Photo credit: @49ers
By: Joe Lami
SANTA CLARA — In life, there are only three certainties: death, taxes, and the 49ers blowing a half-time lead. On Monday Night, closing out a game continued to be a problem for San Francisco, as they dropped their third game of the season with a halftime lead. It also marks the sixth time the 49ers have conceded a fourth-quarter lead under Kyle Shanahan.
This time, they handed the New York Giants their second win of the season and Eli Manning his 36th fourth-quarter comeback of his career in the 27-23 loss at Levi’s Stadium on Monday Night Football.
Finishing has been a staple of Shanahan press conferences all season, yet the second-year head coach can’t seem to correct the problem that has been following him since his epic Super Bowl LI collapse.
The 49ers went into the half with a 13-10 lead thanks to Robbie Gould knocking down field goals from 53 and 36 yards and Matt Breida finding paydirt on a three-yard rush.
Breida later caught an 11-yard touchdown pass, becoming the first 49er to score on a rush and a catch since December 2012.
However, the defense started to collapse in the third allowing ten points in just 3:38 to bring the Giants back into the game. Big plays set up the Giants with excellent field position that they capitalized on to bring things even to start the fourth.
The 49ers had trouble getting to the quarterback all game long with an uninspiring pass rush on an offensive line that was allowing four sacks per game coming in. Defensive coordinator, Robert Saleh, continued his overly conservative play-calling leading to the only sack of the game coming in the fourth quarter on a third-down play with the game tied. It was one of just three QB hits the 49ers collected since the blitz was hardly dialed up.
On the subsequent drive, the 49ers drove downfield but had to settle with a field goal instead of putting the game away.
“I thought we had a chance to step on their throat there and we didn’t. We let them back in it fast. [We] kept them around too long and then we didn’t make the plays at the end and had every opportunity to and just as a team, players, coaching staff, we didn’t get it done” said Shanahan.
The Giants took over the game-winning drive with 2:46 remaining.
The 49ers took two defensive penalties to extend the Giants drive that ended with Manning throwing his third touchdown of the game and the first for Sterling Shepard.
Manning finished throwing 19-of-31 for 188 yards and the three scores for a 110.7 passer rating. He found his favorite receiver, Odell Beckham Jr., four times for 73 yards with two of them going for touchdowns, both on blown coverages.
Saquon Barkley was handed off to 20 times for 67 yards, averaging just 3.4 per carry.
In his second career game, Nick Mullens came down to earth throwing 27-of-39 for 250 yards, a touchdown, and two interceptions. A bobbled catch from Marquise Goodwin caused the second one. Overall, Mullens did everything you could’ve asked from a third-string quarterback making his second career start.
George Kittle was once again the most reliable receiver for the 49ers, catching nine of 10 targets for 83 yards.
The 49ers now head into the bye week with a 2-8 record, giving Shanahan an extra week to figure out how to finish a game.
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