Week 10 - Following their blowout win over the Bay Area rival Oakland Raiders on Thursday Night, Nick Mullens was the talk of the town among Niner fans. After becoming the first quarterback in franchise history to throw for three touchdowns in his Niner debut, Mullens had a chance to send his team into the Week 11 BYE on a two-game winning-streak as the lowly (1-7) New York Giants came into town for a Monday Night meeting. But those aspirations would fall short as the San Francisco defense collapsed yet again in the fourth quarter. Like they've done so often this season, Kyle Shanahan's 49er team has continued to find new ways to lose games late as they've proven time and time again that they're virtually incapable of holding onto a lead and closing out a game. Aside from the 31-point beat down put on the putrid Raiders, even the Week 2 win against Detroit didn't come easy as the Niners escaped a late comeback attempt by the skin of their teeth as a 17-point fourth quarter lead quickly evaporated to a 3-point win. And then there's their attempts to hang on late against teams like the Cardinals and Packers which ended in defeat. Throw in a struggling 1-win New York Giants team and what do you get? Deja vu.
Forcing a three and out on New York's opening-drive, San Francisco would take advantage of their good field position by setting up their kicker Robbie Gould who would connect on a 53-yard field goal, his eighth straight from beyond 50-yards. Their second possession, however, wouldn't quite go as planned as the turnover bug reared its ugly head after failing to show up a week ago. Nick Mullens would suffer his first career interception as a deflected pass intended for Kendrick Bourne ended up in the hands of a defender. A costly mistake that Eli Manning would make sure to capitalize on as he found a wide-open Odell Beckham Jr. in the end zone on third & goal to give New York the lead and their first touchdown in the first half of a game in three contests. Putting the mistake behind him, Mullens would be quick to answer as he drove his team down the field before handing things off to running back Matt Breida who would cap things off with a touchdown. It would be the start of a busy night for Breida who would eclipse the century mark in the rushing department. After both teams exchanged punts, the Giants would tie things up at 10 in what would appear to be a tie at the half, but Mullens would have none of that as a trio of passes to George Kittle and Marquise Goodwin allowed Gould to strike again and give his team a 13-10 lead at halftime.
San Francisco would open the second half the same way they would finish the first, only this time the clock wouldn't be a factor as they were able to cap their 11-play drive with a touchdown. Mullens' lone touchdown pass of the night would be an 11-yarder to Matt Breida who became the first 49ers running back to score a touchdown both on the ground and thru the air in the same game since Frank Gore in Week 2 of the 2010 season. The score would give the Niners a 20-10 lead, but it would be short lived as Manning and Beckham Jr. began to pick on the poor San Francisco secondary. After a 30-yard connection from Manning to OBJ put the G-Men in enemy territory, the Giants QB tried finding his superstar receiver in the end zone on back to back plays, the second of which they would succeed on as 49ers cornerback Ahkello Witherspoon didn't stand a chance and surrendered the easy score to pull New York within a field goal. The Giants would get that field goal to tie things up on their following possession.
On the first play of the fourth quarter, Mullens would be tagged with his second career interception, but didn't receive any favors from Marquise Goodwin who stopped mid-route before stutter-stepping and continuing to run, but by then Mullens had already committed to the pass which Goodwin was unable to corral, resulting in a tip-drill that the Giants would come away with at midfield. And though the Giants were unable to turn the turnover into points, it would be a sign of bad things to come. The Niners would regain the lead thanks to Gould's third made field goal of the evening, but the offense's inability to strike pay dirt would prove to be costly as it gave the opposition a chance to steal a victory. And with just under three minutes remaining in regulation, that's exactly what would happen as the lackluster 49ers secondary made the aging Eli Manning look more like his brother Peyton Manning in crunch time. A pair of big play passes to Evan Engram and Saquon Barkley, coupled with a crucial pass interference call on 2nd & 20 by Ahkello Witherpoon, would set things up for a dramatic finish as Manning hooked up with receiver Sterling Shepard for the game-winning touchdown. The 9-play, 75-yard drive would be the 36th game-winning drive of Manning's career and just the latest dagger to pierce the hearts of Niner fans who watched their team fall at home, 27-23.
With the win, the Giants snapped their five-game losing streak and improved to 2-7 on the season, meanwhile, the 49ers fell to 2-8 and will have to dwell on being letdown for an extra week as they go into the BYE. Manning who finished with 188 yards passing and 3 touchdowns, moved into a tie with the Steelers' Ben Roethlisberger for 7th place on the NFL's all-time passing touchdowns list with 350 TD's. As for his counterpart, Mullens tallied 250 passing yards and 1 touchdown in the loss. Matt Breida rushed 17 times for a game-high 101-yards and scored both touchdowns for the Niners, out-rushing Barkley who was held to 67-yards on 20 carries, but netted another 33-yards in receiving to give him 100 total yards on the night, his 8th game of 100+ scrimmage yards in 9 career games. Pounding the rock to his tight-end, Mullens and George Kittle connected 9 times for 83-yards, giving the 49ers standout tight-end 775 receiving yards on the season. Most impressive regarding the second-year tight-end's stout 2018 season has been his ability to eat up yardage after the catch as his 16.9 YAC leads all tight-ends, and his 535 total YAC is over 150-yards higher than the next closest player at that position (Travis Kelce -- 362 YAC). Not to mention he's accumulated 31% of the team's receiving yardage this season, the highest in the league.
Week 12 Preview - After the much needed BYE in Week 11, San Francisco's season will continue in Week 12 when they pay a visit to Tampa Bay to take on the (3-6) Buccaneers who will get their crack at the Giants in Week 11. Coming off a 500-yard performance on offense against the Redskins in which Tampa Bay only scratched 3-points across the board at home, the Niners will also look to hand the Bucs a loss while allowing far less yardage. One way to prevent that will be getting to the quarterback, something the Niners were able to do very little of in the loss to the Giants as they recorded only one sack compared to the Giants' zero. As it stands before the Bucs and Giants meet, Tampa is currently riding a 3-game skid, this after opening the season with a surprising win on the road over the Saints in Week 1. Since then, it's been a roller coaster for head coach Dirk Koetter and his last place Bucs team as they've bounced back and forth at the quarterback position between Jameis Winston and Ryan Fitzpatrick.
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Week 5 - Entering Sunday's meeting between the San Francisco 49ers and New York Giants who hosted on Sunday Night Football, the match-up featured two teams going in complete opposite directions as the Niners have fallen into last place in the division with three straight losses, meanwhile the Giants have won their last two after opening the season 0-2. With a combined 10-points scored over the last two games for the visiting 49ers, scoring wouldn't be a problem for coach Jim Tomsula's team in this one, but rather their inability to sack the quarterback and keep the opposing team from scoring. While it was the defense that kept San Francisco in the game just a week ago versus Green Bay, on Sunday night it would be their demise as the defense cost them the game.
Much of the chatter over the past few weeks regarding the 49ers was about their quarterback Colin Kaepernick and whether or not it was time to pull the plug on the QB that led them to a Super Bowl just three seasons ago. But with a solid performance on Sunday, Kaepernick was able to silence the naysayers for the time being. With a first half filled with field goals, the Giants went into the locker room holding a 13-6 lead, an advantage that would've been more had it not been for a Tremaine Brock interception in the end zone that kept New York from adding to their lead just before the half. San Francisco would finally score their first touchdown in eight quarters to start the second half as Anquan Boldin capped off an 88-yard drive with a touchdown reception from 3-yards out, tying the game and igniting a back and forth scoring frenzy between the two teams. Giants star receiver Odell Beckham Jr. helped New York answer as Eli Manning escaped a sack by dumping a pass off to his favorite target who sprinted through the middle and along the sideline for a 17-yard score. It would be the last of Beckham Jr.'s receptions on the night as he spent nearly the entire fourth quarter on the sideline with an ailing hamstring.
Then came a pair of impressive fourth quarter scoring-drives by the San Francisco offense which marched 80-yards on back to back possessions. The first of which ending in a touchdown pass to tight-end Garrett Celek who filling in for the injured Vernon Davis, shook off a defender with a nice juke move to separate himself for the wide-open pass. Seeking their first lead of the game with under five minutes in regulation, Kaepernick connected thru the air on back to back passes to Boldin and Torrey Smith for gains of 25 and 26 yards before running back Carlos Hyde added the finishing touch with a 2-yard touchdown run as the 49ers pulled ahead. Unfortunately, the 1 minute and 45 seconds San Francisco left on the clock would prove to be too much time as Eli Manning came through in the clutch once again, pulling off yet another game-winning drive late in the fourth quarter. The 2-time Super Bowl MVP capped off a career-best 41 completions on the night with his last pass being a game-winner between two 49er defenders as Manning hooked up with tight-end Larry Donnell in the back of the endzone with 26 seconds remaining to escape the Giants from the jaws of defeat and rob the Niners of their first road victory of the season. With the 30-27 win, Eli Manning threw for 441 yards and a trio of TD passes all while becoming the winningest QB in Giants franchise history by notching career win No. 102. Kaepernick logged two touchdown passes of his own while passing for 262 yards, 107 of which going to Anquan Boldin. RB Carlos Hyde added 93 yards on the ground and a touchdown in the loss.
Week 6 Preview - The 49ers return home to Levi's Stadium in hopes of claiming their first win since Week 1 when they face another 1-4 team desperate for a victory -- the Baltimore Ravens. The Week 6 meeting will mark the first game between the two teams since they met at Super Bowl XLVII three seasons ago, a 34-31 defeat for the Niners. Unless you know your history, it might be hard to believe that these two teams are three seasons removed from meeting in the Super Bowl considering their recent struggles. A number of faces have also changed for each team as receivers Anquan Boldin and Torrey Smith now call San Francisco home after winning a championship ring in Baltimore. However, the duo will now be trying to defeat the team they once played for as the 49ers attempt to get off the schneide and back into the win column before a divisional match-up with rival Seattle. With tight-end Vernon Davis sitting out the last two games while nursing a knee injury, the Niners are expecting to have the Pro Bowler back on the field Sunday which serves as good news for an offense hoping to register another impressive performance, only this time with a victory.
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