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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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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49ers stick around before falling late to Panthers

Week 2 - With the 49ers on the road in Carolina on short rest to face the defending NFC Champion Panthers (0-1), they'd be given a tall task if they wanted to improve to 2-0 on the year. As if being on short rest wasn't already a disadvantage in the NFL, Carolina on the other hand had as much rest as you could possibly want, having played four days earlier than San Francisco in the Thursday night opener in a Super Bowl rematch against the Broncos. And with the Panthers coming up short, suffering a heart-wrenching 21-20 loss on a missed field goal by kicker Graham Gano as time expired, we all knew Carolina would come into their home-opener with a chip on their shoulder and in need of a big win to bounce back and avoid an 0-2 start. After kickoff, it would be the 49ers who got off to a fast start as the San Francisco defense came up with an interception on Cam Newton's first pass attempt of the afternoon just two plays in.

Unfortunately, the 49ers would have to settle for a Phil Dawson field goal. After forcing Carolina to punt on their second possession, the Niners had a chance to jump out to an even bigger lead in the 1st quarter, but a Carlos Hyde fumble inside his own 20 would put the Panthers on the board and ahead as the ball was recovered and taken into the end zone for a Carolina touchdown. The 49er defense would turn the tables on Carolina's next offensive possession, forcing a fumble and this time capitalizing with a trip to the end zone as Blaine Gabbert found Torrey Smith for a 28-yard touchdown. San Francisco's 10-7 lead would be short lived, however, as a 78-yard bomb on Carolina's next play would put them back ahead for good as Newton connected with his tight-end Greg Olsen who was left all alone down the middle. The Panthers would add a late field goal to take a 17-10 lead into the half as San Francisco still had hopes of pulling off the upset.

Those hopes would vanish, reappear and then vanish once again in the second half as the game soon became the Kelvin Benjamin show. Having missed all of the 2015 season last year with a torn ACL suffered during training camp, the former first round draft pick has picked up right where he left off before the injury and has shown no ill effects of a surgically repaired knee as he caught touchdown passes on back to back drives to open the second half. Thanks to their dominant 3rd quarter, the Panthers lead would improve to 31-10 as the game seemed well out of reach for the 49ers. But as soon as the 4th quarter started, things began to turn in the 49ers favor. Two plays into the final period, the San Francisco defense would flush Newton out of the pocket for a sack, forcing him to fumble and turning the miscue into three points. A muffed punt return by Ted Ginn Jr. on the ensuing kick would put the Niners offense right back in business on the 1-yard line. Gabbert would do it himself on the very next play, prancing into the end zone untouched.

With plenty of game left and the Panthers hanging onto a 34-20 lead midway thru the 4th, the 49ers would pull off their biggest play of the game on a 75-yard catch and dash touchdown as Gabbert found tight-end Vance McDonald who was aided with a nice block from receiver Quinton Patton as he ran down the sideline for the score. After Carolina answered with a field goal to make it a two possession game, Gabbert who had registered a clean game up to that point, would suffer a pair of late 4th quarter interceptions, dooming any chance of pulling off the miraculous comeback. Newton would put the Niners out of their misery with a late touchdown to Devin Funchess, giving him four touchdown passes on the afternoon and putting him over the 350-yards passing mark. Panthers running back Jonathan Stewart would suffer a hamstring injury early on in the game which opened the door for backup RB Fozzy Whittaker who filled in quite nicely by rushing for 100 yards on 16 carries in Stewart's absence. As for San Francisco's run game which wasn't nearly as effective as it was in Week 1, Carlos Hyde and Shaun Draughn were held to a combined 55 yards on 23 carries. Gabbert finished with 243 passing yards, 2 touchdowns and 2 interceptions in the 46-27 loss.

Week 3 Preview - With the 49ers traveling to Seattle to take on the bitter rival Seahawks (1-1) in Week 3, San Francisco will need a win in order to hang on to first place in the division. With the Rams, Cardinals, Seahawks and 49ers all 1-1 thru the first two weeks of the season, the 49ers are the only team in the NFC West with a 1-0 record within the division, thus giving them sole possession of first place in the early going. Though it's been years since the 49ers have able to pull off a win in Seattle, Pete Carroll's Seahawks haven't looked too good thru the first two weeks after surviving a late scare at Home to the Dolphins in Week 1 followed by a loss to the Rams on Sunday. But by no means will coach Chip Kelly and company be able to underestimate Seattle QB Russell Wilson, even if he's still hobbled by a sprained ankle suffered in Week 1. With another stout effort on defense and a bounce back performance on the ground from Carlos Hyde as well as clean game in the turnover department from Blaine Gabbert, the 49ers may be able to leave Seattle with a 'W'.


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Garbage roughing call costs 49ers vs Cards

Week 12 - Sunday's meeting between the (3-7) San Francisco 49ers and (8-2) Arizona Cardinals featured the team with the most yards and points per game (AZ) versus the team with the least (SF). And though there would be a wide gap between both team's records and season statistics, it would be hard to tell as both teams were neck and neck for most of this one. Feeling generous, the 49ers would deliver several gifts to the opposition in the first half as the Cardinals punched in their first three points of the game with a field goal after recovering a muffed punt by 49ers returner Bruce Ellington. On their next drive, San Francisco QB Blaine Gabbert would be picked off on an errant pass that was intercepted by Arizona's Tyrann Mathieu. The Cardinals would once again turn the 49ers miscue into points, but not before cornerback Tremaine Brock dropped an easy interception in the end zone which he lost in the sun.

While San Francisco's self-inflicted miscues made things easier for Arizona, they did them no favors on offense as the 49er defense held their own and kept it a close game throughout. The penalties, however, would dig them an early grave. On one third quarter drive by Arizona, the 49ers were called for five penalties -- four pass interference calls and one for illegal hands to the face as the Cardinals used it to their advantage by scoring a 1-yard touchdown ran in by third-string running back David Johnson as both Andre Ellington and Chris Johnson left the game with injuries. San Francisco would answer with a touchdown of their own on the ensuing drive as Gabbert connected with tight-end Vance McDonald in the end zone for the second time in as many weeks. The touchdown coupled with Phil Dawson's second field goal of the day would tie things up at 13 heading into the fourth quarter, but San Francisco's inability to convert on a single third down attempt would make things difficult for the offense.

Though the 49ers would out-gain Arizona in total yards -- 368 to 337 as Blaine Gabbert threw for over 300 yards for only the second time in his career, it wouldn't be enough to pull off the victory as San Francisco was called for a bogus roughing the passer penalty on a sack by second-year defensive-end Quinton Dial. On what looked like any normal quarterback sack on second and long, the officials flagged Dial for brazing the helmet of Arizona's Carson Palmer. Instead of facing a third and 18 situation, the Cardinals were given 15-yards and a first down which changed the complexion of the game. Palmer and the Cardinals offense would eventually reach the end zone as Palmer ran it in himself on a drive that lasted nearly 8 minutes long, but kicker Chandler Catanzaro would miss the extra-point, leaving the door open for some late game heroics by Gabbert and company and a chance to steal a win with just over two minutes remaining in regulation. But after marching down the field all the way to the Arizona 30, Gabbert took a 10-yard sack that brought up fourth and 20. He would find receiver Anquan Boldin across the middle for an 18-yard gain but would come up 2-yards short of the first down as San Francisco turned the ball over on downs.

With the 19-13 victory over San Francisco, the Cardinals achieved their first road win and series sweep of the Niners since 2008. Also with the win, the Cardinals improved to 9-2 on the year, assuring them of their first string of three consecutive winning seasons since 1974-76. Meanwhile, San Francisco dropped to 3-8 with the loss and have officially been eliminated from competing for the division. As for the debatable rouging the passer penalty which basically cost the Niners the game as well as a few other eyebrow-raising calls, guard Alex Boone didn't shy away from letting the league know just how displeased he was with Sunday's officiating, saying in a post-game interview, "I thought those refs sucked." And he wasn't alone as many criticized the officials on Sunday during a variety of games, including the Sunday night game between the previously unbeaten Patriots and Denver Broncos. Whether or not you believe a handful of questionable calls cost New England their first loss of the season, one thing is certain -- the NFL officials have seen far greater days than the one they had on Sunday. 

Week 13 Preview - With the 49ers hitting the road to take on the (5-6) Chicago Bears who are coming off a big Thanksgiving night win against the Packers at Lambeau, they'll be tested on offense by Bears defensive-coordinator Vic Fangio who spent the last four years in San Francisco before landing the job in Chicago during the off-season. Fangio and the Bears D will have somewhat of an easier job defending the run as it's been learned that the 49ers will be without starting running back Carlos Hyde who's been ruled out for the fifth consecutive week as he continues to nurse a banged up foot. Joining him will be TE Garrett Celek who's also been ruled out for SF. But as for those playing in Sunday's game at Soldier Field, the 49ers will have to make Jay Cutler as uncomfortable as possible as the Bears QB has his team winning games once again and still alive in the playoff hunt. As you may recall, Cutler rallied his team to a 28-20 win in San Francisco last season after falling behind early, 17-0 in the first regular season game ever played at Levi's Stadium. 

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49ers Trampled by Rawls' historic day

Week 11 - Entering Sunday's road game versus division rival Seattle, the 49ers were more than happy to hear that they wouldn't have to contain Seahawks running back Marshawn Lynch as he was sidelined with an abdominal injury. But instead, they would receive a rude awakening. Despite being without their Pro Bowl running back in Lynch who's made a habit out of torturing the 49ers, the Seahawks did just fine on the ground on Sunday. In fact, they would do better as rookie Thomas Rawls had a historic day by rushing for a career-high 209 yards and adding another 46 yards receiving just hours after learning he would get the start. Rawls' outburst on the ground was second to only Shaun Alexander's 266 yard performance in 2001 for the best in franchise history as the undrafted rookie became only the third Sehawk to ever rush for 200 yards in a game, something Marshawn Lynch has never accomplished in his NFL career. It would also mark the first time the 49ers have ever allowed a 200-yard rusher in the history of their franchise.

Though Rawls led the way with 255 total yards and a pair of touchdowns, he wasn't the only rookie making plays as the 49er defense had a hard time figuring out Seattle's receiver and third round draft pick Tyler Lockett who caught two of Russell Wilson's three touchdown passes. For the second consecutive week, the game began with Blaine Gabbert as the 49ers starting quarterback. And before you knew it, San Francisco was starring down a 20-0 hole before the Niners finally made it onto the scoreboard. Considering the game was at Seattle's CenturyLink Field where the 49ers offense has often came up missing over the past several years, Gabbert had himself a pretty decent game throwing for a game-high 264 yards, four more than Wilson who had a near perfect day, completing 24 of his 29 pass attempts. However, Gabbert was unable to match Wilson in the touchdown department as he marched his team down the field several times but was only able to capitalize with one touchdown as he found 49ers tight-end Vance McDonald 19-yards out for a touchdown. It would be McDonald's first touchdown of his career and the only one on the day for San Francisco.

Unlike Colin Kaepernick who couldn't seem to avoid the turnovers when playing in Seattle, Gabbert logged a clean sheet as the 49ers managed to play a turnover-free ballgame. But that wouldn't matter as the San Francisco defense missed a plethora of tackles and made it far too easy for Seattle's offense to run up and down the field, eventually pulling off the 29-13 win as the 49ers once again fell flat coming out of a BYE week to fall to 3-7 on the year. Meanwhile, Seattle improved to .500 on the season at 5-5. 49ers receiver Anquan Boldin who was questionable to play prior to kickoff, managed to tough it out and finished the game with 5 receptions and 93 yards after missing the previous two games while nursing a hamstring injury. Ineffective once again, the Niners run game mustered only 59 yards as the team continues to miss their second-year running back Carlos Hyde who hasn't played since Week 7 when the 49ers hosted Seattle on Thursday Night Football.

Week 12 Preview - Heading back home to Levi's Stadium in Week 12, the 49ers will get set to host the (8-2) Arizona Cardinals who are in commanding lead of first place in the NFC Western Division and are currently riding a 4-game winning-streak after back-to-back Sunday Night wins against Seattle and Cincinnati. Having scored a league-high 40 touchdowns this season, the Cardinals offense will serve a formidable challenge for San Francisco who on the other hand has scored a league-low 13 touchdowns this year. And after the 47-7 beating the Cards served up on the Niners in Week 3, there's no better way for Jim Tomsula's team to repay Arizona than sending them back to the desert with an upset loss as San Francisco still seeks their first division win of 2015. Easier said than done, however, as the Cardinals lead the league with an average of 417 yards per game this season, an area that has been much improved over the past few weeks with Arizona recently finding its identity in the run game, coupled with QB Carson Palmer's stellar play.


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