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BAL-SF Grades: Niners strike deep, hold on late against Ravens

San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick (7) looks to throw against the Denver Broncos during the first half of an NFL preseason football game, Saturday, Aug. 29, 2015, in Denver. (AP Photo/Joe Mahoney)

Here are the top takeaways and highest-graded players from the 49ers’ 25-20 win over the Ravens.

Baltimore Ravens

– QB Joe Flacco’s struggles continued against the 49ers, as he earned a -1.3 grade, his fourth negatively graded game of the 2015 season. Flacco threw a beautiful 34-yard touchdown pass to WR Steve Smith (+2.5) late in the third quarter, but made too many mistakes in the game, including a wildly overthrown interception earlier in the second half. Flacco currently ranks 34th of 36 qualifying quarterbacks with a -9.9 cumulative grade.

– NT Brandon Williams led the team with a +5.8 grade, including positive marks for both pass rushing (2 hurries, 1 batted pass) and run defense (+3.5). Williams’ +20.4 run defense grade is nearly twice that of Chiefs DT Jaye Howard, our second highest-graded DT against the run this season.

– CB Shareece Wright (-2.3) struggled against his former team. Playing for the first time this season, Wright allowed four of five passes to be completed for 132 yards and two touchdowns. On 49ers’ QB Colin Kaepernick’s second touchdown pass, Wright fell down, leaving WR Quinton Patton wide open in the end zone for a touchdown that put San Francisco up 25-13. He was also beaten badly by WR Torrey Smith (+1.1) for a 76-yard touchdown early in the second quarter.

Top performers:

NT Brandon Williams (+5.8)
RG Marshall Yanda (+3.7)
Elvis Dumervil (+3.3)
WR Steve Smith (+2.5)
DE Lawrence Guy (+1.3)

San Francisco 49ers

– QB Colin Kaepernick (-0.8) was at his best throwing deep against the Ravens, completing four of six passes for 200 yards and two touchdowns on passes thrown 20+ yards. Kaepernick did a nice job taking advantage of Ravens CB Shareece Wright in coverage (-3.5 coverage grade), but his overall grade was slightly lower than average due to a few inaccurate throws, including a dropped interception to Ravens CB Jimmy Smith (-1.1) in the first quarter.

– FS Eric Reid (+1.1) earned his best grade of the season due to his strong work in coverage. Flacco was 0 for 2 when targeting Reid, and the LSU product also knocked down Flacco’s Hail Mary attempt on the last play of the game.

– San Francisco had trouble finding much room to run against a stout Baltimore front seven. The team finished with a -13.3 run blocking grade, and five offensive players finished with run blocking grades worse than -2.0. Center Marcus Martin (-2.2) has now earned a red grade for run blocking in every game this season, and is tied for last among qualifying centers with a -16.3 cumulative run blocking grade.

Top performers:

LT Joe Staley (+3.6)
WR Anquan Boldin (+2.7)
WR Quinton Patton (+1.2)
CB Tremaine Brock (+1.2)
FS Eric Reid (+1.1)

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