Headline Sports podcast with Barbara Mason: Giants try to knot up series with Diamondbacks tonight; Gruden happy with quarterbacks in camp; plus more

Photo credit: sfchronicle.com

On Headline Sports with Barbara Mason:

#1 The Oakland A’s and San Francisco Giants Bay Bridge Series was expected to be a real Battle of the Bay since both teams are vying for a wild card birth. The Giants ended up winning the two-game series with a 10-6 win on Saturday and a 5-4 win on Sunday took a loss on Monday night in San Francisco to Arizona 6-4.

#2 The A’s had a breakdown in their bullpen in each of the two games. Frustration took hold when A’s reliever Ryan Butcher threw high and inside to Giants catcher Stephen Vogt, who hit the dirt. No warnings were drawn. Vogt hit a grand slam home-run off Butcher on Saturday and Vogt said he had his suspicions about Butcher’s pitch since he’s noted to have decent control.

#3 The Oakland Raiders quarterbacks have the confidence of Raiders head coach Jon Gruden. Gruden said starting quarterback Derek Carr, backups Mike Glennon and Nathan Peterman all had good preseasons and the Raiders are expected to come out of the gate strong. The Raiders head to Century Link in Seattle for the final pre season game against the Seahawks on Thursday Night Football.

#4 San Francisco 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo has a great outing in his last preseason game on Saturday night against the Kansas City Chiefs after having a tough preseason. Garoppolo threw for 14-20, 188 yards, and one touchdown. The 49ers host the San Diego Chargers on Thursday Night Football.

#5 Indianapolis Colts quarterback Andrew Luck, who announced his retirement from football over the weekend, said that it was not fun anymore waking up each day to pain, rehab, and more pain. It was repeat and repeat again. He at 29 year old said it’s unlikely he will return to the NFL.

Barbara Mason does Headline Sports each Tuesday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Garoppolo Bounces Back in Win Over Chiefs 27-17

photo from sfgate.com: San Francisco 49ers quarterback throws behind 49ers offensive guard Mike Person (68) during the first half of Saturday Night Football’s game against the host Kansas City Chiefs in the final pre season game for 2019

by Joe Lami

Jimmy Garoppolo bounced back to expectations in his second appearance of the pre-season on Saturday night. After an abysmal performance on Monday, Jimmy G threw for 188 yards completing 14 of 20 passes and adding a touchdown in his first half dress rehearsal.

Garoppolo opened the Niners scoring with a 20-yard completion to Matt Breida to cap a seven-play, 78-yard drive, in which he went 4-for-4. He completed two more drives that ended with Robbie Gould field goals. After a 0.0 passer rating against the Broncos, Garoppolo greatly improved to a 116.2.

The Niners improved to 3-0 on the pre-season by defeating the Kansas City Chiefs 27-17. Most importantly, their dry run went phenomenal and gives hope that they’ll be ready when the season kicks off.

After showing strong defense all pre-season, the Niners defense got torched by MVP Patrick Mahomes on the opening drive. He found running back Damien Williams for a 62-yard quick touchdown strike. However, the defense was able to rebound by keeping Mahomes out of the end zone the rest of his night. He finished 8-of-10 for 126 yards.

Nick Mullens came in for backup duty; passing 8-of-11 for 84 yards. CJ Beathard didn’t see the field on Saturday night, which could give insight to how Kyle Shanahan is leaning for the backup spot.

Jeff Wilson Jr. is going to make cut down day difficult for the red and gold. He continues to impress, scoring two touchdowns in the second half, making the difference in the win. He finished with 45 yards on 12 carries and the two scores.

Kwon Alexander made his debut finishing with three tackles.

Damontre Moore stole the show with two sacks, five tackles, and four QB hits. Moore may be playing well enough to earn the 49ers a draft pick when they trade him since there’s just no room on the D-line for him on this team.

The Niners wrap up their preseason on Thursday at home versus the Chargers. While we won’t see most of the starters, we’ll get an in-depth look at how the 53-man roster is beginning to form.

San Francisco 49ers podcast with Joe Lami: Can Garoppolo hit his targets on Saturday in Kansas City in preseason finale?

Photo credit: sacbee.com

On the 49ers podcast with Joe:

#1 On Monday Night Football, San Francisco 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo passed for zero yards throwing, one interception, and basically said he hasn’t been there for a year so he’s coming out of the shoot tired and rusty.

#2 Also, it should be mentioned that Garoppolo threw nine passes for zero yards from what Joe saw. Was Garoppolo pressing or was he genuinely rusty from not seeing action over a year?

#3 Do you expect to see Joe Staley and George Kittle out for preseason or on limited time in preseason?

#4 San Francisco 49ers tackle Shon Coleman, who broke his leg in the first preseason game, is out for the rest of the season. How much of an impact will that be on the team?

#5 Saturday the 49ers are in Kansas City. From what you’ve seen, how far are the 49ers ready for regular season play?

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

Headline Sports podcast with London Marq: Jimmy G says don’t worry, he’ll get it together; Raiders head to Canada undefeated for Thursday Night Football; plus more

Photo credit: businessinsider.com

On Headline Sports with London:

#1 San Francisco 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo said he was a bit rusty after recovering from last season’s knee surgery then saw no play until camp opened up in July, and in his first preseason game, struggled against the Denver Broncos going 1-6 and zero yards.

#2 The Oakland Raiders are coming off two wins in preseason and play this Thursday night in Winnipeg against Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers. According to head coach Jon Gruden, Raiders quarterbacks have been on schedule with accomplishing what needs to be done — Derek Carr, Mike Glennon and Nathan Peterman.

#3 The San Francisco Giants are on a current road trip in Wrigley Field in Chicago, which they opened up on Tuesday night. Wednesday night the Giants are starting Derek Rodriguez (5-6, 4.79 ERA), and for the Cubs, Yu Darvish (4-6, 4.21 ERA). The Giants are 3.5 games out of first for the wild card.

#4 The Oakland A’s are just one game out of first place for their wild card spot. The A’s host a very tough customer, the New York Yankees, at the Oakland Coliseum. Starting pitchers for Wednesday night: For the Yanks, JA Happ (10-7, 5.40 ERA), and for the A’s, Mike Fiers (11-3, 3.46 ERA).

#5 The San Jose Earthquakes playing their third road trip game tonight in Los Angeles at LAFC. The Quakes have not won in their last three games, which includes a tie. LAFC is in first in the MLS Western Conference at 18-4-3 and are expected to be a very tough customer against the Quakes tonight.

Join London for Headline Sports each Wednesday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

49ers offense is a disaster

Photo credit: ninerswire.usatoday.com

By Jeremy Harness

OK, so what we’re going to write about here is not very pleasant, but let’s at least have some fun with this one.

We’re going to start off with a little exercise.

Step 1: Grab a partner and a football (or whatever you can find around the house that you can toss), and stand approximately six feet from each other.

Step 2: Toss the chosen object to your partner. Underhand, overhand, sidearm, it doesn’t matter a lick how you do it. Just do whatever you can to ensure that your partner catches it.

Step 3: Congratulate yourselves on a job well done. You have just passed for more yards – and one fewer interception – than Jimmy Garoppolo did on Monday.

Yes, you read that right. The quarterback that the 49ers paid more than $100 million for last offseason completed one of nine passes for zero yards and one interception, and was very fortunate that another pass was not picked off and returned for a touchdown midway through the first quarter.

However, this isn’t all Garoppolo’s fault. The entire starting offense looked inept against a young Denver Broncos defense, with pass protection especially being an issue, particularly the left side with Joe Staley and Laken Tomlinson.

The 49ers beat the Broncos on Monday, 24-15, but it was mostly on the back of the backups who, simply put, are trying to secure a spot on the team and are not expected to see much action when the regular season begins.

Which brings us back to the starting offense. The unit is going to need to show a bit more on Saturday, when it faces the Kansas City Chiefs, which made it to the AFC title game last season despite finishing near the bottom in most defensive categories, particularly against the pass.

Running back Jerick McKinnon, who missed all of 2018 with a torn ACL, did not play Monday and is not expected to practice Wednesday but, according to reports, could return Thursday on a limited basis.

Headline Sports podcast with Barbara Mason: How 49ers looked on Monday Night Football and what to expect from Raiders on Thursday Night Football; plus more

Photo credit: actionnetwork.com

On Headlines Sports with Barbara Mason:

#1 The San Francisco 49ers played preseason game two on Monday Night Football. Talk about how quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo looked. He had one snag in scrimmage last week when he threw into traffic and got picked five times in a row. Going forward Thursday until making the trip to Denver, he looked like he got back on track.

#2 The Oakland Raiders’ quarterbacking situation looks like it’s coming along just the way head coach Jon Gruden planned the Raiders as the Raiders are 2-0 in preseason are looking at starter Derek Carr with backups Nathan Peterman and Mike Glennon.

#3 The Oakland A’s dropped the fourth and final game of their series to the Houston Astros Sunday, but not before the A’s took three out of four from the visiting Astros. The A’s are now 1 game back in the AL Wild Card race and all their remaining games with Houston are huge not to mention with their other opponents.

#4 The San Francisco Giants almost got a four-game sweep in Arizona, but lost on Sunday when the Diamondbacks scored for three runs in the first inning early and got good pitching out of starter Merrill Kelly, who went 5.2 innings, six hits and one run.

#5 Talk has been about traffic conditions around the new Chase Arena in San Francisco and San Francisco emergency services ran a drill simulating traffic conditions during a concert or a Warriors game. Results weren’t good as ambulances and fire trucks couldn’t get through during an emergency if there was Warriors game traffic coming in or going out. Was building Chase especially next to UCSF Hospital a disaster in the waiting?

Barbara does Headline Sports each Tuesday night at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

San Francisco 49ers podcast with David Zizmor: A look at Garoppolo in Denver preseason game; Update on Kittle and Staley injuries

Photo credit: profootballtalk.nbcsports.com

On the 49ers podcast with David:

#1 Quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo had a tough Wednesday last week when he threw for five picks in scrimmage. He got tracked on Thursday and has good workouts since and saw some action in the preseason game on Monday Night Football in Denver.

#2 A couple of injuries the 49ers hope to recover from include the tight end George Kittle (calf) and left tackle Joe Staley (pectoral soreness). Will coach Kyle Shanahan use them in preseason games?

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

Despite 49ers’ 24-15 Win, Garoppolo Shaky in Pre-Season Debut

Photo credit: ftw.usatoday.com

By: Joe Lami

Jimmy Garoppolo fell flat in his much-anticipated return to the football field on Monday night versus the Broncos. Garoppolo started the first three drives and looked flat-out terrible. He finished 1-of-6 for zero yards with one interception and a 0.0 QB rating. On top of the pick and sack, Garoppolo had two balls batted down at the line and should’ve thrown a second pick that was dropped.

The good news is it’s early. Garoppolo hasn’t played any meaningful football since week three of last season and was obviously not comfortable on Monday. Looking skittish and nervous in the pocket, Garoppolo still has a long way to go before he’s close to where he needs to be. Saturday will be huge for his development and confidence as he gears up for the season.

Garoppolo also didn’t great offensive line helped, as the Broncos front seven got in Garoppolo’s face on half his throws. Bradley Chubb picked up two QB hits, including one on the interception that made Joe Staley look silly.

Aside from Garoppolo, the Niners looked pretty good overall in the 24-15 victory. They rushed for a combined 185 yards but only passed for 85. Raheem Mostert was noticeable finishing with 58 yards on six carries.

Deebo Samuel once again flashed his top speed on a 45-yard sweep play, bringing the ball within the one; setting up a touchdown. NFL NextGen clocked him in at 20 MPH, matching Tyreek Hill’s average speed.

The defense continued to bend and not break and allowed their first touchdown of the preseason with only eight seconds remaining. DJ Reed and Jaquaski Tartt looked excellent in the secondary. Reed finished with six tackles, a pass deflection, and QB hit; while Tartt had five tackles, two for loss, and a breakup. As a team, San Francisco had five sacks and forced a turnover.
Battle for Backup

The backup race still remains intriguing. CJ Beathard earned the majority of the snaps on Monday; completing 5-of-11 for 81 yards, marching the Niners to two of their three touchdowns. Mullens completed 2-of-3 passes for 27 yards and a touchdown pass to Kenrick Bourne on a fade.

Richie James Jr. is starting to make his case for the 53-man roster. While he hasn’t added a ton on offense, his return ability should be admired. He picked up 80 yards on two returns, including a 48-yarder.

Sportstalk remote podcast at Kinara Fusion and Lounge in downtown SF; Monday, August 19, 2019

yelp.com photo: Entrance of Kinara Fusion and Lounge now located at 607 Geary Street in downtown San Francisco.

Cast: Michael Duca (host), David Zizmor, Amaury Pi-Gonzalez, Jeremy Kahn, Morris Phillips, and Lee Leonard (producer) podcasting from Kinara Fusion and Lounge at 607 Geary Street in downtown San Francisco. Our thanks to our hosts and owners of Kinara Fusion and Lounge Restaurant Rahil Patel, Shahil Patel and Jafar Patel.

Kinara Fusion and Lounge offers a wide variety of classic Italian pizza recipes along with exotic Indian and Mediterranean specialties. A full certified Halal menu also serving unique deserts guaranteed to satisfy your palate. Located in the heart of San Francisco, Kinara also offers relaxed seating for after hours hookah lounging. Located at 607 Geary Street at Jones in downtown San Francisco.

On today’s podcast: Discussion on the San Francisco Giants and Oakland A’s and their chase for a wild card spot, the Oakland Raiders get ready for Aaron Rogers and the Green Bay Packers for Thursday Night Football Thursday, August 22nd at Investors Group Field in Winnipeg Canada. The San Francisco 49ers host the Denver Broncos for Monday Night Football at Mile High Stadium on Monday August 19th.

San Francisco 49ers podcast with Joe Lami: Garoppolo back to the drawing board on finding targets; Kittle and Staley miss practice due to injuries; plus more

Photo credit: nbcsports.com

On the 49ers podcast with Joe Lami:

#1 How much concern should the 49ers have with quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo after throwing five picks in practice on Wednesday? Garoppolo threw much better in joint practices with the Denver Broncos on Thursday.

#2 49ers backups Nick Mullens and CJ Beathard looked good in their first preseason game against the Dallas Cowboys last Saturday night in the 49ers’ first preseason game.

#3 Tight end George Kittle missed his second consecutive practice because of calf. Kittle is a key player and the 49ers hope that he won’t miss too much time on Monday night in Denver.

#4 Left tackle Joe Staley was out due to pectoral soreness, Staley was kept out of drills. It’s just a question whether he’ll be able to play on Monday night.

#5 Beathard was out with a thumb injury, but that didn’t stop him he came back with a taped up right hand and thumb and threw during team drills.

Joe Lami does the 49ers podcasts each Friday for http://www.sportsradioservice.com