4 San Francisco 49ers to blame for first loss of the season in Cleveland

3. Steve Wilks failed to adjust properly to the Browns offense

There's not a specific defender for the 49ers who really deserves a ton of blame. Yes, Deommodore Lenoir fell down in coverage, which led to a 58-yard reception for Browns WR1 Amari Cooper. Moreover, Cooper also Mossed another cornerback in Charvarius Ward for a big gain later in the game. And there were several costly penalties from the defense, though some more warranted than others.

Where you can pretty clearly point the blame, though, is defensive coordinator Steve Wilks.

Make no mistake, Wilks has been great leading up to this point in the 2023 season after replacing DeMeco Ryans. That was not the case on Sunday, however.

The Browns were starting PJ Walker at quarterback and remain without Nick Chubb in the backfield. To say the offense was hamstrung even before the opening kickoff would be an understatement. And yet, they found enough offensive success to keep moving the ball and, obviously, get the win against San Francisco.

One notable area where Wilks failed the Niners in this game was adjusting to Cleveland's screen game. Whether it was Kareem Hunt, David Njoku, or a number of other players, the 49ers simply let the Browns get chunk yardage on numerous screens in this game. Furthermore, San Francisco was also unable to slow down Jerome Ford, who had 84 yards on the day while averaging 4.9 yards per carry.

We know how dominant the 49ers defense is capable of being when it's operating at its best. Wilks did not have the unit doing that in what was a sloppy game overall made slightly better by forcing a couple of turnovers. Without those changes of possession, though, one could argue that the 49ers wouldn't have even had a chance to win this game.