Tuesday, November 29, 2016

49ers Fall Short on Final play in Miami

Week 12 - With a trip to Miami in store for Week 12 to take on the red-hot (6-4) Dolphins, winners of five straight, the upset-minded (1-9) 49ers would come out swinging in what would end up being a close game that came down to the wire. Having shown improvement week by week with the exception of last week's rain-filled loss to the Patriots, Niners QB Colin Kaepernick had arguably his best game of the season on Sunday against a dominant Miami defensive-line. Kaepernick would lead both teams in passing and rushing yardage on the day as he finished with 296 yards thru the air and another 113 yards on the ground to go along with 3 touchdown passes including one on San Francisco's opening-drive which put them ahead early on.

After forcing a three and out on Miami's opening possession to start the game, Kaepernick would help march the team down the field before dumping the ball off to Carlos Hyde who found the end zone to score his first receiving touchdown of the year and first touchdown overall since Week 5 vs Arizona. It would be a long time coming for the 49ers running back who started the season with six touchdowns scored in the first five weeks of the season but has since then cooled off while nursing a shoulder injury and sharing the load with fellow backs Shaun Draughn and DuJuan Harris. The early lead would be short-lived however, as San Francisco quickly found themselves trailing 14-7 heading into the half after back-to-back touchdown scoring drives by the Dolphins, the second of which set up by a Garrett Celek fumble which halted a 49ers drive inside enemy territory at the Miami 31 yard-line. It would also be San Francisco's 11th lost fumble of the season (most in the NFL). An equally disastrous start to the second half for the 49ers would put even more points on the board for the opposition as Kaepernick's pass intended for receiver Torrey Smith was intercepted on the first play of the second half which led to a Miami field goal.
Though the interception wasn't necessarily his fault as Smith should've came up with the catch, both Kaepernick and tight-end Garrett Celek who fumbled earlier would get to redeem themselves with a 4-yard touchdown, the first of Celek's career. Kaepernick wasn't the only one who had a fine performance on Sunday though, as Dolphins QB Ryan Tannehill logged a solid outing with three touchdown passes of his own, including a 43-yarder late in the third quarter to receiver Kenny Stills and another from 15-yards out to Leonte Carroo to start the fourth quarter. Trailing 31 to 14 in the fourth, the 49ers would march all the way down to the 1-yard line before punching it in on a one-handed touchdown grab by Torrey Smith. In need of some help from the defense, the Niners would get just what the doctor ordered as they forced back-to-back Miami three and outs. Following a Phil Dawson field goal to bring them within a touchdown, San Francisco would be given one last chance to tie it late.

With the game clock a factor and no timeouts remaining, Kaepernick and company would march their way down to the 6-yard line with 5 seconds remaining. After an incomplete pass intended for Torrey Smith inside the end zone, the 49ers would have one final chance to score the game-tying touchdown. In a last-ditch effort and nobody open to throw to, Kaepernick scrambled and was stuffed by the collective effort of Ndamukong Suh and Kiko Alonso at the 2-yard line as time expired. San Francisco's late-game heroics would fall just short as Miami held on for the 31-24 win. With both teams going in complete opposite directions right now following Miami's first six-game win streak since 2005 and San Francisco on their worst losing-streak in their 70-year existence, the game that came down to the final play just goes to show that anything can happen on any given Sunday. While the 49ers secondary was picked apart time and time again by Tannehill, the San Francisco defense managed to stop the run quite well and held Dolphins rusher Jay Ajayi to only 45-yards on 18 carries, but one of those carries wound up being a touchdown. Having allowed a season average of 180 yards rushing which is the worst in the NFL, the 49ers D held Miami to less than a hundred yards rushing and forced their opponent to beat them thru the air which they did.
Week 13 Preview - After becoming the first player in franchise history with 3+ touchdown passes and 80+ rushing yards in the same game, QB Colin Kaepernick will now direct his attention to the (2-9) Chicago Bears as he gets set to face off against his former defensive coordinator Vic Fangio. Chicago, the only other team in the NFC with fewer than four wins, will hope to avenge the walk-off loss suffered at home to the 49ers in overtime a season ago. And with the 49ers leading the league this season in points allowed off turnovers, Fangio will be dialing up all he can in hopes of throwing Kaepernick off his game as the two were unable to face each other in last year's 49ers-Bears bout as Blaine Gabbert was under center for San Francisco. As for the Bears quarterback situation, Chicago will be without Jay Cutler who was recently placed on injured-reserved and will have surgery on Saturday to repair a torn labrum, thus opening the door for QB Matt Barkley. Barkley, a former QB of Chip Kelly's while with the Eagles, threw for over 300 yards and 3 touchdowns in a six-point loss to Tennessee last week and will try duplicating those numbers against the 49ers and the head coach who drafted him out of USC.


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Tuesday, November 22, 2016

49ers Fall to Patriots in Brady's Homecoming

Week 11 - With Tom Brady and the 7-2 New England Patriots in town to face the 1-8 San Francisco 49ers, many Pats fans would be on hand despite the poor weather to witness Brady's homecoming to the Bay Area. And in their first ever game at Santa Clara's Levi's Stadium, New England would rebound from a disappointing loss to Seattle the week before. San Francisco wouldn't go without a fight, however, as they stuck around virtually all game long until the Patriots pulled away in the fourth quarter. Growing up just a stones throw from Santa Clara in nearby San Mateo and a big 49ers fan as a kid, Brady, the one who's often been compared to Joe Montana, his boyhood idol, felt right at home on Sunday afternoon.

Even without his Pro-Bowl tight-end Rob Gronkowski who sat out of Sunday's game with a lung injury, Brady managed to throw for 280 yards and four touchdowns on the afternoon in New England's 30-17 win, including the first touchdown reception of rookie receiver Malcolm Mitchell's career, a 56-yarder in the fourth quarter. As for 49ers QB Colin Kaepernick who logged another turnover-free performance by throwing for 206 yards and 2 touchdowns, it would be his offensive-line that let him down early on in this one. After being sacked twice on San Francisco's first drive on offense and five times in the first half alone, the 49ers missed out on an opportunity to take the lead early on. With New England on top following a touchdown from Brady to Julian Edelman on the Pats' first possession, Kaepernick led the Niners down the field where they would set up shop at the 3-yard line, but they would fail to sniff the end zone and were forced to settle for a Phil Dawson field goal. Because of a missed extra-point attempt by Pats kicker Stephen Gostkowski, New England's lead would be 6-3. The usually automatic Gostkowski wasn't the only one who struggled with the PAT on Sunday as it would be a forgetful day for kickers all around the league.
At the time of Gostkowski's missed PAT attempt, there had already been nine missed extra-points on the day and that number would continue to rise. By day's end, there would be a record 12 missed PAT attempts on Sunday, further proof that the rule change the NFL implemented a season ago which moved the extra-point from the 2-yard line to the 15-yard line has made a huge difference. One kicker that wouldn't contribute to the dubious record and had himself a day worth remembering, however, was 49ers kicker Phil Dawson who put San Francisco on the board in the first quarter by drilling a 33-yard field goal. What may have seemed like any other field goal would be a special one for Dawson as it was the 400th made field goal his career, making him just the 10th kicker in NFL history to reach that mark. Also worth noting is that Dawson's career field goal percentage of 84.7 is the best among all kickers in the 400 FG club as the 41-year old has been successful on 14-of-15 field goal attempts this season.

Sadly, it would be one of the few highlights San Francisco would see on Sunday as New England continued to score touchdowns instead of field goals. The Patriots' second possession would end much like their first as Brady found another target who found the end zone, this time to running back James White who scored from 9-yards out. The 49ers would manage to make a game out of it before the half as Kaepernick connected with tight-end Vance McDonald for an 18-yard touchdown that made it a 13-10 game and pulled San Francisco within three. Both teams would exchange punts in a scoreless third quarter before New England found the end zone on the first play of the fourth quarter, a 5-yard touchdown pass to Danny Amendola. After the big play by Mitchell a couple possessions later and a Gostkowski field goal, the 49ers would soon find themselves down 30-10 after trailing by a field goal for nearly 20 minutes. San Francisco would find the end zone once more before it was all said and done as a garbage time touchdown pass from Kaepernick to Shaun Draughn on a wheel route inched the 49ers closer, but a failed onside-kick attempt would seal it as New England pulled off the 30-17 victory.
It would be sweet redemption for the Patriots who both bounced back from their Sunday Night loss a week ago and redeemed themselves from a loss at the hands of Kaepernick  and the 49ers in their most recent match-up in 2012, a 41-34 San Francisco victory in Foxborough on Sunday Night Football. The win for New England also catapulted Tom Brady in a tie with Brett Favre for the second most wins all-time with 199, trailing only Peyton Manning who has 200. As for the home team, it would be the ninth straight loss for the 49ers who are still in search of their first victory since their 28-0 shutout of the Los Angeles Rams in the season-opener. The 49ers lackluster run defense also made its return, allowing Patriots running back LeGarrette Blount to rush for 124 yards on 19 carries, this after holding Cardinals running back David Johnson to only 55-yards a week ago.

Week 12 - Hoping to shake off their 9-game skid, the 49ers will take to the road where they'll face the red-hot Miami Dolphins (6-4), winners of five straight. While the 49ers have been on a free-fall since their blowout Week 1 victory, the Dolphins have done the exact opposite, and now sit two games above .500 and in the playoff hunt after a disappointing 1-4 start to the season. Coming off a hard-fought win on the road in Los Angeles which saw Miami QB Ryan Tannenhill and the Dolphins erase a 10-0 deficit into a 14-10 victory with a last-minute touchdown to get the win. With run defense being the glaring weakness of this year's 49ers team, they'll have to keep close tabs on Dolphins running back Jay Ajayi who logged consecutive games of 200-yards rushing this season and has been a huge reason his team is riding a 5-game win-streak. If they can do that and contain Miami's run game, I like San Francisco's chances of putting an end to both Miami's win-streak and the 49ers' skid. The 49ers will also be hitting the field vs Miami without Pro Bowl safety Eric Reid who's been ruled out with a season-ending injury as he suffered a torn biceps in the loss to New England.


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Wednesday, November 16, 2016

49ers Rally late but Fall short in Arizona

Week 10 - In Glendale, Arizona to face the (3-4-1) Cardinals, Chip Kelly's 49ers (1-7) were hoping to build off a nice game offensively against the Saints in Week 9 and escape the desert with their first win since Week 1. However, the third time would be a charm for Cards kicker Chandler Catanzaro who fell short on two other tries to kick a game-winning field goal this season, but came through when needed on Sunday vs the 49ers. After having the daylights beaten out of them last year in Arizona by a final score of 47-7, San Francisco kept things much closer this time around, but were unable to leave the desert with a victory as they fell short by a last second field goal as time expired. Coming off back-to-back hard fought games that resulted in a tie and a loss, the Cardinals who were returning from a BYE, got back on track in the win column with a close win over San Francisco that didn't come easy.

After falling into an early hole which saw Arizona take a 14-0 lead on a pair of touchdowns both thru the air and on the ground by running back David Johnson, the 49ers were able to rebound late following a shaky start as QB Colin Kaepernick and company failed to get a single first down in each of their first three offensive possessions. But a 17-yard touchdown pass to a wide-open Jeremy Kerley in the far right corner of the end zone would put the Niners on the board in the second quarter. It would be sweet redemption for Kerley who fumbled a punt return on the possession prior which set up Johnson's second touchdown. Catanzaro and 49ers kicker Phil Dawson would then exchange field goals to make it a 20-10 game at the half. Fairing much better on defense in the second half, San Francisco was able to force three Carson Palmer turnovers, including two interceptions and a fumble. From there the 49ers would cash in on two of those turnovers as an Eli Harold sack and forced fumble resulted in the second of Phil Dawson's long field goals on the afternoon and Gerald Hodges' interception led to a game-tying touchdown ran in by Kaepernick from 4-yards out.
With the game tied at 20-20 and Arizona taking over at their own 15 yard line with just under two minutes remaining in the 4th quarter, the Cardinals would need Carson Palmer and company to come alive for the first time since the first half as the 49ers defense had kept Arizona off the board in the second half. But a sprawling catch by Michael Floyd  for a 26-yard gain and a 14-yard reception by Larry Fitzgerald who each eclipsed the 100-yard mark and combined for 233-yards receiving, would help the Cardinals get into field goal range where Catanzaro split the uprights from 34-yards out to kick Arizona to a 23-20 victory as time expired. Kaepernick would log another solid performance and was able to rebound from arguably the worst game of his career when the 49ers last visited Arizona a year ago, but it wouldn't be enough. Finishing with 210 yards passing and two total touchdowns, Kaepernick tied Arizona's David Johnson for a game-high 55 yards rushing as Niner running backs Carlos Hyde and DuJuan Harris were virtually shutout and combined for 28-yards on the ground. As for Carson Palmer, the Cardinals QB would total 376 yards through the air and added a 16-yard rush in the second quarter, the longest rush of his 14-year career, out-running both 49er running backs.

After torching the 49ers defense for 157-yards in their Thursday Night meeting just over a month ago, Cardinals running back David Johnson was held to a fraction of that on Sunday as the San Francisco defense held Johnson to only 55-yards on 19 carries and saw their NFL-record of allowing a 100-yard rusher finally come to an end at seven games. However, he would add another 46-yards receiving to account for 101 total yards, registering yet another stellar performance against SF. After seeing his production in the passing game diminish with Kaepernick taking the QB reigns over Blaine Gabbert in Week 6, receiver Jeremy Kerley finally found the end zone and got things going with Kaepernick as his quarterback as he hauled in a team-high 7 receptions for 71-yards. Hopefully, just hopefully the 49ers can use this game to build off of as Kaepernick continues to slowly shake off the cobwebs and the defense can string together consecutive games where they aren't dismantled by the run.
Week 10 - As if wins haven't already been tough to come by for the (1-8) 49ers this year, they'll now have to face the daunting task of playing Tom Brady and the (7-2) New England Patriots who will be making their first trip to Levi's Stadium. For what it's worth, the 49ers defense won't have to worry about Pro-Bowl tight-end Rob Gronkowski as he's been ruled out of Sunday's game with a perforated lung injury suffered in Sunday night's loss at home to the Seahawks. But we can all expect Brady and company to play with a chip on their shoulder when they hit the field again as they plan to avenge their heart-breaking loss to Seattle which ended on a goal-line stand as the Pats were unable to score from the 1-yard line. With a 49ers win at New England the last time these two teams met, all we can do is hope San Francisco comes out to play and makes it a competitive game, unless Colin Kaepernick is able to turn back the clock and throw for four touchdowns again like he did in that memorable win at Foxborough back in 2012.


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Tuesday, November 8, 2016

49ers Fall to Saints in First Half Shootout

Week 9 - What do you get when the two worst defenses in the league face one another? How about the highest-scoring first half of the 2016 NFL season. Coming off a BYE in Week 8, the 49ers returned to action in Week 9 with a meeting with Drew Brees and the visiting (3-4) New Orleans Saints. In a match up of two struggling defenses which have given up an average of 30 points per game, it would be no wonder that the score would be 31-20 at the half. And with first half leads in five of their six losses this season entering Sunday's game, Chip Kelly's 49ers would get off to a similar start in this one.

After celebrating his 29th birthday over the weekend, Colin Kaepernick would throw for close to 400 yards on the afternoon as he tallied 398 on Sunday, more than his first two starts combined this season. A 31-yard gain on a short hitch to receiver Quinton Patton would help set up his big day and put the 49ers in position to take an early lead as they would have to settle for a 49-yard field goal from kicker Phil Dawson. But the Saints would follow that up with four consecutive scoring drives of their own to take the lead as Tim Hightower started things off with a 4-yard touchdown run. With turnovers costing San Francisco on several opportunities, the first would be an interception by Kaepernick as the Saints quickly turned their 4-point lead into an 11-point lead with a 1-yard touchdown pass to rookie receiver Michael Thomas. In an early hole at the start of the second quarter, coach Kelly would decide to go for it on a 4th and 1 call which would prove to be costly as the 49ers came up short on the attempt. Once again the Saints would turn San Francisco's turnover into points as Mark Ingram capitalized a 76-yard drive with a 5-yard receiving touchdown.
But this time, the 49ers would answer with a big play of their own. In only his second start with the 49ers, DuJuan Harris would have himself a nice day while filling in for the injured Carlos Hyde. Though he would only compile 59 yards on the ground, Harris would tally 83 yards thru the air on five receptions, including a 47-yard catch and go touchdown that made it a 21-10 game. Unfortunately, the Saints would waste no time to answer right back as Ingram ran for a 75-yard touchdown on the first play of the ensuing drive, making it the second-longest touchdown run in Saints franchise history. After being benched last week in favor of Tim Hightower, Ingram made quite the impression for getting his starting job back by rushing for 158 yards on Sunday. Ingram's big day would also mark the seventh straight game in which the 49ers have allowed an opposing player to rush for 100 yards for the first time in NFL history. After a 48-yard field goal by Dawson, the 49ers would strike with their biggest play of the afternoon as Kaepernick found a wide-open Vance McDonald who raced to the end zone untouched for a 65-yard touchdown to pull within 8-points. However, it would be the closest the 49ers would get as Brees was able to march the Saints down the field with less than a minute to go to add a field goal to their lead, making it a 31-20 ball game at the half.

After a nice kick return to open the second half by Jacorey Shepherd, the 49ers appeared to be in business and on their way to making it a 4-point game as Kaepernick and company marched their way into enemy territory and set up shop inside the New Orleans 8-yard line. But a 7-yard run to the 1-yard line would end in disaster as second-year running back Mike Davis fumbled at the goal-line, recovered by the Saints. Though the Saints would fail to cash the mistake into points and were forced to punt, the 49ers would only be able to score a field goal on their next possession. It would also be their last scoring opportunity on the afternoon as the Saints added another 10-points in the fourth quarter to pull away with the 41-23 victory.
Despite the loss, Colin Kaepernick threw for the second-highest passing total of his career with 398 yards and became the 15th player in 49ers franchise history to rush for over 2,000 career yards after adding anther 28 yards on the ground on Sunday. Quinton Patton would haul in 106 of those yards on 6 receptions as the 49ers fell to 1-7 on the season. As for the Saints who improved to 4-4 on the year and have bounced back after an 0-3 start, quarterback Drew Brees who threw for 323 yards and a trio of touchdowns is on the doorstep of becoming only the third QB in NFL history to reach the 450 touchdown mark as he currently sits at 449 career touchdown passes. With the Saints still very much alive in the NFC South and in contention for the division, they trail only the Atlanta Falcons who sit at 6-3 on the year. 

Week 10 Preview - On the road in Week 10, the 49ers will make a stop in the desert as they visit the (3-4-1) Arizona Cardinals. In what's been a disappointing season for the Cardinals -- last year's NFC Western division champions, Bruce Arians has seen his guys play some ugly football as of late and is hoping they can return to form after coming off a BYE in Week 9. With a 30-20 loss to the Carolina Panthers in their last outing and a 6-6 tie at home to division rival Seattle in the game before that, Arizona has the perfect match-up in place to take out some anger and get their fourth win of the season. Though I don't expect a repeat of last year's visit to Glendale -- a 47-7 shellacking of the 49ers, I do expect another Cardinals victory. With a 33-21 win at San Francisco earlier this year back in Week 5 on Thursday Night Football, the teams exchanged blows in the first half in what was a relatively close game until late when the Cards pulled away, Arizona will have their starting quarterback around this time as QB Carson Palmer was sidelined with a concussion in their last meeting. And with Carlos Hyde questionable to play on Sunday, the 49ers might have to rely on another big game from DeJuan Harris in hopes of pulling off the upset.


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