Week 15 - With the (9-4) San Francisco 49ers entering the homestretch of their regular season schedule, a late Bye might be the perfect remedy for Kyle Shanahan's club that has continued to win games despite having suffered a laundry list of injuries at virtually every position imaginable. After moving up in the standings last week while enjoying the Bye week, the 49ers would have a chance to increase their playoff odds which already stood at 90% and add to their resume with a favorable matchup in front of them on Sunday in the form of the (2-11) Tennessee Titans. Having won five of their last six games coming off the Bye under coach Shanahan, the team would look to continue that trend on Sunday while also seeking their fourth consecutive win of the season. Facing the No. 1 overall pick in April's Draft in QB Cam Ward, coming off his second career win a week ago against the Cardinals, Sunday's game would feature a match-up between the first pick of the draft versus the last pick as the 49ers selected Brock Purdy 262nd overall in 2022 to be that year's Mr. Irrelevant.
Before kickoff on Sunday, it was reported that 49ers defensive-tackle Jordan Elliott was injured during pregame warmups, tweaking his knee. Another Niner that appeared banged up on San Francisco's first offensive drive was receiver Ricky Pearsall who has already battled a myriad of injuries and was tackled awkwardly on a hip-drop tackle as he winced in pain and limped to the sideline but would eventually return to the field. After missing the previous two weeks with a hamstring injury, Niners kicker Eddy Pineiro also returned to the field on Sunday and continued his solid campaign with the team. Following a three and out punt on Tennessee's opening-drive, Brock Purdy and the 49ers offense kicked things off with an impressive 12-play, 70-yard drive that ended with a touchdown grab from receiver Jauan Jennings on third and goal. The drive would mark the 25th 10+ play scoring drive of the season for San Francisco, the most in the NFL. In what would be a busy day for the offense, the early touchdown would spark a streak of five consecutive scoring-drives for Purdy and company, marking their longest streak in a single game since November 21, 2021.
Equally as successful on their second drive, Purdy connected on big passing plays to Demarcus Robinson and George Kittle before handing the ball off to running back Christian McCaffrey who found the end zone from a yard out to extend the lead. Tennessee would add a first quarter field goal as well as a touchdown pass from Ward to make things interesting at 14-10, but that's as close as things would get as Pineiro connected on his first of three field goals on the afternoon. With a missed field goal attempt on the other end by Titans kicker Joey Slye to end the first half, the 49ers clung onto a 17-10 lead heading into the locker room at the half. Receiving the second half kickoff and staying hot on offense, the 49ers added another pair of touchdowns on each of their first two second half possessions with touchdown passes to Jennings and Kittle to take a commanding 31-10 lead. Putting a temporary stop to the 49ers' scoring barrage, Purdy was striped of the ball by Tennessee Pro-Bowl defensive-tackle Jeffery Simmons for a fumble.
The very next play of the Titans' ensuing-drive, Ward would connect on a 43-yard bomb to receiver Van Jefferson who came down with the ball at the 1-yard line. The Titans would award Simmons' big play two plays earlier on the defensive side by bringing him in on offense and tossing him a 1-yard touchdown pass in the back of the end zone from Cam Ward, his second career TD reception. Sandwiched between a pair of Eddy Pineiro field goals in the fourth quarter, the Titans would add a final touchdown on a 6-yard rush from running back Tony Pollard who had a nice game statistically with 104 yards on 14 carries. With a final score of 37-24, the 49ers won their fourth straight game to improve to 10-4 on the season, marking the 5th 10-win season under coach Shanahan, and perhaps his most impressive given the many injuries sustained and the magnitude of players lost this year. Thanks to the successful day on offense coupled with the lone turnover on the strip-sack fumble, the 49ers went the entire game without having to punt. It would mark their first game without a punt since September 27, 2020.
Brock Purdy finished with a solid performance, throwing for 295 yards and 3 touchdowns, while also adding 44 yards on the ground including a 26-yard scamper, the longest rush of his career and the longest by a 49er this season. Etching his name into the record books, Purdy logged his seventh career game with a passer rating of 140-plus, which ties him with Hall of Famer Kurt Warner for the most such games by a player in his first four seasons in NFL history. Purdy's counterpart Cam Ward finished with 170 yards passing and 2 TD's in the loss, showing flashes of why Tennessee made him the first overall pick in April's Draft. Running back Christian McCaffrey added 73-yards and a touchdown on the ground and receiver Ricky Pearsall shook off an early injury to finish with a game-high 96-yards receiving on 6 receptions.
Week 16 Preview: With a tough stretch ahead in the final three regular season games of the season for the (10-4) 49ers, first on tap will be a road game in Indianapolis to face the (8-6) Colts on Monday Night Football. Losers of four straight and 5 of their last 6 games, it wasn't that long ago that the Colts were touted as being the class of the AFC and one of the top teams in the league after getting off to a 7-1 start to the season before the injury bug set in. After what appeared to be a resurgent year for quarterback Daniel Jones who was a cast off with the New York Giants, a ruptured Achilles tendon in Jones' right leg would force the team to turn to the 44-year old former Colt Philip Rivers who returned to the team after spending the last four years retired. In his first NFL action since January 9, 2021, Rivers nearly finished off a storybook return for the ages with a road win over a high-powered Seahawks team before being outdone by a game-winning field goal in the final moments. After converting on a go-ahead 60-yard field goal with 52-seconds left, it looked as if Rivers would come out triumphant in his return after 1,800 days off, but that was before Seattle kicked a late field goal of their own from 56-yards out with 18-seconds remaining.
Had the Colts hung on for the win, the 49ers would've benefitted in the playoff standings by leaping Seattle. Now, they'll have a chance to get the job done themselves with wins in their final three games of the regular season, including a season-finale match-up at home against Seattle. San Francisco can clinch a playoff berth with a win in Indy or a Lions loss vs the Steelers, or in the more unlikely scenario of a tie from both the 49ers and Lions. Like the Niners, the Colts have had a fair amount of injuries and will likely be without several key players on defense including cornerbacks Sauce Gardner and Charvarius Ward as well as former first-round pick of the 49ers -- defensive-end DeForest Buckner. Being without three of their top defensive players, things should be a little easier for Brock Purdy and company to navigate the ball on offense come Monday. Having lost their last five games versus the Colts, the 49ers will try to leave Indy with their first win over the franchise since 2001.
Follow me on Twitter: @FraserKnowsBest
No comments:
Post a Comment