Tag: San Francisco 49ers

Shanahan, 49ers Collapse Gives Rodgers, Packers Epic Comeback Win 33-30 on MNF

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Photo credit: @CBSSportsHQ

By: Joe Lami

Absolutely gut-wrenching, the only words to explain the San Francisco 49ers’ toughest loss of the season, as a late heroic comeback from Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers beats the 49ers 33-30 at Lambeau Field on Monday Night Football.

“We had every opportunity to win and finish the game and didn’t get it done,” said 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan.

He’s exactly right. The 49ers did have every chance to get it done in front of a nationwide audience. He called an electric first half of football, where the 49ers went into the break leading 24-20, despite coughing the ball up twice. 290 yards of offense, led by great outside running from both Raheem Mostert and Matt Breida.

The run set up the pass. C.J. Beathard had a near-perfect passer rating in the first half, including two deep strikes to Marquise Goodwin that went for scores of 67 yards and 30 yards, respectively. Goodwin’s 114 receiving yards in the first half were the most from a 49ers’ receiver in over five years.

Everything was set-up from discipline. The 49ers committed only one penalty in the first half for five yards. Things were looking good for the red and gold and appearing like they were about to steal one at Lambeau, and then the second half happened.

The 49ers were just unable to put this game away, despite a great second half from the defense. The front seven came alive for the first time all season, finishing with three sacks, seven QB hits, and seven tackles for loss.

The defense just didn’t get the help from the offense in the second half, as they were only able to muster up six points and were unable to move the ball in the fourth to put the game away when they still had a 30-23 lead.

The fourth could’ve gone as bad as possible for San Francisco. Terrible play calling and horrendous game management saw 27 yards of total offense in the fourth capped by three consecutive three-and-outs to close the game.

The 49ers could’ve gotten past the 27 yards of offense in the fourth, but decided to throw the ball instead of run the clock out and gave way too much time to one of the best passers in the history of the NFL.

Down by seven with 3:00 left, Rodgers went on a quick 1:05 five-play drive that found Devante Adams in the end-zone to tie things at 30, still giving San Francisco a shot.

Even better, a great return by Richie James capped by a personal foul penalty put the ball at San Francisco’s 47-yard line. San Francisco pushed the ball to the Green Bay 46-yard line and on 3rd and three, Shanahan called for a deep ball instead of a short pass to attempt to pick up the first down with three timeouts in his back pocket.

The deep ball was picked off, and once again, San Francisco put the ball into the hands of Rodgers at his own 10 with no timeouts.

The defense stood tall initially and even got a sack on third down from DeForest Buckner, but was taken away by their second penalty of the game, as Richard Sherman was whistled for illegal contact.

That was one mistake too many, as Rodgers torched the San Francisco defense, especially picking on Greg Mabin, who entered the game for an injured Jimmie Ward.

The 49ers’ defense was unable to protect the sidelines, allowing Green Bay to march down the field setting up a 27-yard Mason Crosby walk-off field goal.

The players sure don’t deserve this loss in their best performance of the season. Breida finished with 61 yards on 14 carries. Mostert had a tremendous bounce-back performance picking up 87 yards on 12 explosive carries. Goodwin caught four of five targets for 126 yards and two scores, while George Kittle caught four passes for 60 yards. Beathard finished the game 16-of-23 for 245, two scores, and a pick.

This one solely rests on the shoulders of Shanahan, who relived his epic Super Bowl collapse and once again showed his inability to protect a lead and close out a game.

The season can now go in two directions. The 49ers can build off an incredible game that saw one of the best quarterbacks of our generation comeback for an epic win or they can collapse in the abyss.

The 49ers’ road doesn’t get any easier, as they’ll host the undefeated Rams on Sunday at 1:25 pm PT on CBS.

San Francisco 49ers podcast with David Zizmor: 49ers looked great, but not good enough to win a close contest

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mercurynews.com photo: Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers (12) celebrates a touchdown during the first half of an NFL football game against the San Francisco 49ers Monday, Oct. 15, 2018, in Green Bay, Wis.

On the 49ers podcast with David Zizmor:

We’ve seen this with 49ers quarterback CJ Beathard over the last two years. He manages to keep the game pretty close as he did against the Chargers and Monday Night against the Packers in Green Bay. Last year, he had five starts where the 49ers lost by three points an NFL record for consecutive losses with less than three points.

Beathard does just well enough, but the problem is there have been untimely turnovers and penalties that just seals the Niners’ fate. They were in position to win this one. It wasn’t like they weren’t in this one or like the Packers ran away with it. The Niners were playing really good football and the defense wasn’t letting the Packers move the ball that much, but the Niners went into half time with a 24-17 lead and couldn’t hold on in the end they lost by three, 33-30.

David has much more on the 49ers podcast at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

San Francisco 49ers podcast with Joe Lami: 49ers take on Packers next at Lambeau Field; Lots of 49ers injuries; plus more 49ers talk

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Photo credit: @49ers

On the San Francisco 49ers podcast with Joe:

1. The 49ers are coming off a rough 28-18 loss to the Arizona Cardinals and the best is yet to come as the 49ers travel to Lambeau Field to take on the Green Bay Packers on ESPN’s Monday Night Football. What are your three keys to the game?

2. DeForest Buckner told the media that he was excited to go up against Aaron Rodgers for the first time at Lambeau Field. Should Buckner also be nervous about Rodgers and the Packers?

3. The 49ers’ injuries have reached a point that Kyle Shanahan has never seen before. Marquise Goodwin will return to the field, which will give C.J. Beathard a key target downfield, but what else has to happen so the 49ers’ offense will tread water against the Packers?

4. The 49ers invited the National Champions of Mexico to Levi’s Stadium to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month. What are your thoughts on this special invitation?

Joe Lami does the San Francisco 49ers podcasts each Friday for SportsRadioService.com

Nowhere to go, but up for the 49ers

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Photo credit: espn.com

By Jeremy Harness

Four weeks ago, 49ers fans had reason to hope for big things to happen this year. Now they have this to process:

The 49ers have been reduced to a very good practice squad team, thanks in much part to injuries, and then this development: The 49ers just lost to a winless team.

That’s right, they gave the Arizona Cardinals their first win of the season last Sunday, and things do not figure to get any better for the 49ers this season, making 1-15 a very distinct possibility. They are not favored in any of the remaining 11 games, and to say that they face a daunting task at Green Bay this Monday night would be an understatement.

Here’s reason No. 1: If you put on a 49ers uniform, apparently you’re much more susceptible to getting seriously injured than any other team in the NFL. The proof is in the ever-growing injury report each week, not to mention losing their starting quarterback in the second week and your starting running back before the season even began.

In the latest episode of “ER” — masterfully disguised as a football game — Matt Breida had to leave Sunday’s game with an ankle injury and did not return. Thankfully, it did not turn out to be a high ankle sprain – which takes several weeks to recover from – but it is serious enough that he will likely not play Monday night.

Meanwhile, receiver Dante Pettis will miss Monday night’s game as well due to the knee injury he suffered against the Chargers a week and a half ago. Another blow has been dealt to the already-hurting offense, as receiver Marquise Goodwin has a hamstring issue that threatens to keep him out against the Packers.

All of this means that the C.J. Beathard really has no big-play receivers or backs to go to, not a good sign for a backup quarterback that needs all the help he can get right about now, especially going into a place that the 49ers have seldom won over the years.

The Packers are dealing with some injuries of their own, but they are fairly manageable, especially compared with what the 49ers are facing. Quarterback Aaron Rodgers is listed as questionable for Monday night with a knee injury that he has been battling for a couple of weeks. However, he is expected to suit up against the 49ers.

Receiver Randall Cobb, like Goodwin, is attempting to fight off a pesky hamstring issue, but he is reportedly hopeful to play this Monday night.

San Francisco 49ers podcast with David Zizmor: Who’s really to blame for the 49ers’ loss to the Cardinals Sunday?

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Cary Edmondson-USA TODAY Sports photo: San Francisco 49ers quarterback CJ Beathard hopes to get things turned around on Monday Night Football Oct 15th at the Frozen Tundra in Green Bay’s Lambeau Field

On the 49ers podcast with David:

#1 How much optimism if any walked out Levi’s Stadium after losing to a winless Arizona Cardinals team last Sunday? What’s the 49ers morale like now?

#2 Talk about the offense. Was it a matter 49ers quarterback CJ Beathard not getting any support because of five turnovers or was it was Beathard who let the team down?

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

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly in the 49ers’ 28-18 Loss to the Cardinals

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Photo credit: @49ers

By: Joe Lami

SANTA CLARA–Any optimism left in the 2018 season for the 49ers walked out of Levi’s Stadium disgusted on Sunday after the Arizona Cardinal’s picked up their first win of the season with a 28-18 victory over San Francisco.

The Niners can’t seem to shake the constants in their season that continue to cost them games. Injuries, penalties, turnovers, and missed tackles continue to be the Achilles heel of the red and gold, and there’s no sign of the bleeding to come to an end. On Sunday, injuries and turnovers once again delivered the knock-out blow.

The Ugly
Statistics show that when a team is minus-one in the turnover differential mark, they have an 80% chance of losing the game. On Sunday, the 49ers coughed up the ball five times, while the Cardinals didn’t lose the ball once.

Four of them came from C.J. Beathard with two interceptions and two strip sacks, including a scoop and score that gave Arizona a 21-12 lead and ended the game.

The other turnover came on Raheem Mostert’s first carry of the season before Patrick Peterson returned it 49 yards, setting up Arizona’s second TD.

The only reason Mostert even touched the ball was due to injury. After rushing eight times for 56 yards, including a long of 17 yards, it looked like Matt Breida was once again off to an explosive start. That is, until his eighth carry of the game, when he went down with a left ankle sprain that prevented him from returning.

The Bad
After the Niners scored first, they, of course, missed the extra point attempt due to a bad snap. Robbie Gould didn’t even attempt to kick it.

Arizona didn’t take long to come right back in it. On his best play of the day, Josh Rosen immediately went deep and hooked up with Christian Kirk on a 75-yard play action pass that found the end zone. The Cardinals did make the extra point to go up 7-6.

The 49ers pass rush remains one of the worst in all of football. Despite, holding Rosen to an abysmal 10-of-25 for 170 yards, the Niners were only able to sack him once and hit him four times.

The lone sack came from Cassius Marsh, caused by a bad snap that Rosen had to pick up. The three other QB hits came from DeForest Buckner, who remains the only playmaker the defense seems to have.

With a rookie quarterback that is struggling on the worst team in the league, the defense needs to be better. Instead, they let him walk in and collect the first win of his career throwing only nine completions for 95 yards after his first play of the game.

David Johnson found the end zone twice for the Cardinals. Thanks to excellent field position, he was held to a total of 55 yards, but still finished with a productive day with his second coming in garbage time in the fourth quarter to extend Arizona’s lead to 28-12.

On top of the missed PAT from Robbie Gould, he also missed a 45-yard field goal in the fourth quarter that ended his franchise-long 33 straight field goals made.

The Good
There aren’t too many positives to take from San Francisco’s most embarrassing loss in recent memory, especially when you have five turnovers. However, on the drives where San Francisco didn’t turnover the ball, it wasn’t completely awful.

On the opening drive, Beathard found rhythm with Kyle Juszczyk connecting on two big plays for a combined 44 yards that led the team down the field. The Niners cruised down the field before Breida found paydirt on a quick shovel pass from Beathard for the opening score.

Juszczyk caught six of the seven passes sent his way for 75 yards.

Beathard’s numbers looked okay too (of course, minus the turnovers). He threw 34-of-53 for 349 yards and two touchdowns. He once again worked well with George Kittle, who’s beginning to look like the only weapon left on defense. Kittle caught five passes for 83 yards, including the Niners’ biggest offensive play of the day at 45 yards.

The Niners racked up 447 yards of total offense and held the ball for an astonishing 40:12, but again gave the ball up five times.

Of course, there’s no silver lining when your team loses at home to the worst team in football, except for the fact that the Faithful will give up on the season and pull for a better draft pick.

Hey, the Niners just moved ahead of Arizona on the draft board.

San Francisco 49ers podcast with Joe Lami: Lots of injuries, but Beathard hopes to persevere against the Cardinals on Sunday

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Photo credit: ninerswire.usatoday.com

On the 49ers podcast with Joe:

#1 The Arizona Cardinals have had problems all season, including taking a 0-4 record into Levis Stadium this Sunday against the 49ers. Can the 49ers get win number two against a wounded Cardinal team?

#2 Speaking of wounded, 49er quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo had surgery on Wednesday morning for the torn ACL left knee. Head coach Kyle Shanahan said it was too early to predict when Garoppolo would be back.

#3 49ers running back Jerick McKinnon, who had his ACL torn on September 1st, was on crutches with a brace for his right knee related to Garoppolo’s injury, saying the only thing they could do is push each other during the next nine months to recover.

#4 C.J. Beathard had a good outing against the LA Chargers at Levi’s Stadium on Sunday. It may only be one game, but could that be an indication that Beathard will have the ability to make some plays this Sunday against the Cardinals?

#5 Left tackle Joe Staley, center Weston Richburg and right tackle Mike McGlinchey didn’t practice. All three suffered knee injuries during Sunday’s against the Chargers.

Joe Lami does the 49ers podcasts and is the 49ers beat writer at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

49ers look to get back on track vs. winless Cardinals

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Photo credit: @49ers

By Jeremy Harness

The 49ers have been banged up all season thus far, but they have stayed competitive throughout, when it has seemed that all has been lost.

That should help, as they prepare to face the Arizona Cardinals, who have yet to win a game in this young season, Sunday afternoon at Levi’s Stadium, in a game featuring a pair of struggling teams that had lofty expectations heading into the season.

C.J. Beathard kept the 49ers in the game but ultimately could not bring his team to victory on the road against the Los Angeles Chargers, as a pair of interceptions–including one that put the brakes on the 49ers’ last drive of the game–proved to be his undoing.

He will look to improve on his performance at home Sunday afternoon, but he will have a rather-depleted lineup to work with. For starters, left tackle Joe Staley injured his knee against the Chargers, and he did not practice Wednesday because of it.

Meanwhile, running back Matt Breida was limited in practice on Wednesday with a shoulder injury he’s been dealing with, while guard Mike Person was limited with a knee injury of his own.

To add to all of that, receiver Dante Pettis also injured his knee early on in Sunday’s game and did not practice on Wednesday, while fellow receiver Marquise Goodwin is nursing hamstring and quadricep issues and was held out of Wednesday’s practice.

Like the 49ers, the Cardinals have a new starting quarterback in rookie Josh Rosen, who impressed the Arizona brass in his NFL debut in nearly pulling out the win against Seattle last Sunday.

For Arizona, star receiver Larry Fitzgerald is dealing with hamstring and back issues and did not practice on Wednesday, although he is expected to play Sunday. Also expected to play on Sunday are tight end Jermaine Gresham and tackle Andre Smith, and both were limited in practice

San Francisco 49ers podcast with David Zizmor: Beathard was surprising against Chargers, can he get the win vs. Arizona?

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Photo credit: sfchronicle.com

On the 49ers podcast with David:

#1 The 49ers are the walking wounded after last Sunday’s 29-27 loss against the Los Angeles Chargers in Carson. The 49ers right tackle Mike McGlinchey (left knee), right guard Mike Person (sprained foot), center Weston Richburg (knee), Joe Staley scheduled for an MRI it was first thought Staley had a torn ACL, but was examined on Monday.

The 49ers released this list of injured players to the media on Monday:

#2 The 49ers tight end George Kittle had 125 yards, six catches and an 82-yard reception. It was noted that it was the longest reception in 49ers history, left linebacker Fred Warner had 10 tackles a career-high in a game for Warner.

#3 How big is this game at Levi’s for quarterback C.J. Beathard after throwing for 298 yards going 23-37, two touchdowns and two interceptions can he do it again?

David Zizmor does the 49ers podcasts each Tuesday for SportsRadioService.com

Niners Lose Close One 29-27 with Beathard

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Photo credit: sfchronicle.com

By: Joe Lami

CJ Beathard’s return to the starting role brought a similar outcome to the San Francisco 49ers, as they lost 29-27 to the Los Angeles Chargers.

49er faithful packed the stands of the StubHub Center in Southern California on Sunday only to see more injuries, missed tackles, and drops that continue to be the demise of the red and gold that included dropping an early 14-0 lead.

San Francisco lost both Joe Staley and Dante Pettis for the entirety of the game to knee injuries in the first half. Reports following the game appear to be good news for San Francisco, as they don’t seem to be as severe as initially feared. Both Staley and Pettis are scheduled for MRIs on Monday back in Santa Clara to confirm.

The back-breaking moment came on the second drive in the third quarter for San Francisco. Four straight pass completions and a penalty later, Beathard did a great job of airing the ball out; only to be let down by his receivers. Beathard looked into the direction of Garrett Celek inside the ten-yard line, but the tight end couldn’t handle the pass and popped it up for an easy pick. Trevor Williams nearly brought it back to the house but was tripped up at the 12.

The 49ers defense stood tall deep in their red zone and held LA to three points, but the ten-point swing gave the Chargers all the momentum with their 20th unanswered point to give them a 26-17 lead.

Beathard was mediocre in his 2018 debut, passing 23-of-37 for 298 yards, two touchdowns, and two interceptions. His play by any means wasn’t the deciding factor in the loss. However, his play isn’t strong enough either to make up for the many glaring holes across most positions.

Tight end, George Kittle continues to be a bright spot despite who’s at quarterback. He connected with Beathard on the longest play of the day on an 82-yard touchdown. He finished with six catches for 125 yards and the score.

The defense helped him out early on too. On the first drive of the game, on an immediate third down, Antone Exum jumped a route and brought the ball back for his first career pick-six.

It was the only play the Niners really made against Philip Rivers, who finished 25-of-39 for 250 yards, three touchdowns, and the pick.

Just a day after being downgraded to questionable, Exum had his strongest performance as a Niner, finishing with the TD, while adding three pass deflections, and three tackles.

Minus Exum, the linebacking core continues to carry much of the weight for the 49ers. Fred Warner and Ruben Foster combined for ten and seven tackles respectively.

Coming into the week, tackles were a major concern for San Francisco, as they lead the league in missed tackles. It continued to be the storyline on Sunday too, as too many missed tackles led to big plays for LA.

Melvin Gordon gave the Niners fits, finishing with 104 yards on 15 rushes in the loss.

San Francisco needs to regroup and look forward to next Sunday, where the 49ers have a must-win game against the 1-3 Cardinals.