The 49ers came into Sunday’s game with an all-too-clear insistence:
We can go lower.
Did you think last week’s loss to Green Bay was terrible? Well, check this out.
The Niners found a way to make it even worse, losing 35-10 to Buffalo.
What else could you call a game where Brock Purdy played and the Niners had glimmers of early hope, only for it all to come crashing down in relentless and near-comical fashion (in a blizzard, no less)?
Par for the course, I suppose.
Here are the studs and duds from another dud of a game.
STUDS
Christian McCaffrey • RB
The tragedy of this 49ers’ season epitomized. For the first time since returning to the lineup in Week 10, McCaffrey looked like the should-have-been MVP of the league last season. He was bursting through the line and gliding across the frozen field like an ice skater. He had 72 yards on his first eight touches of the game.
Then came his ninth touch, a pitch to the right.
McCaffrey took four steps and came up limp on a toss play to the right, sliding for a five-yard loss instead of running any further. The Niners categorized it as a right PCL injury. It’s possibly season-ending.
In a way, it already is.
The Niners were done — in the game and for the season — the moment McCaffrey went into the locker room.
Jordan Mason • RB
The Niners committed to using Mason more before he slid back into the No. 1 running back role. As either a change-of-pace option or the No. 1, he showed the same power we saw in the campaign’s first half. The Niners’ run game should still be solid, even without McCaffrey.
49ers’ offensive line
I can’t pin this loss on them. Despite having backups on the left side, the Niners’ front five provided solid pass protection and huge holes in the run game, despite poor footing all night. In fact, this might have been the Niners’ best offensive line game of the season.
Malik Mustapha • S
He was the one defensive player who can claim to have turned in a good shift. Mustapha was everywhere on Sunday. Was it perfect? Hardly. But he made plays, which is something to be excited about, even after a brutal game.
DUDS 
Ji’Ayir Brown • S
The Bills made him the central character of Sunday’s game, attacking him relentlessly in the run and pass game. He provided little, if any, resistance. This is hardly the first game this season where that has been the case, and it raises serious questions about whether Brown — in his second season — should be a starter for this team next year.
Deebo Samuel • WR
He’s a good kick returner (save for that fourth-quarter fumble) but doesn’t provide much of anything from scrimmage. There’s nothing new there. Kyle Shanahan’s no longer trying to run the ball with him. Next to go? Screens.
Kyle Juszczyk • FB
He fumbled at the goal line, erasing a momentum-shifting opening drive to the second half, which — had it converted into a touchdown — might have given us a chance at an interesting game.
Jake Moody • K
Were the conditions brutal? Absolutely.
Were Moody’s two missed kicks equally brutal? You bet.
Charvarious Ward • CB
I am reluctant to “go in” on Ward, given that this is his first game back from an unimaginable tragedy, but the fact remains that he had one of his worst games in a Niners uniform Sunday. (A mark that has been set a few times this season.) His third-and-long penalty on the Bills’ opening series of their second drive of the game led to a touchdown — which was run right at him.
Before halftime, Buffalo put a third touchdown on the board with Mack Hollins overpowering him for a 7-yard score, capping a 97-yard drive.
Down 21-3, the second half didn’t matter after that.