The San Francisco 49ers improved to 5-4 on the year following their 22-16 win over the Los Angeles Chargers on "Sunday Night Football." Despite trailing 16-10 at halftime, head coach Kyle Shanahan and his team rallied to shut out the Chargers in the final two quarters of the game and put up 12 unanswered points. It was a gritty performance in primetime against an opponent that has completed second half comebacks in three of their five wins in 2022.
"There are definitely different ways to win in this league," quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo said. "There are a lot of resilient guys, a lot of mature guys... It wasn't pretty early on, and they (Chargers) were doing some things that gave us trouble. But, we stuck with it and got the W."
San Francisco's defense shined on Sunday; the unit recorded 3.0 sacks and intercepted Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert to seal the victory in the final minute of the game. Defensive end Nick Bosa added one more to his sack count, bringing his total to 9.5 on the year. On the other side of the ball, Garoppolo barreled in for his seventh-career rushing touchdown, and in his first game back from injury, running back Elijah Mitchell had 18 carries for 89 yards.
Here are San Francisco's top performers from Week 10:
Top Offensive Performers: Ray-Ray McCloud III and Elijah Mitchell
The fourth-year receiver topped all offensive players for San Francisco with his 89.9 overall grade in his seven snaps. McCloud III's play of the night was a 33-yard, over-the-shoulder grab from Garoppolo in the second quarter. That play was part of a nine-play 75-yard drive that resulted in the 49ers only touchdown of the first half. The 33-yard reception was a career-long for McCloud III.
Mitchell impressed in his first game back from an MCL injury. The second-year running back earned the second-highest overall grade (83.7) on offense for his 25 snaps. Mitchell closed out the game with 18 carries for 89 yards which accounted for nearly half of the team's 41 total rushing attempts on Sunday.
"San Francisco had its usual winning formula: run the ball effectively for key stages of the game, control the time of possession," PFF staff wrote in their game roundup.
Top Defensive Performers: Fred Warner and Nick Bosa
The veteran linebacker owns the top defensive grade maek a 90.2 overall grade. Warner had seven total tackles, a pressure and allowed just two receptions in his four targets against the Chargers.
Bosa earned the second-highest grade on the defensive unit, recording an 89.5 grade for his 56 snaps. The fourth-year defensive lineman accounted for 1.0 of 3.0 sacks by the D-line and led the team with nine total pressures.
