San Francisco 49ers tight end Jordan Reed had one of the best catches of the season on Sunday against the New Orleans Saints. Unfortunately, it didn't result in a first down, nor did the game end in a victory for his Niners.
The one-handed catch came in the second quarter and featured Reed hauling in the Nick Mullens-thrown football just inches above the turf.
Oh my. @JR86
📺: #SFvsNO on FOX
— NFL (@NFL) November 15, 2020
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"I had a choice route," Reed said after the game. "(Saints safety) Malcolm Jenkins had pretty good coverage on me. Nick, he got hit as he threw the ball, so it was a low ball. I saw it coming, and I just tried my hardest to catch the tail end and step. I'm grateful for that catch for sure."
Reed ended up as Pro Football Focus' highest-graded offensive player for the 49ers. The highest-graded Niner, however, was safety Jimmie Ward.
Ward finished Sunday's game with four tackles and two passes defensed, according to Pro Football Reference. Saints quarterbacks owned a passer rating of 39.6 when targeting the seventh-year safety.
Linebacker Fred Warner, one of the league's best young defensive stars, was surprisingly among the worst-graded 49ers players from the game. Saints quarterbacks, however, owned a passer rating of 127.8 when targeting Warner, and the analytics site credited him for giving up a touchdown.
Warner's 40.9 overall grade was his worst since Super Bowl LIV.
"We have a great opportunity (during the bye week) to just continue to get better," Warner said after Sunday's game. "Guys understand that. I need to get better. So, I think everybody's got to take that upon themselves to take responsibility and get better after this bye week."
Below were the five highest-graded 49ers players on offense against the Saints.
- Jordan Reed, TE, 80.6, 31 snaps
- Brandon Aiyuk, WR, 78.6, 68 snaps
- Trent Williams, LT, 77.4, 71 snaps
- Daniel Brunskill, C, 77.1, 71 snaps
- Tom Compton, RG, 75.9, 48 snaps
Below were the five highest-graded 49ers players on defense.
- Jimmie Ward, FS, 83.9, 59 snaps
- Kentavius Street, DT, 78.2, 24 snaps
- Jamar Taylor, CB, 74.0, 29 snaps
- Jason Verrett, CB, 66.8, 58 snaps
- Kevin Givens, DT, 64.9, 28 snaps
Below were the five lowest-graded 49ers players on offense.
- C.J. Beathard, QB, 37.0, 1 snap
- Laken Tomlinson, LG, 43.4, 71 snaps
- Colton McKivitz, RG, 43.6, 23 snaps
- Nick Mullens, QB, 44.4, 70 snaps
- Kyle Juszczyk, FB, 51.5, 23 snaps
Below were the five lowest-graded 49ers players on defense.
- Dre Greenlaw, LB, 29.4, 55 snaps
- Fred Warner, LB, 40.9, 59 snaps
- D.J. Jones, DT, 41.7, 26 snaps
- Javon Kinlaw, DT, 45.9, 35 snaps
- Arik Armstead, DE, 51.6, 40 snaps
