49ers Strike Early but Fall Short vs Chargers

Week 4 - Road games in the month of September have been none too kind to the San Francisco 49ers. In fact, their last road win in the month of September came back in Week 1 of the 2014 season when they defeated the Dallas Cowboys on September 7, 2014. Since then, the Niners have dropped eight straight games away from home in September. And playing without their starting quarterback for the first time this season, those September woes were likely to continue against a Chargers team expected by many to compete for a Super Bowl this season. A pair of 1-2 teams chasing the only two remaining unbeaten teams in the league, leading their respective divisions -- Rams and Chiefs, the 49ers and Chargers were both eyeing their second win of the season when the two faced off at L.A.'s intimate StubHub Center. Playing in their second season since relocating to the Los Angeles area, the Chargers would elect to wear their road white uniforms on Sunday, allowing San Francisco to wear their home reds. It would be a fitting choice considering 75% of the 30,000 fans in attendance would be supporting the road team as the stands were full of red clad 49er fans, myself included.

Us Niner fans would have plenty to cheer for in the early going as the 49ers came out firing on all cylinders on both sides of the ball to open the game. Winning the coin toss and electing to receive, Philip Rivers and the Chargers offense would put together a trio of drives they'd much rather forget. Facing third and long on their opening possession, Rivers would be picked off by safety Antone Exum who turned his first career interception into a pick-six touchdown to give San Francisco an early lead. After a punt on their next possession, the Chargers would once again come up empty as kicker Caleb Sturgis missed a 54-yard field goal in what would end up being an up and down ballgame for the L.A. kicker who was signed during the off-season. Taking over near midfield, 49ers QB C.J. Beathard would piece together what would ultimately end up being a respectable game serving as San Francisco's backup quarterback in the absence of starter Jimmy Garoppolo. Showing poise and quickness in his release, Beathard connected in the end zone with receiver Kendrick Bourne to give the Niners an early 14-0 lead. After watching the 49ers score a touchdown on offense, the Chargers were finally able to log one of their own as a wide-open Antonio Gates hauled in a pass from Rivers to put a dent into the deficit, but Sturgis would miss his first of two extra-points on the afternoon.

Looking to add to their lead, Beathard and company would produce a drive of 21-plays, the most by a 49ers team since 1993. Eating up 10 minutes and 44 seconds, kicker Robbie Gould would cap the long drive with his 32nd consecutive made field goal to add to his franchise record. Trailing 17-6 with 5:02 remaining in the half, Rivers would answer the call and rally his team to pull even just in time before the half. After striking for a 22-yard touchdown thru the air to running back Austin Ekeler and succeeding on the 2-point attempt, the 49ers appeared to be headed to the locker room with at least a 3-point lead before the Chargers turned a 56-yard punt return into a field goal to tie things up at 17-all heading into the half. The second half would see the tables turn as it was the 49ers who opened the third quarter ice-cold, virtually identical to how the Chargers opened the first. After a punt on a three and out to begin the half by San Francisco, Rivers would continue to pour it on as he threw his third and final touchdown pass on the afternoon, a 6-yard score to running back Melvin Gordon.

And just when the 49ers were on track to stop the bleeding, making it to the red zone and facing a first and goal at the Chargers 8-yard line, the self-inflicted miscues would once again begin to show their face as a pass to Garrett Celek bounced off his chest and into the hands of a Chargers defender who nearly took it the distance. An 86-yard return by Trevor Williams would set up another field goal by Sturgis, adding to the Chargers' onslaught of 20 unanswered-points and five consecutive scoring-drives. San Francisco had a chance to come up with a huge turnover of their own as a rare fumble by Melvin Gordon who hasn't lost a fumble in 28 games, was recovered by a pair of Niner defenders who collided and stepped out of bounds, ruling the ball dead and allowing the Chargers to continue the drive. Two possessions later, the 49ers would finally put an end to their second half skid when Beathard connected with his former college teammate George Kittle for an 82-yard touchdown, the longest by the 49ers this season and second longest of Beathard's career by one yard.

After forcing L.A. to punt on their ensuing possession, the 49ers had plans to retake the lead, but not before enduring a scary moment as a scrambling C.J. Beathard absorbed a shot to the chest that left the Niners QB rolling around in pain before being attended to by the medical staff. The big hit would result in third-string quarterback Nick Mullens to begin to warm up, but it turned out Beathard just had the air knocked out of him, as he returned on San Francisco's next possession. San Francisco would get a field goal out of it, jumping out to a 27-26 lead with under 13 minutes remaining in regulation. But the lead wouldn't last long as L.A. would retake the lead with a field goal of their own on their ensuing possession. But a pair of exchanged punts would put the ball in Beathard's hands late with a chance to lead his team to victory. Taking over at the 7 yard-line with 3:49 left in the 4th quarter, the Niners would see their comeback hopes come crashing down when a pair of rookies came up huge for the Chargers. 2018 first round pick Derwin James applied pressure with a hit on Beathard as he was releasing the ball, resulting in an interception that landed in the lap of Isaac Rochell with 2:31 remaining. Taking over in the red zone, the Chargers would milk the clock from there, sealing the 29-27 victory and give San Francisco their ninth consecutive road loss in the month of September.

Beathard would finish with a game-high 298 passing yards, a pair of touchdowns and a pair of unfortunate interceptions, both of which were far from his fault. As for Philip Rivers who shook off his shaky start to finish with 250 yards passing, three touchdowns and an interception, the 36-year old veteran moved to 8th place on the NFL's all-time passing yards list by leaping Hall of Famer John Elway. 49ers running back Matt Breida who entered the game tied for the league lead in rushing yards, finished with only 39 yards on the ground on nine carries, while adding another 32 yards on three receptions. Meanwhile, Chargers running back Melvin Gordon eclipsed the century mark with 104 rushing yards, benefiting from another lackluster performance by a 49er defense that came into the game having missed more tackles than any team in the league as Gordon broke off several big plays on the day after multiple blown tackles. Tight-end George Kittle finished with a game-high 125 receiving yards and is one of only three tight-ends to lead his team in both receptions and receiving yards this season. Pierre Garcon who caught four balls on Sunday for 52 yards, tallied his 131st consecutive game with a reception, the third longest active streak in the NFL behind only Larry Fitzgerald and Brandon Marshall.

Week 5 Preview - The 49ers will look to benefit from some home cooking when they return to Levi's Stadium for the first time since their Week 2 win over the Detroit Lions. Hosting the win-less (0-4) Arizona Cardinals, San Francisco hopes to get back into the win column as they face a division opponent for the first time this season and welcome a Cardinals team with a new head coach and a new rookie quarterback under center in Josh Rosen after the benching of Sam Bradford in Week 3. Making only his second career start following a last second loss to the Seattle Seahawks, Rosen will be called upon to breath life into the Cardinals offense as they've scored a league-low 37-points in four games after tallying a combined 6-points though the first two weeks. The 49ers defense, however, hoping to have Pro Bowl cornerback Richard Sherman back in the lineup after watching Week 4 from the sideline with a calf injury, would prefer an easier outing on Sunday as they've already seen their fair share of talented quarterbacks through the first four weeks of the season. In comparison, the 49ers offense has scored 100 points so far this season and owns a point differential of -18, far from ideal, but nowhere close to Arizona's horrific -57 point differential which ranks worst in the NFL.


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