Tag: NFL

Garoppolo Suffers Serious Injury in 49ers’ 38-27 Loss to Chiefs

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By Joe Lami

Unfortunately, the 38-27 beatdown to the Chiefs isn’t the biggest loss the 49ers took on Sunday, as Jimmy Garoppolo went down with what could be a season-ending knee injury.

Driving late in the fourth quarter, down by 35-24 and inside the red zone, Garoppolo cut his right near the sideline attempting to make more out of a scramble before his left knee buckled. Garoppolo made a collision with Chiefs’ corner, Steven Nelson on the play before he hobbled off the field.

The fear is that he suffered a torn left ACL. He is scheduled to have an MRI on Monday.

Garoppolo would exit the game on a crucial 4th and goal, leaving backup C.J. Beathard to make an incredible connection with George Kittle, only to be taken away by the team’s 13th penalty of the day. San Francisco would have to settle for a field goal while a cart rushed the 49ers’ franchise quarterback to the locker room.

The injury to Garoppolo came during a late comeback for the Niners. After going down 35-7 in the first half, where penalties, amazing plays by Patrick Mahomes, and a sluggish offense cost the Niners, San Francisco was pushing right back.

It was an abysmal first half of football for the Niners, in which they surrendered 35 points for just the eighth time in franchise history. Mahomes threw all three of his touchdowns in the first, pushing his season total to 13, while the 49ers nine penalties for 109 yards just added fuel to the fire for the first-year starter. The Chiefs finished the half with 22 first downs on their way to scoring a TD on all five drives.

The Niners lone first-half touchdown came on a beautiful play-action pass, where Garoppolo connected with Kyle Juszczyk on a wide-open play that would get the 49ers’ offense going.

Jimmy G continued the pushback in the second half finding Goodwin for his first touchdown of the season. Alfred Morris found paydirt on a three-yard scamper, bringing the Niners within 11.

All was going well for the Niners in the second half until Garoppolo went down. Early reports suggest it’s dire, making Sunday’s nightmare turn into San Francisco’s doomsday.

To make matters worse, Richard Sherman also went down on Sunday with a calf injury in the second quarter. He was listed as questionable to return, but the hobbling Sherman never got off the sideline.

The season is now in the balance for San Francisco and what was supposed to be a building year for the Niners may have ended before it ever really got going as the 49ers’ rebuild may have just been reset to zero.

Oakland Raiders podcast with Joe Hawkes Beamon: Raiders need to button down the hatches on defense; Carr can beat the Dolphins

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On the Raiders podcast with J Hawkes:

#1 The Raiders continue their road trip. This time, Week 3 brings them to Miami as they come off a razor edge loss in Denver last Sunday 20-19.

#2 Last season in Week 9, both the Raiders and Dolphins played to a 27-24 Raiders win when Marshawn Lynch carried a three-yard, fourth quarter touchdown for the win.

#3 The Raiders lost on a game-winning field goal after leading the Broncos by as much as 17 points. Broncos quarterback Casey Keenum helped the Broncos’ down field to set up a score.

#4 After Khalil Mack went to Chicago, the Raiders’ defense has been suspect and that was evident after dropping the 17 points in the second half of Sunday’s game.

#5 The Raiders now face the Miami Dolphins (2-0) with quarterback Ryan Tannehill, whose 31-57 for 398 yards. Joe takes a look at these two teams matching up.

Joe does the Raiders podcasts each Friday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

San Francisco 49ers podcast with Joe Lami: 49ers will be facing a strong, prepared Chiefs offense this Sunday

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On the 49ers podcast with Joe:

#1 The San Francisco 49ers got a big break on a holding call that stopped the visiting Detroit Lions from spotting the ball on the 49ers’ seven-yard line after an interception.

#2 The hold call helped 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo to his first win of 2018. He threw 18-26 for 206 yards.

#3 Despite throwing well, Garoppolo got sacked six times. Where was the offensive line and protection for Jimmy G?

#4 Does it look like Josh Gordon at wide receiver for the 49ers will be a regular?

#5 The 49ers’ next opponent is the Kansas City Chiefs. This team is not the Detroit Lions. The Chiefs are a very prepared and strong offensive team. The 49ers will have to key in on the Chiefs and Patrick Mahomes.

Joe Lami does the 49ers podcast each Friday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Oakland Raiders podcast with Tony Renteria: Raiders couldn’t seal the deal in Denver Sunday; look to Miami for first road win

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On the Oakland Raiders podcast with Tony:

#1 For the last six seconds of Sunday’s game in Oakland, the Oakland Raiders looked as if they had game in hand with a 19-17 lead, but Denver Broncos kicker Brandon McManus kicked a 36-yard field goal for the 20-19 win at Sports Authority Field.

#2 The Broncos led by quarterback Casey Kennum led the Broncos down the field with just 1:58 left in the game, Kennum threw to Tom Patrick for 26 yards in the closing moments of the game to get the ball and McManus into field goal range for the winning score.

#3 Tony talks about some of the numbers starting for Raiders quarterback Derek Carr going 29-32 for 288 yards, one touchdown and one sack. Impressive outing for Carr who did all he could do to win in the Raiders’ first road game.

#4 Wide receiver Amari Cooper tallied up some yards with 10 receptions for 116 yards. Although Cooper didn’t get a touchdown, he averaged 11 yards and topped the team for total yards.

#5 The Raiders get set for their next meeting against the Miami Dolphins, the Dolphins are 2-0 and have Ryan Tannehill, who’s averaging 199 yards with four touchdowns on the year. Tannehill and the Dolphins have been fierce. Will the Raiders defense have their hands full this Sunday? Tony takes a look.

Tony does the Oakland Raiders podcasts each Thursday and is a beat writer for the Sacramento Kings at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

49ers welcome Foster back, but face an uphill battle

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By Jeremy Harness

The 49ers got their first win of the year last Sunday, getting past the Detroit Lions, who made a hard charge in the fourth quarter to make things mighty interesting, to say the very least. But now, they have a completely different challenge on their hands.

The Lions have a potent offense – particularly with a guy like Matthew Stafford pulling the trigger – but the Kansas City Chiefs have an offense that has just exploded onto the scene in this young season.

Patrick Mahomes, who has taken over the reins as the Chiefs’ starting quarterback after the team traded away Alex Smith, is off to a blistering start to this season. Mahomes has thrown for a whopping 10 touchdown passes over the first two games and has not thrown a single interception, and he brings a dimension to the Kansas City offense that has not been there for a very long time.

The second-year signal-caller specializes in throwing the deep ball, which allows big-play receivers such as Tyreek Hill and Sammy Watkins, as well as tight end Travis Kelce, to rack up big yards and get upfield.

That is something that was not prevalent when Smith, who was much more proficient in the short-to-intermediate throws, was at the controls. He is now the starting quarterback for the Washington Redskins.

The 49ers will get some help on the defensive side. However, the team welcomed back linebacker Reuben Foster, who was suspended by the NFL for the first two games due to disciplinary issues stemming from his domestic assault case in the offseason.

He practiced on Wednesday and is expected to start on Sunday against the Chiefs. Also making his way to the practice field for the first time was fellow linebacker Malcolm Smith, who had been recovering from a hamstring injury.

Smith has yet to play in a game for the 49ers, as he missed the first two games of the year with the hamstring issue. Smith also missed the entire 2017 season with a pectoral injury.

Headline Sports with London Marq: Garoppolo, 49ers look to avoid the INT Sunday; Halos look to be spoilers as A’s chase Yanks; Raiders drop to 0-2 in close battle with Denver; Quakes make a coaching change; plus more

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On Headline Sports with London:

#1 The A’s battle the LA Angels this week and the Angels want to be spoilers and try and set the A’s chase of the New York Yankees in the AL Wild Card a peg or two.

#2 The Oakland Raiders played a nail-biter on Sunday, but lost to the Denver Broncos just by one point. Derek Carr looked and threw well, but the Raiders tried as hard as they could and lost their second game of the season, dropping them now to 0-2.

#3 With all the losses mounting, the San Jose Earthquakes fired head coach Mikael Stahre and assistant coach Alex de Crook. The Quakes have won only four games this season. When do you think Stahre should have got fired.

#4 The San Francisco Giants, who are a good 12 games out of first place, and their current hosts, the San Diego Padres, who are some 26 games out, will mostly look at their call ups during this series since the playoffs are dimming each day.

#5 The San Francisco 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo had a rough outing against the Detroit Lions on Sunday at Levi’s Stadium. The Niners had a 17-point lead, but lost it as their lead collapsed to just three points. If it wasn’t for a holding penalty late in the fourth quarter, the Lions would have been in field goal range or at best scoring range after picking off a Garoppolo pass.

London Marq does Headline Sports each Wednesday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Raiders will head to Miami for Week 3 tilt with Dolphins

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By Joe Hawkes-Beamon
SRS Contributor

OAKLAND, Calif — If one road game wasn’t enough, how about a double-dip?

The Raiders are hitting the road once again this time, they are heading to South Beach where they will take on a surprisingly undefeated Dolphins team in a key Week 3 matchup for Oakland this Sunday.

Kickoff is at 1:00 p.m. ET, which means 10:00 a.m. PT for West Coasters.

Last season, the two teams faced each other in Week 9 with the Raiders defeating the Dolphins, 27-24, behind a three-yard touchdown run by running back Marshawn Lynch late in the fourth quarter.

Oakland (0-2) lost a heart-breaker last week in Denver, 20-19, wasting an awesome performance by starting quarterback Derek Carr.

Carr was sharp all game, completing 29-of-32 passes for 288 yards and one touchdown. He’s the only quarterback in NFL history to complete 90 percent of his passes with more than 30 attempts, per ESPN. It was nice to see Carr bounce back from an ugly game in Week 1, where he threw three interceptions in Oakland’s 33-13 loss to the visiting Los Angeles Rams.

Out of those 29 completions, 10 were to wide receiver Amari Cooper, who also rebounded from a bad first game of the season where he posted just one catch for nine yards on three targets.

Against the Broncos, Cooper was targeted 10 times (catching each one) for 116 yards. It was a welcoming sign for Oakland, albeit in a loss.

Oakland held a 19-7 lead into the third quarter before the Broncos rallied with 13 unanswered points, including kicker Brandon McManus’s game-winning 36-yard field goal with six seconds remaining in the game.

Without stud defensive end/outside linebacker Khalil Mack, who was traded to Chicago prior to the start of the regular season because the Silver and Black were hesitant to reward Mack with a new contract extension, Oakland’s defense has been a no show through the first two games of the season.

The Raiders have had a tough time generating any kind of pass rush this season. Only linebacker Bruce Irvin and rookie defensive tackle Maurice Hurst have recorded a quarterback sack, but that could change against Miami. Dolphins quarterback Ryan Tannehill has been sacked five times this season, which ranks 13th in the NFL. Tannehill has also been hit nine times in the pocket.

Miami (2-0) defeated the Jets, 20-12, in New York at MetLife Stadium behind Tannehill and the NFL’s fourth-ranked scoring defense.

Tannehill completed 17-of-23 passes for 168 yards and two touchdowns, leading the Dolphins a 20-0 lead before halftime. Through two games this season, Tannehill has completed 31-of-57 passes for 398 yards with four touchdowns, two interceptions and a 104.9 passer rating.

Running back Kenyan Drake had 11 carries for 53 yards and one touchdown against the Jets. Drake leads the Dolphins with 25 carries for 101 yards this season.

Backup running back Frank Gore finished with just nine carries for 25 yards, but those yards were all he needed to pass Hall of Famer Curtis Martin (14,101) for fourth place on the NFL’s all-time rushing list with 14,103 yards. Gore, who is in his 14th season, signed a 1-year deal with his hometown Dolphins in the offseason.

Electric wide receiver Jarvis Landry was traded to Cleveland in the offseason, leaving the Dolphins with question marks at the position. Holdover Kenny Stills leads the Dolphins in receiving yards (123) and touchdowns (2) through two games, while free agent addition Danny Amendola leads the team in catches (8).

Amendola, who won two Super Bowl rings in four seasons with the New England Patriots, signed with the Dolphins this past offseason to give Tannehill another reliable target.

Middle linebacker Kiko Alonso and safety Reshad Jones are two of Miami’s prime defenders that Oakland must be aware at all times.

Jones is arguably the Dolphins most reliable playmaker, as he leads Miami with two interceptions this season. Last season, Jones led Miami in tackles with 122.

The two-time Pro Bowler will likely be following Raiders tight end Jared Cook, who has been explosive the first two weeks of the season. In 2017, Cook led all Raiders receivers with 688 yards and this season, he leads Oakland with 229 yards, which includes his franchise record-setting 180-yard performance in Week 1.

After posting back-to-back seasons of 115 tackles, Alonso is a major focal point for the Dolphins defense. Last week against the Jets, Alonso recorded a 13 tackles and two forced fumbles, coming up huge for Miami many times in that contest.

Sunday’s game in Miami is a must-win for Oakland. There’s no way to sugarcoat it.

Falling to 0-3 with a loss before coming home to take on a puzzling Cleveland Browns team in Week 4 at the Oakland-Alameda Coliseum would be catastrophic.

San Francisco 49ers podcast with David Zizmor: How prepared are the 49ers?; Penalty provides big break in first win of season

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On the 49ers podcast with David Zizmor:

The San Francisco 49ers nearly threw away last Sunday’s game against the Detroit Lions literally when 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo passed a ball that was intercepted by a Lions defender. With the turnover it nearly derailed a faltering lead that once was 17 points in the fourth quarter at Levi’s Stadium.

The 49ers caught a break when a penalty flag was thrown against the Lions for a holding call on offensive back Quandre Diggs. That called back a return on Garoppolo’s pass from the Lions safety Tracy Walker who ran the interception for 37 yards and ironically was tackled by Garoppolo which would have spotted the ball on the seven yard line and the 49ers barely holding onto a three-point lead 30-27.

David Zizmor does the 49ers podcasts each Tuesday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Raiders lose late to Broncos 20-19; fall to 0-2

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By Jeremy Kahn

Things were looking fantastic for the first 59:54, but it was the last six seconds of the game that cost the Oakland Raiders the game.

Brandon McManus kicked a 36-yard field goal with six seconds remaining in the game, as the Denver Broncos came back from a 12-point second half deficit to defeat the Raiders 20-19 at Broncos Stadium at Sports Authority Field on Sunday.

Case Keenum, who is in his first year with the Broncos already knows too well about miracle finishes, as he led the “Minnesota Miracle,” where the Vikings defeated the New Orleans Saints in the waning seconds of the NFC Divisional Playoff Game.

Keenum and the Broncos got the ball on their 20-yard line with no timeouts remaining and 1:58 remaining in the game, and led down the field.

After a holding penalty pushed them back, Keenum got going on that final drive, as he found Emmanuel Sanders for 21 yards and then Jake Butt for an additional 14 yards.

Keenum then found out Jon Heuerman for four yards, and then the big play came when Keenum found Tim Patrick for 26 yards to get them down to the Raiders 18-yard line, setting up McManus for the eventual game-winning field goal.

Derek Carr got the ball back, and he completed a pass to Amari Cooper, but Cooper was unable to get away and stepped out of bounds; however, the clock ran out and the game was over.

Carr bounced back from an off night in the opener, as he went 29-for32 for 281 yards and a touchdown on the afternoon.

Amari Cooper, who was held to just four catches in the season-opening loss to the Los Angeles Rams on Monday, caught 10 passes for 116 yards.

Marshawn Lynch was the leading ground gainer for the Raiders, as he carried the ball 18 times for 65 yards and a touchdown.

Lynch’s touchdown gave the Raiders an early 12-0 lead, but Mike Nugent’s extra point was blocked and that ended up being huge in the end of the game for the Raiders.

Nugent gave the Raiders on the board on their first series, as he kicked a 26-yard field goal in the first quarter He then kicked a 46-yard field goal in the second quarter, and then Lynch scored on a one-yard run.

The Broncos finally got on the board in the third quarter, as Royce Freeman scored on a one-yard run and after Carr found Seth Roberts for a 20-yard touchdown pass, the Broncos defense never allowed the Raiders to score again.

McManus got the Broncos within nine, as he kicked a 39-yard field goal and then Keenum narrowed the Raiders lead down to just two, when scored on a one-yard run with under six minutes remaining in the game.

Unfortunately, the Raiders were not able to run out the clock and the Broncos got the ball back and McManus kicked the game-winning field goal that sent the Raiders to an 0-2 record on the season.

NOTES: When the game began in Denver, the temperature was 92 degrees, the highest temperature at the start of a game since the Broncos were founded in 1960. It beat the old record by one degree from a game against the Seattle Seahawks on September 19, 2010.

Former Raiders offensive lineman Jared Veldheer was forced to leave the game for the Broncos in the second half after suffering a concussion.

UP NEXT: Still looking for their first win of the season, the Raiders stay on the road, as they will head to Miami to face the Dolphins at Hard Rock Stadium on September 23 at 10:10 am PDT.

49ers Hang On in Home Opener vs. Lions for First Win of the Year 30-27

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By: Joe Lami

SANTA CLARA, Calif. — It came down to the wire and with a little help from the officials, but the San Francisco 49ers have their first win of the 2018 season as they beat the Detroit Lions 30-27 in the home opener at Levi’s Stadium on Sunday afternoon.

After going into halftime with a 13-10 lead, San Francisco started the second half with a bang. D.J. Reed Jr. got the half started by bringing the kick back to the house, only to be penalized for grabbing a defender’s face mask along the way. Despite the penalty, the 49ers were set up with excellent field position at the Lions’ 25-yard line to start the third quarter.

“Everyone held their blocks. For me, it was easy, and anybody could have done what I did. My whole special teams unit did a good job blocking. [Special team’s] coach Hightower did a good job setting it up,” added Reed.

Jimmy Garoppolo capped off the drive with his second touchdown pass of the day, finding Garrett Celek underneath. The 30-year-old tight end carried three defenders with him across the goal line to make the score 20-10.

The 49ers extended their lead in the third with a 66-yard Matt Breida rushing score to cap a three-play, 97-yard drive. The longest rush for the 49ers since 2014 made the score 27-13, but they then allowed the Lions to get back in it.

Breida had his coming out party for the 49ers, lighting up the Lions’ defense, carrying the ball 11 times for 138 yards and the score.

Led by Matthew Stafford, the Lions crawled their way back into the game bringing the score within three with 3:33 remaining, putting all the pressure on the 49ers offense to move the ball.

When the pressure came San Francisco’s way, Garoppolo made a mistake with 2:24 left and threw a pick that the Lions returned down to seven-yard-line. However, a crucial defensive holding call saved the day for San Francisco giving an automatic first down. The 49ers ended up punting with 1:08 remaining, but the defense stepped up and shut the door, not letting Lions get past midfield to secure the win.

In the win, Garoppolo improved from last week, throwing 18-of-26 for 206 yards and two touchdowns. However, Garoppolo was sacked five times in the process, with most of them being coverage sacks. The wide receivers didn’t do their job in man coverage as they struggled to get open, which allowed the pass rush to get to Garoppolo.

More importantly, three of the five sacks came within the red zone, which continues to be a pain point in the 49ers’ offense. San Francisco is reportedly exploring the possibility of acquiring wide receiver, Josh Gordon to come in and help in the red zone after the Browns came out and said he would be available come Monday.

The 49ers once again leaned heavily on kicker, Robbie Gould, who was perfect in knocking down all three of his field goals from 45, 42, and 36-yards, respectively. In doing so, he set a new franchise record for consecutive field goals made, passing Phil Dawson with 29 straight.

San Francisco did escape Sunday with a win, but there was no reason for the game to be even close. The 49ers got comfortable with the lead and let the Lions back in the game. Let it be a lesson for a young team learning how to win and don’t let it happen again, or it will cost them against stronger opponents in the future.

“I feel like the energy kind of fell off a little bit, and we needed to build it back up that last defensive stand that we had. I feel like guys kind of woke up during that last drive on defense. We’ve got to keep the pedal down all four quarters,” said defensive lineman DeForest Buckner.

The 49ers will attempt to keep the pedal down all four quarters next week, as they travel to Kansas City to try and stop Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs next Sunday at 10:00 am PDT.