The California kid looked right at home in Arizona. Just one problem for the 49ers: he didn’t play for them.
Buffalo quarterback Josh Allen, who grew up a 49ers fan in the central California town of Firebaugh, lit up the 49ers’ pass defense for four touchdown passes and 375 yards Monday night.
The end result: a 34-24 loss by the 49ers at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Ariz., where they’ve relocated for much of this month after Santa Clara County’s COVID-19 precautions banning contact sports.
With four games to go, the 49ers (5-7) may not need anywhere to play after that, unless they win out to improbably make the playoffs and defend their NFC title. Washington, which upset previously unbeaten Pittsburgh earlier Monday, is the 49ers’ next visitor at State Farm Stadium on Sunday.
Coach Kyle Shanahan said last week’s relocation to Arizona had “absolutely zero to do with the outcome. What’s next? “We’ve got four more games we can account for, that we’re in charge of, and we’ve got to win all of them,” Shanahan said.
Wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk added: “We know these are definitely must wins and have to rely on some losses on the other side. We have to treat it like the playoffs and try to win out.”
Allen and the AFC East-leading Bills (9-3) preyed on the 49ers’ fourth-ranked pass defense, which struggled with an unproductive pass rush and an injury-laden secondary that was down to fourth-string nickel back Dontae Johnson.
“This was a night had to really step it up on (offense) and we didn’t do that enough,” added Shanahan, who complemented how his defense had played all season but that “today wasn’t our best day” against a “huge” challenge.
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Here are the highs, lows and all you need to know:
AIYUK’S HOMECOMING: Wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk, who played 17 miles away the past two years at Arizona State, put the 49ers ahead 7-0 with a 2-yard touchdown catch. In an even better catch, he made a 49-yard, spinning reception in the third quarter to spark a touchdown drive pulling the 49ers within 27-17. He finished with five catches for 95 yards.
But Aiyuk’s night had mixed results. He bobbled a Nick Mullens pass that Micah Hyde intercepted and returned to the 5-yard line, setting up a BIlls field goal. Earlier in the quarter, Aiyuk missed a block that resulted in a 9-yard loss on a Tevin Coleman run.
“I come away from this game feeling frustrated, left a lot of stuff out there and lot of opportunities that we didn’t capitalize on,” Aiyuk said. “I’m frustrated. Regardless of where we were playing, we lost the football game.”
Aiyuk’s first-quarter touchdown was his fourth in five games; he missed two of the past three games while on COVID-19 reserve, and a positive test kept him out of the 49ers’ previous win against the Rams. This touchdown was a worthy reward for Aiyuk’s efforts on the 49ers’ preceding possession, in which he drew a pass-interference penalty on third down against Levi Wallace and later made a 11-yard catch to the Bills’ 10.
CALI KID: Allen rallied up against his childhood team to post his sixth 300-yard passing game of the season, one shy of Drew Bledsoe’s 2002 club record. Allen was 32-of-40 with no interceptions; he is the first passer in Bills history to throw 40 passes and complete at least 80 percent of them, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
“He was in good control of the game. He didn’t pass up and easy looks. He didn’t take any risky throws,” cornerback Richard Sherman said. “Our D-line was doing everything they could to put pressure on him but he did a good job evading and extending plays. If you extend plays for four or five seconds, the coverage usually breaks down regardless of what you’re in.
“You’ve got to give him credit. He played a freakin’ fantastic game.”
Allen’s first touchdown passes found Cole Beasley (5 yards) and Dawson Knox (4 yards) to bail the Bills from a 7-0 hole. Safety Tarvarius Moore blew assignment to result in Allen’s third and fourth touchdown passes to wide open receivers — a 23-yard toss to a Isaiah McKenzie in the third quarter and a 28-yarder to Gabriel Davis, who got past Sherman and was missed by Moore.
By halftime, Allen’s 236 yards eclipsed the 49ers’ average of 206. 5 passing yards per game, the NFL’s fourth-best mark.
“When we did blitz, he got away from it and made some big plays. When we didn’t, he dinked and dunked it and got after us, too,” Shanahan said. “Our defense been carrying us all year. They were up against a big challenge today and we didn’t play our best on D. That’s why we had to on offense and special teams.”
TIME CHANGE: The Bills converted 6-of-12 opportunities on third and fourth down, holding the ball 10 minutes longer than the 49ers.
“It’s frustrating, especially when you don’t posses the ball,” 49ers left tackle Trent Williams said. ” They did a great job getting first downs and even when they were behind the chains, Josh Allen did a great job of finding his open receivers and keeping the ball. I really think that was the story of the game for us.
“We just didn’t get a chance to posses the ball, and when we did, we didn’t take advantage of our opportunities. It cost us.”
MULLENS MISFIRES: Nick Mullens had his first three-touchdown game of the seasons but could not answer his counterpart Allen. Mullens found Jordan Reed for a 5-yard touchdown pass in the final minute to make the score more respectable.
“As a quarterback, I was excited. I really felt we could put up a lot of points,” Mullens said of a potential shootout. “We didn’t execute enough consistently to match their success. (Allen) had a great game and played at a high level tonight. You’ve got to tip your hat to him. It’s frustrating. I feel I can play a lot better.”
Typifying the 49ers’ night, Mullens had a potential touchdown pass to Kendrick Bourne reversed by a replay ruling, then after Mullens committed a false start from the 1 by mistiming a silent cadence, a touchdown attempt to Jeff Wilson got wrestled away by Tre’Davious White for a goal-line interception with 6:55 to go.
Shanahan disapproved of that sequence and Mullens’ two interceptions but defended how Mullens at least made some plays
“It was going to be one of those type of games that was going to be a shootout,” Shanahan said. “We had a chance to do it on offense and make this game similar to how New Orleans was last year (48-46 win last December). It just got away from us.
“… We needed to keep matching them and I believe we were capable of that. We had our times but had to do it every time today and we did not get that done.”
Mullens fell to 2-3 as the 49ers’ replacement starter to Jimmy Garoppolo, who is recovering from a Nov. 1 ankle injury and watched from a luxury suite with other injured 49ers, including George Kittle.
WHERE WAS DEEBO?
After thriving on a connection with Deebo Samuel to down the Los Angeles Rams last game, Mullens did not find Samuel until back-to-back completions late in the third quarter. Samuel finished with six catches for 73 yards on nine targets, as many as Aiyuk.
“W didn’t have a ton of passes in the first half, and the ones that we called for him, we didn’t get those coverages, and they controlled the ball very well,” Shanahan said. “We tried to but weren’t out there long enough. Eventually we got it to him.”
JUSZCZYK SCORES AGAIN: Fullback Kyle Juszczyk may have been stopped for no gain on a third-and-goal try from the 1 in the first quarter, but he came through with points in the third quarter, scoring on a 6-yard pass from Nick Mullens. It was Juszczyk’s first scoring catch this season and third touchdown overall.
WARNER MAKES PLAYS: Linebacker Fred Warner — nicknamed “All-Pro Fred” by teammates in a grassroots campaign — seized the early prime-time spotlight. Warner’s fumble recovery at the Bills’ 3-yard line. Warner scooped up the ball on one hop as rookie rusher Zack Moss fumbled a handoff.
It was Warner’s second career fumble recovery; his first came on the same field two years earlier against the Cardinals. Warner made an acrobatic interception in the second quarter, only to have it nullified by Richard Sherman’s illegal contact vs. Stefon Diggs away from the play.
STRIKE ZONE: Robbie Gould’s 45-yard field goal cut the 49ers’ deficit to 17-10 in the third quarter, and it marked the 29th in a row he’s made from inside 50 yards.
BEASLEY’S NIGHT: Cole Beasley was evaluated for a head injury after a 31-yard catch on the first series. He returned for a career-best night, reaching that milestone with 113 yards on seven catches/targets in the first half alone. He totaled nine catches for 130 yards and a touchdown, that coming on a 5-yard pass to tie the score at 7.
Complementing Beasley’s big night was Stefon Diggs’ 10-catch outing for 92 yards, including a fourth-and-2 conversion to the 49ers’ 28-yard line that set up the Bills’ final touchdown.
“We’re a lot better team than what we displayed,” linebacker Dre Greenlaw said. “That’s the worst part: we knew exactly what they were running. We just came up short. It’s just a weird feeling.”
GOAL-LINE STOPS: Both the Bills and 49ers got stopped short of the goal-line on their opening drives.
First, the Bills were poised to score an opening-drive touchdown for their fifth straight game. But Josh Allen’s fourth-and-goal pass to Lee Smith harmlessly sailed incomplete, after Stefon Diggs’ third-down catch got stopped at the 1 by a barrage of defenders (Tarvarius Moore, Richard Sherman, Arik Armstead and Dre Greenlaw).
The 49ers then marched 97 yards, only to get stopped on runs for no gain from the 1 by Kyle Juszczyk (third down) and Jeff Wilson (fourth down).
HEALTH CENTER: Nose tackle D.J. Jones was ruled out with a first-half ankle injury. Last December, Jones sustained an ankle injury that prematurely ended his season. He missed the 49ers’ Nov. 29 win at Los Angeles while on the NFL’s COVID-19 reserve list.
NEW NICKEL BACK: Johnson started as the slot cornerback, the 49ers’ fourth-string option. Emmanuel Moseley was scratched because of a hamstring injury. Also out were K’Waun Williams (ankle) and Jamar Taylor (knee; Injured Reserve).
Moseley was limited in practice by a hamstring strain and listed as questionable. Cornerback Tim Harris, the 49ers’ final draft pick last year, got activated for his debut to serve as a reserve with Ahkello Witherspoon.
COLEMAN RETURNS: Running back Tevin Coleman lost 9 yards on his first carry in a month, due to Aiyuk’s missed block. Hindered this year by a Week 2 knee sprain, Coleman suited up for only the fourth time this season and joined a running back corps including Raheem Mostert, Jeff Wilson Jr. and Jerick McKinnon; rookie Austin Walter was inactive.
Wilson finished with a team-high 47 yards (seven carries) and Mostert had 42 yards (nine carries). McKinnon had no carries and Coleman lost 2 yards on his only other carry.
TRENT TAYLOR OUT: Wide receiver Trent Taylor was out for the first time this season, and while he’s only contributed 10 receptions, he’s been their most reliable return specialist. The Bills did not punt through three quarters.
