Game review

OFFENSE

Jimmy Garoppolo certainly wasn’t good, but he also wasn’t fully recovered from his high ankle sprain. What was the offensive line’s excuse? The front five was flattened for the second straight game, and the Dolphins don’t have the Eagles’ firepower. The 49ers allowed five sacks and eight QB hits in a discombobulated performance. In the fourth quarter, Trent Williams appeared to have animated words with linemate Laken Tomlinson after another sack. Tight end George Kittle said the offense, now at nearly full strength, needed to help out the banged- up defense: Instead, the 49ers managed 259 yards and went 2- of- 15 on third and fourth down.

DEFENSE

Poor Brian Allen. The CB received his first start — heck, he’d never played a defensive snap in the NFL — and was worked over by QB Ryan Fitzpatrick, 37, who knew who to attack in his 144th career start. But Allen had company as Fitzpatrick torched the entire defense, throwing for 350 yards and three TDs despite attempting just one pass in the final 19 minutes. The 49ers didn’t have many healthy CBs, and they don’t have much of a pass rush without Nick Bosa and Dee Ford. That’s a bad combination. And it leads to results like Sunday’s.

SPECIAL TEAMS

They allowed a successful fake punt on 4th- and- 1, Ross Dwelley had a false start before a punt and Kevin White curiously decided to return a kickoff 6 yards deep in the end zone ( he reached the 14- yard line). It wasn’t all awful: Trent Taylor’s lone punt return was for 17 yards, and the coverage units allowed 9 puntreturn yards ( three returns) and 15 kickoff return yards ( one return). Mitch Wishnowsky had a 52- yard punt that was muffed, forcing the Dolphins to start a drive at their 5.

COACHING

Allen was clearly overmatched, but the 49ers kept him in there for 22 minutes while he allowed six catches for 139 yards and a TD. Ahkello Witherspoon finally said he could play with his bum hamstring, but surely Ken Webster wouldn’t have fared any worse. The decision to start Garoppolo seemed panicky after he was pulled at halftime. Did Kyle Shanahan really think he could be effective? Also: The decision to hand the ball to RB Jerick McKinnon instead of Raheem Mostert was odd on an unsuccessful 4th- and- 1 on their second drive.

OVERALL

That was the 49ers’ worst performance in … wait … just give me a second … a very long time? It probably wasn’t due to a lack of effort, but it sure looked lifeless. They were humiliated by a team that had been 1- 3, which makes one wonder how they will be treated by, in order, the Rams, Patriots, Seahawks, Packers, Saints, Rams and Bills.