49ers come Alive in Second half to pull off Comeback

Week 10 - In the days leading up to their Sunday Night match-up with the (5-3) Los Angeles Chargers, coach Kyle Shanahan's (4-4) San Francisco 49ers were hit with some unfortunate news when they learned about the season-ending injury suffered to one of their players. Few players in the NFL have had luck as bad as Jason Verrett who's career has been plagued by injury since being drafted in the first round of the 2014 NFL Draft by the then San Diego Chargers who selected him 25th overall. After suffering a season-ending knee injury in the season-opener last year and nearing a comeback after being activated by the 49ers just two weeks ago, the former Pro Bowl corner was dealt yet another blow after tearing his Achilles during practice on Wednesday. Before the heartbreaking injury which has become commonplace for the Niners franchise since the start of coach Shanahan's tenure, teammates and coaches alike were awaiting Verrett's return as he was expected to be somewhat of a reinforcement after the season-ending injury fellow cornerback Emmanuel Moseley suffered in Week 5. 

A tough pill to swallow, the Niners will now have to find that production elsewhere in hopes of someone else stepping up and filling that void. However, San Francisco would get reinforcements at several other positions on defense in time for Sunday's game as defensive-coordinator DeMeco Ryans saw the return of defensive-lineman Jordan Willis as well as linebackers Dre Greenlaw and Azeez Al-Shaair, although Greenlaw's night would be cut short due to an illegal hit which led to an early disqualification. While the San Francisco defense would ultimately come up big when they were most needed, things got off to a sluggish start out the gates. With the Chargers getting the ball first, quarterback Justin Herbert led the team to a touchdown-scoring drive on their opening possession. Playing with a short-handed receiving corps with both Mike Williams and Keenan Allen sidelined with ankle and hamstring injuries, respectively, Herbert hit a wide-open DeAndre Carter for the 32-yard score. Coming off the BYE, the 49ers also opened the game with an effective opening-drive, but were held to a field goal in what wound up being an offensive struggle inside the red zone for quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo and company. 

San Francisco's second offensive possession lasted only one play after Garoppolo hit his intended target Brandon Aiyuk in stride for a 19 yard gain, before an inadvertent helmet knocked the ball loose as the Niners receiver was tackled. Turning the turnover into a field goal, the Chargers took a 10-3 lead to open the second quarter. Trailing 13-3, the 49ers were able to find the end zone before halftime thanks to a pair of big plays from George Kittle and Ray-Ray McCloud who hauled in receptions of 21 and 33 yards, respectively, on consecutive plays. A few plays later, Garoppolo would take it in himself, plowing forward from the 1-yardline and into the end zone for the touchdown. Looking to capitalize by getting the ball back to start the second half, the 49ers were unable to keep the Chargers off the board in the final two minutes of the first half as a pair of costly penalties, including the one that led to the Greenlaw disqualification, allowed the Chargers to sneak in a field goal just before halftime. 

Happy to have Elijah Mitchell back in the backfield for the 49er offense for the first time since suffering an MCL sprain in Week 1, the tandem of Mitchell and Christian McCaffrey helped march the 49ers to a field goal to open the second half and make it a 16-13 ballgame in favor of the Chargers. Playing catch up virtually all night long, San Francisco would take their first lead of the night with 8 minutes remaining in the fourth quarter. Orchestrating a 16-play, 87-yard drive that culminated with McCaffrey lunging forward for a 2-yard touchdown, the 49ers were able to capture the lead and allow the defense to do the rest. After exchanging punts, San Francisco was able to pin the Chargers deep near their own goal-line, which ultimately resulted in a turnover on downs inside the 10. Unable to punch the ball in for the final dagger, Mitchell would be stood up near the goal line on three straight rushing attempts. Adding another Robbie Gould field goal to improve the 49ers' lead to 22-16, the Chargers would have one last chance to pull off the comeback with less than a minute remaining. Putting an end to that comeback attempt would be Talanoa Hufanga who made a shoestring catch on an errant pass from Herbert to seal the win. 

Stepping up huge in the second half was the San Francisco defense which applied the pressure to Justin Herbert on each of the Chargers' final two possessions which led to a pair of turnovers as the Niners completed the shutout in the second half. Throwing for 240 yards and rushing for a touchdown in the win was Jimmy Garoppolo who's favorite target on the evening was Brandon Aiyuk who hauled in six catches for a game-high 84 yards receiving. The trio of Elijah Mitchell, Christian McCaffrey and Deebo Samuel combined for over 150 yards rushing for the 49ers, comparehd to just 51 yards rushing for the Chargers. The San Francisco defense held L.A.'s quarterback Justin Herbert to 196 yards, 1 touchdown and 1 interception. 

Week 11 Preview: Hitting the road and traveling south of the border to face the division rival Arizona Cardinals in Mexico City, the 49ers will look to improve on their perfect record of 3-0 within the division this year as they take on the big stage of Monday Night Football. At 4-6 on the year, the Cardinals have had an up and down season thus far and are coming off a road win against the defending Champion Rams, with both teams having to call on backup quarterbacks. While there's no word just yet on who will be under center for the Cards come game day, the 49ers defense which has logged back to back solid performances, will look to make it three straight regardless of who Arizona head coach Kliff Kingsbury has at quarterback out of Kyler Murray or Colt McCoy. In their first of two head to head match-ups this year, the 49ers will look to bounce back after losing both meetings to Arizona a season ago. 

Follow me on Twitter: @FraserKnowsBest

Crazy Eight -- 49ers rout Rams for Eighth straight behind Record day from McCaffrey

Week 8 - Coming off a 21-point pummeling at the hands of the Kansas City Chiefs, the (3-4) San Francisco 49ers returned to their home away from home at Los Angeles' SoFi Stadium, known by many as Levi's Stadium South, looking to regroup against a team they've had major ownage against for the better part of 4 seasons. With seven consecutive wins over the rival Rams during the regular season, coach Kyle Shanahan and company were vying for an 8th straight victory against L.A. and their fourth win of the season. Playing without one of their star players in Deebo Samuel who was ruled out on Friday with a hamstring injury, the 49ers were forced to make do without one of their biggest weapons and biggest Ram-killers, but were also able to show off their newest toy in running back Christian McCaffrey. 

Unlike their Week 4 matchup which started with both teams marching on offense and scoring on their opening-possession, each team would punt the ball away to start this one. After netting -2 yards on their initial possession, the Rams who were coming off a BYE, put together a 20-play, 85-yard drive that lasted 9 minutes and 21 seconds before L.A. quarterback Matt Stafford put an end to a near goal-line stand by the Niners defense by pinballing his way into the end zone on 3rd and 1. Stafford's first rushing touchdown since 2016 would give the Rams a 7-0 lead just before the end of the first quarter. Needing only nine plays to put up similar results, Jimmy Garoppolo and the 49er offense would march right back with a touchdown of their own. With a full weeks practice under his belt for the first time with his new team since being traded from the Carolina Panthers, Christian McCaffrey made his presence felt in more ways than one on Sunday. In what would be a busy day for the newest member of the Niners, McCaffrey logged his first touchdown in the red and gold with a passing touchdown, the second of his career, launching the ball downfield 34-yards and finding a streaking Brandon Aiyuk for the score. In a stadium overran by 49ers red, the crowd would erupt with the game tied at 7. 

The back and forth melee would continue with Stafford finding Cooper Kupp in the end zone for the Rams' second consecutive touchdown. San Francisco would answer back just before halftime, but only with a field goal as L.A. took a 14-10 lead into the half. With both teams again opening the half with punts, it was San Francisco who struck first. Facing a 3rd and 3 from the L.A. 9 yard-line, Garoppolo scanned all options before lofting a pass into the corner of the end zone to a leaping McCaffrey who came down with the spectacular touchdown grab to give the Niners their first lead of the game. Needing just the rushing touchdown to complete the trifecta, McCaffrey would do just that one possession later. After nearly finding the end zone on a 24-yard rush to the 1, coach Shanahan dialed up a run up the middle to allow his new weapon to accomplish the rare feat, as McCaffrey joined some elite company by becoming just the third running back since 1970 to record a passing touchdown, rushing touchdown and receiving touchdown in a single game, and the first since LaDainian Tomlinson in 2005. And some guy named Walter Payton as the only other to do it. 

San Francisco would score touchdowns on three consecutive possessions in the second half when a pair of 49er tight-ends came up with big plays to add to the Rams' misery. Filling in for the injured Kyle Juszczyk who missed Sunday's game with a finger injury, Ross Dwelley picked up blocking and receiving assignments usually given to the Niners' Pro Bowl fullback and delivered on a deep ball from Garoppolo by hauling in a 56-yard reception, the longest of his career. Facing another third down inside the Rams' 10 yard-line, Garoppolo hit his number one tight-end George Kittle inside the end zone for the touchdown. Taking a 31-14 lead that they would hang onto the rest of the way, the 49ers would outscore the Rams 21-0 in the second half and would outgain them 230 to 61 in second half yards on their way to an eighth straight victory over Los Angeles. Passing for 235 yards and a pair of touchdowns in the win, Jimmy G completed 21 of 25 passes on the afternoon to give him a 84.0 completion percentage, the highest by a 49ers QB since Hall of Famer Steve Young September 14, 1997. Sunday's game would also mark the first time in Garoppolo's career that he's thrown for 2 TD passes in four straight games. 

Stealing the show on offense, Christian McCaffrey tallied 183 of total offense (94 yards rushing, 55 yards receiving and 34 yards passing) and scored three total touchdowns on his way to becoming the first running back in 49ers team history with a passing and receiving touchdown in the same game. 

Week 10 Preview: Quite possibly the best part about the 49ers' 31-14 victory over the Rams was that coach Shanahan announced after the win that there were no injuries to report, also adding, "That's awkward, but I don't have any to report." While it's a rarity, it's music to the ears of 49er fans as the team enters the Week 9 BYE with a return to .500 and a hope to see several key players return when they take the field next, notably Arik Armstead & Deebo Samuel. With a record of 3-0 now in the division, San Francisco will return home in Week 10 to face another southern California team in the (4-3) Los Angeles Chargers. In what's been an up and down season for the Bolts led by quarterback Justin Herbert, the young gunslinger has not quite been his usual self this season since sustaining an rib injury against the Chiefs back in Week 2. Since then, the Chargers have been off to a rollercoaster of a start and entered their Week 8 BYE last week after dropping a game at home to the Seattle Seahawks, 37-23. One Chargers player who is playing well that the Niners will hope to contain is their do-it-all running back Austin Ekeler. 

Follow me on Twitter: @FraserKnowsBest

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.


Follow me on Twitter: @FraserKnowsBest 

Garoppolo Out for the Season in 49ers Loss to K.C.

Week 3 - For Niner fans, Sunday's game would seem like a bad dream. One you would wake up from the next day and hope wasn't real. Instead, the San Francisco fan base, collectively holding their breath since the 5:44 mark in the 4th quarter in hopes that it was only a strain their new franchise quarterback suffered and not a tear, would face the tough reality that they'd be without their QB for the rest of the season when that unfortunate news was confirmed on Monday. Trailing 38-24 and chipping away at what was once a 28-point deficit, 49ers QB Jimmy Garoppolo was hard at work trying to get his team back into the game when the injury occurred. Facing pressure on a 3rd and goal and maneuvering out of the pocket to avoid a sack, Garoppolo broke free for positive yardage, but instead of stepping out of bounds to avoid any contact, decided to make a cut and stay in bounds while fighting for extra yardage before being met by a big hit put on by Chiefs cornerback Steven Nelson. His decision, while respectable considering the urge to fight for every yard possible, is one Niner fans and the coaching staff alike would've preferred he never made. Slow to get up, Garoppolo sat out the next play and appeared to be shaken up by the helmet to helmet contact. However, replay would show Garoppolo's knee buckle on the cut that kept him in bounds. A replay that would haunt the coaching staff and deprive Niner fans of what could've been as their season is virtually all but lost just three weeks in.

Before kickoff, the Niners were riding high coming off their first win of the season, but knew they'd have a tough challenge ahead, facing Patrick Mahomes and the red-hot Kansas City Chiefs (2-0) in their home-opener. The Chiefs would open as 6.5 point favorites and for good reason considering their blazing start and the fact that the 49ers hadn't won a game at Arrowhead since 1982 entering the game. And with the Chiefs scoring touchdowns on each of their first five possessions on Sunday for the first time in franchise history, including their third straight week with a touchdown on their opening-possession, the game appeared to be over by halftime. With 10 touchdown passes in his first two games, Patrick Mahomes who celebrated his 23rd birthday earlier in the week, continued to shine by adding another trio of touchdowns through the air on Sunday in the first half alone to set an NFL record with 13 touchdown passes through the first three weeks, breaking the previous mark held by Peyton Manning (12). Throw in a pair of easy first half touchdown runs by running back Kareem Hunt and Kansas City had built a 35 to 7 lead before a Robbie Gould field goal made it 35-10 at the half. San Francisco's lone trip to the end zone in the first half would come on a wide-open pass that fullback Kyle Juszczyk hauled in from Garoppolo and took 35-yards for the easy score.

Though it's been Kansas City's offense that has stolen all of the headlines through the first two weeks, their defense on the other hand has allowed over a thousand yards of offense and an average of 32 points per game to the opposition. Something Kyle Shanahan and company would take note of and try to expose at halftime. After forcing Kansas City's first punt of the ballgame in the third quarter, San Francisco opened the second half similar to how the Chiefs did the first, as Jimmy G and the Niners manufactured touchdown scoring drives in each of their first two possessions in the third quarter to make it 35-24 game. An 11-yard touchdown pass to receiver Marquise Goodwin who returned to the field after sitting out in Week 2 with a quad injury, and a 3-yard touchdown run by Alfred Morris gave the Niners new life as they found themselves right back in it with just under 3 minutes remaining in the third quarter. San Francisco appeared to be destined for the end zone for a third consecutive drive before Garoppolo suffered the injury and needed to be carted off the field, igniting the uncertainty regarding his status that would follow into Monday afternoon.

Backup C.J. Beathard came in to takeover for the injured Garoppolo under center and on his first play, linked up in the end zone with tight-end George Kittle for a touchdown on fourth down. However, a heinous offensive pass-interference call in the end zone against fullback Kyle Juszczyk wiped the touchdown off the board as coach Kyle Shanahan elected to go for the field goal with just over five minutes remaining in regulation. It would be their last possession of the game as Andy Reid's Chiefs become only the third team in NFL history to score 38-points or more in the first three games to start a season, before milking the clock to seal the 38-27 win. But that was the least of Shanahan's problems as he and his staff feared for the worst and faced the potential of a bigger loss. If the injury to Garoppolo didn't make you sick, the poor tackling and plethora of penalties committed by the Niners should've done the trick as San Francisco was flagged 14 times for 147 yards in penalties compared to K.C.'s six flags for 48 yards.

Before the injury, Garoppolo tossed for 251 yards and a pair of touchdowns on 20 of 30 pass attempts and received some much needed help in the ground game as running back Matt Breida ran for 90-yards on Sunday to go along with another 27 yards receiving. Through the first three weeks, Breida remains the league's leading rusher with 274 yards rushing and has been a nice jolt alongside Alfred Morris after the team learned just days before the season that they'd be without running back Jerrick McKinnon for the year. With both McKinnon and now Garoppolo lost for 2018, what started off as a promising season for the 49ers is now a season fans would prefer to hit the reset button on. Rubbing salt into the wound that has been San Francisco's 2018 season thus far, Garoppolo was also joined by cornerback Richard Sherman who needed to be helped off the field and taken to the locker room at the half as he suffered a strained calf that will cause him to miss the next 2-3 weeks. Sherman's absence is one the Niner defense can ill-afford given he's been one of the very few bright spots that has shined in what's been a putrid showing by the defense.

Week 4 Preview - Heading back to sunny California, the 49ers will take a trip down south to face the (1-2) Los Angeles Chargers in regular season match for the first time since their relocation from San Diego two years ago. Coming off a 35-23 defeat at the hands of the L.A. Rams in which the Chargers allowed their cross-town counterparts to rack up over 500-yards of total offense, it's unlikely the Niners will come anywhere close to that mark with Beathard under center, but they'll most certainly try. From facing one talented quarterback to another, the Niners will look to contain Philip Rivers and his big-body targets as Keenan Allen, Tyrell Williams, Mike Williams, Antonio Gates, Virgil Green and even running back Melvin Gordon all measure in at 6-foot 1-inch or taller, a tall order for the Niners' mediocre secondary. Meanwhile, Beathard will look to rekindle his chemistry with tight-end George Kittle whom he connected with plenty of times in their rookie season last year and even before that at the University of Iowa. If the Niners defense can finally muster up a strong outing and the duo of Alfred Morris and Matt Breida can find some holes with the Chargers missing their best player on defense in Joey Bosa who's been nursing a foot injury, San Francisco might have a chance at evening their record on the road.


Follow me on Twitter: @FraserKnowsBest