49ers vs. Browns: San Francisco Grades, Notes and Quotes

The San Francisco 49ers made the lowly Cleveland Browns look like a playoff contender in Week 14, and San Francisco couldn't find a way to secure its fifth victory of the season after falling 24-10 at FirstEnergy Stadium.

Cleveland entered the contest with the lowest-ranked rushing offense in the NFL yet amassed 230 yards on the ground. 

Through the air, Browns quarterback Johnny Manziel passed for 270 yards and one touchdown against an interception. And the 49ers defense experienced even more woes with its tackling, which fueled Cleveland's offensive numbers on the day.

On the flip side, San Francisco's last-place offense ensured it would continue its hold here.

Quarterback Blaine Gabbert was sacked a total of nine times by a Browns defense entering the game with 17 sacks on the season.

That Browns defense also outgained Gabbert and the lowly 49ers offense 481 yards to 221 and had the ball for 37:39 to just 22:21 for the 49ers.

It's hard to find any sort of positives for San Francisco from this contest because, well, there really aren't any.

Position Grades

Quarterback: F

Quarterback Blaine Gabbert's efforts in Week 13 in Chicago were a smokescreen in comparison to what was seen versus the Browns.

He finished the day 18-of-28 for a measly 194 yards and one touchdown—a sizable portion of which game in garbage time. Gabbert's pocket presence also looked nothing like what it was earlier this season. Yes, the 49ers offensive line was permeable. But Gabbert had difficulty in avoiding Cleveland's seemingly endless pressure within the pocket.

If anything, Gabbert's performance should remind 49ers fans the team will be seeking a new signal-caller in the 2016 NFL draft.

Running Back: F

Week 14 was supposed to be running back Shaun Draughn's revenge game against the team that released him after he started the year in Cleveland.

But Draughn was also a virtual non-factor with just 43 yards on 11 carries with a long of 15.

This was against a Browns defense that had entered the contest allowing the second-most rushing yards in the league (1,636).

Wide Receiver: D-

San Francisco's leading wide receivers were wideouts Quinton Patton with 46 yards on five catches.

And it has to be bad when No. 1 receiver Anquan Boldin didn't even get his first target until time was expiring in the third quarter.

Wide receiver Jerome Simpson, who hasn't been used much after returning from his suspension, hauled in a meaningless touchdown in the fourth quarter.

Tight End: F

Rookie tight end Blake Bell had three receptions for 49 yards and led all San Francisco receivers. In his first game with the 49ers, fellow TE Brian Leonhardt netted one reception for four yards.

And those are your highlights from this position.

Offensive Line: F

While some of the sacks fell on Gabbert, nine sacks allowed is yet another major issue on display for San Francisco's offensive line. On a good note, Daniel Kilgore received the majority of reps at center. This should upgrade the unit a bit over the rest of the season.

Left guard Alex Boone (knee) left the game and did not return. He was replaced by Marcus Martin, who had originally started the game at center.

Not like the change mattered much.

Defensive Line: D-

Defensive tackles Ian Williams and Quinton Dial were among the lone (somewhat) bright spots for San Francisco's defensive line. Williams registered four tackles, while Dial had four along with a sack. Dial also blocked a field-goal attempt on special teams.

But the 49ers defense allowed 230 rushing yards to the league's worst rushing offense. And much of that starts up front.

San Francisco's D-line wasn't able to do much here at all.

Linebacker: F

Poor tackling highlighted a lot of what went wrong within the 49ers linebacker corps. Linebacker NaVorro Bowman, who usually leads the defense in tackles each week, registered just five.

Outside linebacker Corey Lemonier, who got the start over fellow LB Aaron Lynch (concussion), continues to struggle at the pro level. And San Francisco's pass rush was almost nonexistent.

Linebacker Ahmad Brooks' frustrations began to boil over in the fourth quarter. 

Defensive Back: D-

Lack of a pass rush will almost always make a secondary's job tough. Aside from safety Jaquiski Tartt's interception off quarterback Johnny Manziel, the defensive backfield looked completely overmatched and beaten over the course of 60 minutes.

Cornerback Kenneth Acker led the team with 11 tackles, but the secondary didn't have much of an answer for Browns receiving targets Brian Hartline, Gary Barnidge or Travis Benjamin.

What was the coverage scheme for defensive coordinator Eric Mangini's unit again?

Special Teams: B

Punter Bradley Pinion was busy again in Week 14 with seven punts. And veteran kicker Phil Dawson, who received a nice ovation from his former team, supplied San Francisco's lone first-half score with a 44-yard field goal in the second quarter.

Wide receiver Bruce Ellington did have a nice punt return. And Dial's field-goal block is another one of the few positives from San Francisco's effort.

Coaching: F

It's hard to figure out exactly what head coach Jim Tomsula's game plan was for Week 14. Yes, travel and road games always add more challenges. But the lowly Browns should have provided more of an opportunity for the 49ers.

San Francisco lacked any sort of cohesiveness on both sides of the ball against a Cleveland squad that entered the game that ranked toward the bottom in nearly every major offensive and defensive category.

Ugly. 

San Francisco's offensive line entered the contest with the NFL's second-worst run-blocking abilities (minus-46.4) per Pro Football Focus.

This wasn't a good formula to have despite the Browns ranking No. 31 against the run.

Running back Shaun Draughn couldn't get the necessary lanes to help the 49ers offense maintain possession or establish any sort of ground game at all.

But pass protection was even more problematic.

Cleveland boasted a plus-8.7 PFF grade in advance of the game, but its pass rush looked more as if it were filled with an All-Pro roster.

This group registered a whopping nine sacks for 44 yards.

Injuries may play a role now with left guard Alex Boone (knee) coming out of the game. He walked off under his own power, but this already bad unit will be downgraded even further if Boone is unable to go next week.

One of the lone bright spots from the 49ers' efforts was rookie safety Jaquiski Tartt and his first interception at the pro level.

Browns quarterback Johnny Manziel threw off his back foot while being chased out of the pocket, which ultimately led to an easy pick for Tartt.

It was one of two turnovers forced by San Francisco's defense on the day.

Tartt has been one of the 49ers' bright spots this season, and he'll likely continue to develop as a key figure within San Francisco's defense.

Quarterback Blaine Gabbert's stat line looked OK: 18-of-28 for 194 yards and a touchdown against zero interceptions.

But most of those numbers came on San Francisco's lone end-zone score in the fourth quarter. Much of this was "garbage time" numbers. And Gabbert looked nothing like the confident signal-caller on display late in Week 13 against the Chicago Bears.

Gabbert was facing off against the league's second-worst defense that had allowed 347 points prior to the contest. And Cleveland's pass defense had allowed an average of 7.6 yards per passing attempt—also second worst in the NFL.

And yet Gabbert was not able to take advantage of these numbers. Rather, the 49ers quarterback looked indecisive in the pocket, lacked poise and frequently threw to check-down receivers rather than taking shots down the field.

This will only serve to fuel the notion San Francisco will be looking at a quarterback early in the 2016 NFL draft.

Left tackle Joe Staley, who remains San Francisco's best offensive lineman, was part of a 49ers O-line that allowed nine sacks and was overwhelmingly handled at the line of scrimmage by Cleveland's defense.

"I've played in 100 games and today it felt like we weren't ready to play," Staley said following the game, per Mindi Bach of CSN Bay Area.

The 49ers didn't look as if they were ready to play. 

At all.

It would have been one thing had the 49ers lost to a far superior team like the Arizona Cardinals, Seattle Seahawks or Pittsburgh Steelers. Yet this loss to a 3-11 Browns team could be a new low for San Francisco this season.

And not showing up is not a good attribute to have for this sort of contest.

The 49ers defense was able to force two turnovers over the course of the game. But San Francisco's offense failed to capitalize on these and other opportunities.

Doing so is a must on the road even if the opponent is not very good.

"We didn't do our job, that's the bottom line," safety Eric Reid said via the team's Twitter feed. "When we get a turnover, we have to get in the end zone."

San Francisco's defense struggled containing the Browns running game, which opened things up for quarterback Johnny Manziel through the air.

And not taking advantage of Cleveland's mistakes on offense ended up haunting the 49ers' overall effort.

Taking the blame has been a theme for head coach Jim Tomsula in each of San Francisco's nine losses this season.

And Week 14 was no different.

"There’s not a guy in that locker room that doesn’t own some part of this, starting with me," the head coach said, per Chris Biderman of Scout.com. “I didn’t believe it was an effort problem. I believe it was an execution problem."

Well, the 49ers didn't execute on either side of the ball. And the effort wasn't exactly spectacular, either. 

San Francisco had to enter this game feeling pretty good about its chances after securing the team's first road win a week ago. But the 49ers' wholly lackluster effort ultimately points this team in the wrong direction.

"I think we all took a step backwards today," Tomsula concluded, via Eric Branch of SFGate.com.

Maybe a few steps.

All statistics, injury reports, records and accolades courtesy of Pro-Football-Reference.com and ESPN.com unless otherwise indicated.

Peter Panacy is a Featured Columnist covering the San Francisco 49ers for Bleacher Report. Follow him @PeterPanacy on Twitter.