Category: San Francisco 49ers

By Morris Phillips

Once the painfully slow start on offensive was factored in with the unusually high number of turnovers, it was just another day at the office for the 49ers and their league-worst scoring offense on Sunday at Levi’s Stadium.

While the AFC North-leading Bengals supported A.J. McCarron, their backup quarterback making his first NFL start with opportunistic defense, short fields and a first half lead, the 49ers asked their guy, Blaine Gabbert to throw 50 passes and fashion a highly-improbable, double-digit fourth quarter comeback.

For the 49ers (4-10), it didn’t work out. The 49ers fell, 24-14 to the Bengals, their third loss in five games with Gabbert at the helm.

For the Bengals (11-3), a critical win that brings them to the precipice of a division title and a leg up on a bye in the tightly-bunched AFC playoff picture.

“In four minutes and 23 seconds, it went from 0-0 to 21-nothing,” Coach Jim Tomsula said. “We have got to understand that we cannot make those fundamental mistakes. When the ball is thrown we need to catch it. We need to hold on to it. We need to punt the ball. We need to make those plays.”

The speed with which the 49ers lost their grip on this one was as dramatic as Tomsula described. Cincinnati’s Carlos Dunlap started the process with what might have been the most impressive play of the afternoon when he stripped Anquan Boldin of the ball after the receiver appeared to have a 12-yard gain good for a first down. But Dunlap yanked the ball out of Boldin’s hands with such force that the receiver was rag-dolled and thrown out of position to make a tackle on the Bengals’ defensive end. Dunlap jumped up and ran 21 yards to set up a Bengals’ first down at the 49ers’ 11-yard line.

“They got the first down and Carlos happened to strip it,” Cincinnati’s Vontaze Burfict said. “I thought the runner was down so I stopped running, but they looked at the review and it was our ball so it was a blessing.”

Six plays later, and despite a great deal of resistance from the 49ers’ goal line defense, Jeremy Hill was awarded a touchdown after a review showed he was not stopped prior to crossing the goal line.

On the ensuing possession, Gabbert was sacked on a play that lost 10 yards. After the three-and-out, rookie Bradley Pinion badly shanked a punt that went out of bounds after only 18 yards. Five plays later, the Bengals led 14-0 having to only cover 36 yards after the poor punt.

Two plays into the next possession, Gabbert’s pass to the flat was mishandled by tight end Vance McDonald, who already had bobbled two earlier, the first resulting in a Adam Jones interception.  This time, McDonald bobbled the ball, and then sent it skyward on a subsequent touch. A few yards ahead of the bobble, Burfict settled under the ball for an interception that again set up the Bengals in 49ers territory.

McCarron threw a 20-yard touchdown pass to Tyler Kroft on the next play, and Cincinnati had a trio of touchdowns in fewer than five minutes.

The 49ers have been outscored by 55 points in the first quarter, and a whopping 81 points in the second quarter in an aggregate of the 14 games thus far this season. The home crowd acknowledged as much delivering a hearty round of boos as the home team ran off the field for halftime.

Facing numerous third-and-long situations, the 49ers would fail to convert any of their first 12 third down opportunities on Sunday, including Boldin’s catch for first down yardage prior to the Dunlap’s strip.

“Like I’ve said in the past, when you’re in third-and-14, third-and-15, third-and-12 versus a talented defense, the odds of that third down are extremely low,” Gabbert said when asked about the stalling offense. “It’s up to the players to not put ourselves in that situation.”

While the 49ers got Daniel Kilgore back in his familiar center spot (just in time to face Cincinnati’s All-Pro nose tackle Geno Atkins), they lost guard Mike Martin and starting running back Shaun Draughn to injury.  Trent Brown, the behemoth rookie drafted in the seventh-round, finished the game in Martin’s spot. Former free agents, Kendall Gaskins and Travaris Cadet are the team’s only remaining healthy tailbacks.

All the missteps allowed the Bengals to manage just fine on only 242 yards in total offense. The 49ers trailed 24-0 late in the third quarter before a pair of late touchdowns brought a measure of respectability.

Phil Dawson’s 41-yard field goal attempt midway through the fourth quarter would have brought the 49ers within two touchdowns, but was blocked by the ever-present Dunlap, leaping behind the line of scrimmage. That squandered opportunity gained significance after the 49ers recovered an onside kick with three minutes remaining down ten points instead of seven.

49ers fans sent a statement to ownership by staying home in droves. When the game kicked off at 1:25pm, only half of the stadium’s seats appeared to be filled for a game that was originally scheduled for the 5:30pm Sunday night telecast, but was bumped in favor of a more compelling matchup of the first place Cardinals and Eagles. While the time change probably cost the team a few attendees, the team’s 4-9 record, lackluster play, and surprisingly lopsided loss in Cleveland last week seemed to be the primary cause.

McCarron threw for 192 yards on 15 of 21 passing, while Gabbert was 30 of 50 for 295 yards. Gabbert threw three interceptions, and both quarterbacks were sacked four times.

The Bengals won at San Francisco/Santa Clara for the first time since 1974, when they handed the 49ers their first loss in a 6-8 season.  That one took place at Candlestick Park, and the 49ers’ loss was the first in what would become six in a row.

The 49ers’ final road test comes next week at Ford Field in Detroit against the Lions.

 

 

 

By Morris Phillips

On a day that 49ers Coach Jim Tomsula and quarterback Blaine Gabbert wanted everyone to know that they were accountable, the victory on the field in Cleveland went to Johnny Manziel, a guy who hasn’t been accountable at all.

So much for accountability. And with it, so much for the 49ers beating a beatable opponent.

“You have to give credit to the Browns,” Gabbert said after the 49ers lost to Cleveland, 24-10 and were whipped in all phases. “They came ready to play today, and we didn’t. And you can’t put your finger on one certain thing. We have to watch the film to process what happened, and get back to the drawing board.”

That Gabbert could even process his thoughts was a victory in itself. The backup-turned-starter threw for a non-impactful 194 yards and didn’t throw (or score) a touchdown until less than two minutes remained in the game, and the 49ers trailed by three touchdowns. That final hurrah came after Gabbert was sacked nine times, a number so high and unfathomable you have to question whether the signal caller and his way-too-accommodating offensive line are even NFL-level performers.

Either that, or the 49ers’ offense came to Cleveland without spending the week preparing for battle. If so, that falls on the head coach and his staff.

Tomsula felt his team generally failed to execute, saying, “It starts up front. We didn’t block. Our line didn’t play well. We didn’t play well up front. We didn’t tackle well on defense; missed tackles, not wrapping up. The concepts in our routes were off. We played a poor football game.”

Without a doubt, the 49ers had plenty to play for. First off, a two-game win streak could have been realized, a powerful force even for a team out of the playoff picture concerned about selling tickets to its two remaining home games. Also, the momentum gained last week in Chicago meant that certain players were establishing that they could be in the team’s plans for 2016. But after losing to a team that hadn’t won since early October in such a decisive manner, all of that is called into question.

How bad was this loss? Much worse than the eye-popping nine sacks, or losing to an immature, second-year pro quarterback that was 1-9 in his 10 appearances coming in.

Defensively, the 49ers were run over by a Browns’ run game that ranked last in the NFL and hadn’t had a 100-yard rusher in the last season-and-a-half. Isiah Crowell turned Jim Brown, rushing for 145 yards on 20 carries with two scores. Crowell had runs of 50 and 54 yards, gashing a defense that was without speed-rusher Aaron Lynch and inside linebacker Michael Wilhoite. While the 49ers offense didn’t do its defense any favors by holding the ball for only 22 of 60 minutes, and converting just twice in 13 third-down situations, this was hardly the performance expected of a defense that had been effective more often than not coming in.

“You must be prepared. You must be ready,” defensive leader NaVorro Bowman said.   “You know the games are coming every single week. It’s an individual thing to bring your own energy.”

While the Browns ran all over the place, the Shaun Draughn-led 49er run game was stuck in the mud. Draughn finished with just 43 yards on the ground, and his 15-yard run was undoubtedly the only highlight. Overall, the 49ers mustered a paltry 221 yards in offense, an acceptable figure for a half, but not a whole football game.

Leading the Browns this Sunday was the aforementioned Johnny Football, who returned from a two-game benching due to his dishonesty about his activities during the Cleveland bye week. For a platform for his continued employment in Cleveland, on this Sunday, the 49ers provided shiny pamphlets trumpeting Manziel and spotlights illuminating the Heisman Trophy winner turned bad.

Manziel threw for 270 yards and a touchdown, and saw the forgiving Browns Stadium crowd chant his name in the second half. The 49ers did their part, by not fully taking advantage of Manziel’s one big mistake, an interception thrown just before halftime. The 49ers’ offense followed the interception by going three-and-out, preserving the Browns 10-3 halftime lead.

“I’ve only gotten to play six or seven games,” Manziel said afterwards.  “I know the number is starting to climb, but for me, these mean a lot to me.  I still have a lot to prove.  I feel like I’m just getting started.  I’m going to continue to play, continue to fight.”

The 49ers return to Levi’s Stadium on Sunday to take on the Cincinnati Bengals, who will likely be without injured quarterback Andy Dalton.

 

 

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By Morris Phillips

It’s been so long since the 49ers won a road game, winning teammates seemed like they were celebrating together for the first time. In a lot of ways, they were.

Torrey Smith, who caught the game-winning 71-yard pass in overtime, was mobbed by offensive tackle Joe Staley and safety Eric Reid, who was in the end zone so fast after the game’s conclusion it felt like he was on the field for the final play.

“It’s been a year of patience building for me. I’m actually kind of thankful for it because it makes you appreciate the things that happen,” Smith said afterwards.

Smith, the high-profile free agent acquisition from Baltimore, came to San Francisco to make big pass plays with Colin Kaepernick. But that didn’t happen, and Smith stewed along the way, feeling he had the done his part to get the moribund 49ers offense going. As much as anybody, the 26-year old speedster has sacrificed, following his breakout,11-touchdown season with the Ravens by catching just two touchdowns prior to Sunday with the 49ers.

“We didn’t really take too many shots this game,” Smith said, describing the Bears’ defensive strategy cooked up by Vic Fangio, as always, with a premium on limiting big plays. “They were sitting on us. We knew it. And what are we waiting for, let’s go get it. We got a great look. Everything happened the way we wanted it to happen.”

During regulation, the 49ers offense—to be kind—struggled. Smith was a virtual no-show, with one pass catch for five yards. The offensive line had its signature on seven third-down conversions, but the nine third-down failures were more prevalent, especially in the fourth quarter. The run game featuring Shaun Draughn and Travaris Cadet? 36 yards total.

Blaine Gabbert would end up with a merely credible QBR of 69.6, hardly what will be expected going forward if the 26-year old wants to extend his career as a starter in San Francisco, but on this Sunday in blustery Chicago, unexpectedly good enough.

“You really saw kind of the peaks and valleys of NFL football right there,” Gabbert said of the game’s surprising conclusion.

Given the offensive blackout, the 49ers’ focused, effective defensive effort was about to go for naught in the fourth quarter when the Bears pushed across the tie-breaking touchdown with 3:32 remaining. At that point, the Bears and 49ers had gone more than half the game, and all of the second half, without a single point scored. Whatever offense the Gabbert-Draughn-Boldin-Smith quartet could muster seemed to be exhausted.

Then disaster struck for the Bears in the form of Robbie Gould’s missed field goal, and two nightmare gaffes courtesy of safety Adrian Amos. Gould had formed a rock-solid reputation as one of the NFL’s most accurate kickers for more than a decade. Amos, a rookie drafted in the fifth-round from Penn State had a rapid ascent to become the Bears’ starter at free safety in Week 1.

With the 49ers facing 3^rd-and-3 at the Chicago 44-yard line with 1:42 remaining, Gabbert transformed the 49ers rushing output for the day with a near immediate, scrambling run up the middle that went from a 20-yard gainer to a touchdown when Amos slipped in front of Gabbert near the 30-yard line.   Amos well-timed slip came just a fraction of second before Gabbert needed to decide to slide or subject himself to an explosive tackle, freeing the quarterback to gain steam on his Steve Young-like uninterrupted scamper.

Gabbert’s touchdown tied the game at 20, but the Bears appeared to respond with a game-deciding kickoff return.

Deonte Thompson’s 74-yard return and six conservatively-run plays later, Gould was gifted a chance to win it on the last play of regulation with a 36-yard field goal, but his kick was off to the left.

Then after six plays in overtime—three by each team—that gained a very uneventful two yards, the game ended suddenly. After a Bears’ punt, Smith blew down the left side of the field and past Amos who gave up his deep position, and Gabbert got a rare break from the Bears’ pass rush, hitting Smith in stride. The 26-year old passer and the 26-year old pass catcher had fashioned a bit of team history with Smith lifting the ball in victory through the final 12 yards of his run.

“It was set up by all the throws we had underneath early on in the game, all the runs we ran out of that formation,” Gabbert gushed. “It worked perfectly.”

Gabbert hadn’t won a road game as the starting quarterback since 2012. Outside of Indianapolis’ Lucas Oil Stadium and his two home bases in Jacksonville and Santa Clara, Gabbert had been 0-13.

Smith hadn’t won a road game in exactly a year, when in he was visiting Miami with the Ravens. And Coach Jim Tomsula finally broke through after losing his first five road coaching assignments.

“To see them in (the locker room) with a smile and enjoying each other that’s why I do what I do,” Tomsula said.

The 49ers visit Cleveland on Sunday where the 2-10 Browns may again turn to Johnny Manziel as their starter.