3 49ers stars from Week 13: Clelin Ferrell makes his mark against the Browns

A 41-year streak came to an end on Sunday, with the San Francisco 49ers picking up their first victory in Cleveland since 1984 with a 26-8 win over the Browns.

Things were a little hairy in the first half, falling behind 8-7 right before halftime, before Brock Purdy led a field goal-scoring drive, giving San Francisco a 10-8 lead at the half. From there, they wouldn’t look back, outscoring Cleveland 16-0 in the second half.

Every win is vital at this point of the season, but this one meant just that much more with Carolina upsetting the Rams, moving the 49ers one game out of the loss column atop the NFC West entering the bye week. But before we can move on to the bye week ourselves, let’s look at Sunday’s three stars:

Third star: PR Skyy Moore

Another week, another big return from Moore, who is slowly becoming a regular in this series.

After a couple of significant kickoff returns in the past two games, including the 98-yard return to open the game against Arizona, Moore again had an early impact on the game on Sunday, this time via punt return.

The San Francisco defense forced Cleveland’s defense off the field in five plays on the Browns’ opening drive, thanks in part to Shedeur Sanders overshooting an open Jerry Jeudy on third down. Corey Bojorquez uncorked the first of his four punts on Sunday, pinning Moore inside the 49ers’ 20-yard line.

That’s when Moore went to work.

Moore used his speed to get through the initial wave of Cleveland defenders, splitting a pair of Browns to get some space. Already at full speed, Moore blew past Blake Whiteheart, and from there, it came down to whether Moore could maintain his speed. After one stiff-arming his way past Bojorquez, Moore seemed to run out of gas, finally caught from behind by Whiteheart.

When it was said and done, it was a 66-yard return by Moore that set the San Francisco offense up at the Cleveland 16-yard line. Six plays later, Christian McCaffrey would break the goal line to give the 49ers their first score of the game.

It’s taken some getting used to, but the 49ers’ special teams have been good this season, and Skyy Moore has been at the front of that charge.

Second star: TE George Kittle

While McCaffrey, Purdy,  and Jauan Jennings were the three 49ers to find the endzone, George Kittle had two of the most impactful plays of the game for the San Francisco offense in a windy Cleveland.

The Browns were coming off their only scoring drive of the game at the end of the first half, giving the ball back to the 49ers with 39 seconds left. A touchback on the kickoff started the San Francisco offense at the 35, but a couple of medium-distance receptions to Ricky Pearsall and Jennings moved the offense into plus territory with 15 seconds left.

With not a lot of time left and only one timeout left, Purdy took a deep shot to Kittle, hoping for the best. Kittle made that decision pay off with a circus catch with Browns’ safety Ronnie Hickman hanging all over him for a gain of 33. San Francisco would call a timeout, and Matt Gay would doink the 25-yard field goal attempt through the uprights, giving the 49ers a 10-8 lead at the half.

After the two teams exchanged punts to open the second half, Cleveland tried to convert a fourth-down attempt deep in their own territory that never stood a chance when Harold Fannin fumbled the snap, giving the 49ers prime field position to try to extend their two-point lead. But San Francisco almost blundered the prime field position, facing a third-and-8 just inside the red zone. That’s where Kittle again would make a play to set up a 49ers score.

With the 49ers facing a third-and-8, facing the risk of wasting the good field position, Kittle snuck his way behind the Browns linebackers, where Purdy would connect with him for a 14-yard reception to extend the drive. Three plays later, Purdy would scramble into the endzone and give the 49ers a 17-8 lead.

Kittle might not have found the end zone on Sunday, but his assists to points earn him the second star in Cleveland.

First star: DE Clelin Ferrell

Ferrell is among the newest 49ers, signed at the end of October, but with his two sacks on Sunday, he finds himself tied with Bryce Huff for the team lead in sacks and is responsible for a quarter of all sacks by 49er defenders this season.

Ferrell led the 49ers in basically every defensive stat category with nine total tackles, six solo tackles, two sacks, two tackles for loss, and two quarterback hits. In a season where the 49ers have been desperate for any resemblance of a pass rush, Ferrell has come up big with four sacks in his first four games in his return to the 49ers.

His first sack of the two came in a key spot, with the 49ers holding onto a seven-point lead with the Browns in San Francisco territory. With Cleveland facing a third-and-15 in an obvious passing situation, Ferrell worked his way from the outside shoulder of Browns’ left tackle Cam Robinson, cutting his way towards the interior of the Browns’ offensive line, before moving guard Joel Bitonio out of his way en route to Sanders, who could escape the pressure, restuling in a loss of 13 and forcing the punt.

Ferrell’s second sack came in garbage time with the 49ers leading 26-8, nearing the two minute warning in the fourth quarter, but it was just as impressive. Again, on the outside shoulder of Robinson, Ferrell worked his way past the tackle to get on the tail of Sanders. Sanders sensed the pressure and rolled to his right, but Ferrell stayed hot in pursuit, chasing down the rookie quarterback, sealing his first multi-sack performance since Week 13 of the 2020 season.

In a spot where the 49ers’ pass rush needed any help it could get, it’s been Ferrell who has stepped up, earning the first star in Cleveland.

Throughout the season, I will track the three stars of the season, tallying points for each star award using a complex scoring system: three points for being the first star, two for the second, and one for the third. Through Week 13, the standings are:

1. RB Christian McCaffrey – 14 points

2. LB Fred Warner – 11 points

3. QB Mac Jones – 8 points