the wolves for a couple weeks while they wait on Darnold to get back from a high ankle sprain. Mayfield likely shuts it down and waits for a backup job in 2023.

This team will be picking top 3 in the NFL draft and you can bet they'll be taking a QB. I pity whichever one ends up here.

Fantasy Player Notes:

 – If it wasn't already obvious, Jordan Mason is never going to happen. I don't know why other than to say NFL coaches are complete idiots. He's so obviously better than Jeff Wilson or Tevin Coleman, but what do I know?

*RC NOTE: It may sound crazy for Ross to claim that…or like sour grapes because we were pushing for the rookie and didn't get it. These young RBs tend to just get thrown into the pool and start doing work. Wilson is fine. Coleman has seen better days but is fine. Mason is a guy they could’ve gotten some prep in on and been bringing him up to speed for the future, for the next RB injury. 

Maybe Mason isn’t ready, but we should’ve seen some of his work for us and Shanahan to know for sure. 

Wilson accounted for himself well enough here I guess. It was a nice fantasy day against a dying team missing their two best defenders (Luvu and Chinn) and Wilson had some massive holes to run through. The schedule is up and down as far as run defenses go but Wilson will be fine on volume until Elijah Mitchell comes back.

Coleman spelled Wilson at times and was surprisingly involved in the game plan even though he just joined the team. He looked more explosive than Wilson and was quite efficient in the passing game. We'll have to see if his usage continues to creep up because it's possible that starts to drag Wilson down a little.

 – The rest of the passing game is still a 3-way split between Deebo, Kittle, and Aiyuk with Deebo as the clear lead. It's going to be the same issues as always with these 3...guessing who will have the big game each week. Sometimes, like this week, it's nobody because Jimmy is a game manager and the team is going to get up big and just grind down opponent's with the running game.

 – Do I really need to talk about the Carolina offense? It's a dumpster fire. Maybe DJ Moore or Robbie Anderson can have a moment or two with Walker flinging them hail mary bombs every other play, but I don't see how you can have any confidence in that. 

The offensive line is still awful and so is the play calling. Walker isn't going to suddenly fix everything. 

How he affects Christian McCaffrey I don't know. I assume nothing changes really because McAdoo is still calling plays. It hasn't been vintage CMC this year but he's still a top 3-5 ppr back. If Walker won't check it down to him though we could be in trouble here.

 – One possible interesting thing that could happen though would be if someone traded for DJ Moore. Carolina is going down in flames and could look to purge some expensive contracts. Plenty of teams are looking for WRs as evidenced by the ongoing fascination with OBJ (for whatever reason). Moore is a much, much better receiver than OBJ at this point so I have to imagine a few contending teams could be interested. KC and Buffalo would be the top two in my mind (Bal and GB could use a WR but don't typically trade for big names). Moore's stock would skyrocket if he went to either of those places, but if you have him and he does get traded to either of them I'd sell him off immediately. KC's offense is a rotational, low volume mess and he would be just another piece in Buffalo. No way the reality is greater than the hype.

Snap Counts of Interest:

64 = Moore

53 = Anderson

43 = Shi

59 = CMC

39 = Tremble

27 = Thomas

59 = Kittle

58 = Aiyuk

53 = Deebo

18 = McCloud

15 = Jennings

39 = Wilson

19 = Coleman

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