By Scooter_McG
The 49ers secured a come from behind victory over the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday Night Football on the back of a dominant second half defensive performance, to win the game 22-16. The win takes the 49ers to 5W-4L on the season and keeps the 49ers in the 7th seed wildcard spot in the NFC playoff race. Importantly, the 49ers are now only 0.5 a game back from the division leading Seahawks after their loss to the Buccaneers earlier on Sunday.
It wasn't pretty football by the 49ers. If I was to summarise the game plan for the 49ers I would put it this way: the team played a game on the premise that the only way they could lose to this Chargers team was if they beat themselves. It was a highly conservative game plan designed to minimise the opportunities for errors and limit the number of drives each team had.
Worryingly, in the first half it looked like the 49ers would indeed beat themselves. The defense opened the game with some defensive lapses to allow a quick strike TD to the Chargers. The 49ers responded with a nice opening drive of their own but had to settle for a FG. Neither team enjoyed much success moving the ball after the respective opening drives, but even so the 49ers gifted the Chargers scoring opportunities by coughing up the ball in their own territory courtesy of an Aiyuk fumble, while the special teams unit allowed pressure on a punt that resulted in a deflection and gave the Chargers another great opportunity to extend the lead. The 49ers were fortunate on that second one to limit it to another FG. The 49ers did have some success moving the ball at the end of the half which led to a TD, and went into the half down just 16-10.
The 49ers turned things around in the second half though, largely fuelled by an immense defensive performance. The defense locked down the Chargers completely in the second half as the Chargers didn't even get close to adding any more points. The offense also controlled the game well as Elijah Mitchell in particular got rolling, while Jauan Jennings had some important catches and Jimmy G played efficient football to help move the chains. The 49ers added 12 points in the second half, but should have been more if Aiyuk had made a catch in the end zone. He did come up with a big catch though later to the Chargers 2-yard line to allow McCaffrey to power into the end zone and the 49ers take the lead.
In the end the 49ers ran the ball 41 times in total against 28 pass attempts. They did this despite trailing for much of the game, while up against a Chargers defense aggressively playing the run, and only averaging 3.8 yards per carry. It was the type of commitment to the running game that Shanahan can sometimes struggle with when opponents set their stall to stop it and they get behind. This really highlighted the 49ers belief in their ability to grind out a victory so long as they played sound football.
There is definitely a lot of improvement left in the 49ers, especially offensively, and they really need to start getting both Deebo and Kittle involved more in the passing game if they are going to be Super Bowl contenders. Deebo's lack of involvement down the field is starting to become a little alarming as it was an element of his game that really took off last season and is a vital component to making him worth the massive investment they made in him this offseason. The contributions he makes to the running game and short passing game are nice, but those should be the complement to getting some explosive plays out of him down the field.
Next up the 49ers face division rivals the Cardinals in Mexico, with the 49ers hoping to maintain their undefeated record against the division in 2022.
Jimmy G went 8 outta 10 for 108 yards (with 1 drop) on money downs last night.
ReplyDeleteI have been pleased with JG's performance so far this season.
DeleteLine judge needs to be fined and scheduled for an appointment with his ophthalmologist for allowing the Chargers RT to false start all night.
ReplyDeleteSeriously!! I was seeing that early, dude was leg-kicking a 1/4 second before most snaps, could tell he was timing the snap but was a jump ahead a lot. Shocking that not once was he called for it.
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ReplyDeleteThe 49ers have won 4 of their last 6 regular season games when trailing at halftime. Kudos to the 2nd half adjustment staff.
I thought the offensive line had their worst game against the Chargers. Of course, McGlinchey gave up his usual one or two sacks a game. Pass protection was okay, but the run game was sporadic. As much as I think this team should be going to the Super Bowl, I just can't see it at the moment. The way the Niners played last night isn't going to get the job done playing against the Bills, Chiefs, Dolphins, Ravens, Eagles, Vikings, and Cowboys maybe even the Jets. Lots of work to do in all three phases. Defense seems to have mental lapses; offense is definitely fickle and special teams continue to make mistakes. Right now, this is not a Super Bowl team. On paper sure but when the game is played...
ReplyDeleteThe pass protection was pretty good all game, but there were a number of CMC runs that got blown up due to guys not controlling their blocks.
DeleteThe 49ers actually played pretty well the second half. Obviously defense was very good, but even the offense was pretty decent, albeit very conservative. Yes, plenty of room for improvement, but good enough to win games with a good defense.
The issue was the first half. Came out slow (hopefully just a bye week malaise) and they made a few errors that gave away cheap points. Need to clean that up.
Staley made a nice adjustment by moving the Will inside to stop CMC. Deebo might have scored had he followed Williams instead of veering left.
DeleteMcG gave up zero sacks and only 1 pressure.
DeleteMcG is an easy target as he has 1 or 2 glaring mistakes a game and is a former 1st rounder so the expectation is he should dominate all the time.
DeleteHe's not as bad as large segments of the 49ers fan base want to make him out to be. But at the same time, he's not a guy I would be paying overs to keep around next season.
Mike is a very good run blocker and an inconsistent pass blocker. I think they move on next year with Burford competing for the RT position.
Delete@Scooter, agreed. "Fans" treat him like he's Trent, but he's never once been put in the same status as Trent. McG will be a good 10 year+ RT, either with the Niners or another team. I think he'll stay on with SF for a top 10 RT contract, which is no where near a top 10 Tackle contract, he's not getting anywhere near TW money. I can see him getting something like what Okorafor got from Pitt, 3 years/30M. McG is currently the 16th highest paid RT, so when people complain they really need to reaccess things.
DeleteLets also not forget, as mentioned vs SD (always will be SD to me) he was going up against Mack cause SD knows who's on the other side. McG is always getting the best rusher since teams won't want to send their best guy against the best tackle in all of football. Makes Trents performance look that much better going against the lesser quality players and makes McG look worse since he's facing the best in the business every game.
The Chargers were flagged 1 time for 5 yards.
ReplyDeleteJUST MY TWO CENTS WORTH:
ReplyDelete“We were killing ourselves in the first half and we knew it,” Garoppolo told NBC’s Melissa Stark after the game. “Especially offensively, we were killing ourselves with mistakes. Once we cleaned those up, I thought we put together some good drives and put some points on the board.”
There you have it! Why the 9ers are 5W - 4L, rather than 9W - 0L
Once the 9er offense cleaned up the mistakes (in the 2nd half), they won the game......
The only team that's beating the 9ers, is the 9ers.........
Did you notice Staley used a couple DT read blitzes, where they'd rush from a side and when the center slides they drop back into short zones?
DeleteThe way the defense played against KC, they'd still have lost no matter how good the offense was, and it did hang in with KC up until the end.
DeleteSince Sept 2019 the Niners have run the ball 40+ times in a game, 8 times. They have won all eight games scoring 226 points while giving up 90. That is a pretty revealing stat.
ReplyDeleteNormally, for most teams, I would say that's because you usually run that often when you have a big lead. But over the past two seasons for the 49ers it has actually been more a case of sticking with the run even in close games has led to victory.
DeleteWe all know when Niners run the ball they usually win.
DeletePlayoff Standings NFC.
ReplyDelete1. Eagles (8-1)
2. Vikings (8-1)
3. Seahawks (6-4)
4. Buccaneers (5-5)
5. Giants (7-2)
6. Cowboys (6-3)
7. 49ers (5-4)
8. Commanders (5-5)
9. Packers (4-6)
10. Falcons (4-6)
11. Cardinals (4-6)
We play the Hawks the Bucs, Commanders and 2 with the Cardinals.
A victory against the Cardinals this coming Sunday vaults the Niners into first place in the NFC West.
Razor
ReplyDeleteAnyone heard what the status is for Colt McCoy being Arizona's starting QB against the 9ers?
Never like to see any player get injured, but Cardinals best receiver, TE Zach Ertz, suffered a season-ending knee injury in victory over the LA Lams.
I read somewhere that the Cardinals were going to evaluate it on Thursday. I believe that is when they have to report their injuries - Thursday.
DeleteI don't see how Murray doesn't play with their season on the line.
DeleteDidn't you hear, call of duty came out last week...dudes about to fall off and take the cards with them.
DeleteUC / Razor
ReplyDeleteTks for the info.....I'll check on it Thursday!
Seems kind of strange to hope the back up QB doesn't start! But IMO, Murray playing gives the 9ers the best chance of winning.
Haha
DeleteThe Niners don't win this game without JG being really good...
ReplyDeleteI agree....And I have to give Brian Griese some credit.
ReplyDeleteThis is a nice breakdown of the Niner/Charger game. Shows Deebo, Kittle, Williams missing blocks, or their attempt was very weak. Also shows Deebo as a running back he should have followed Williams for a short TD, he didn't and was tackled short of the goal line. Niners had to kick a field goal. Couple that play with Aiyuk drop cost the Niners eight points. The players are messing up not KS playcalling
ReplyDeleteStart watching at the 2-minute mark.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c_ZbTYXw3-Y
I seen that live and thought to myself, Deebo, why didn't you follow big daddy towards the right instead of veering left? Wrong read, Deebo!
DeleteForgot to sign in.
DeleteWould have been a blowout if the team had executed its assignments correctly. A win is a win so be it...
DeleteThere were a number of mistakes that took points off the board. Seems to happen every week.
Delete"Head coach Kliff Kingsbury said on Wednesday that both quarterbacks are considered day-to-day as the Cardinals move toward a game against the 49ers in Mexico City on Monday night."
ReplyDeleteNiners seem to have problems with the Cardinals regardless of which QB they use. Murray is quick and McCoy is a statue, both have beaten the Niners.
JG is making throws that I haven't seen him do much of. The one CMC, Kittle in the back of the endzone, and the one too Ray Ray.
In the last couple of games, the Niners have given up three easy touchdowns, however those are the only touchdowns that they have allowed.
A little bit or role reversal, the Niners have changed the half's around. Finally, they are winning in the second half. That is really encouraging, finishing a game is the upmost importance.
^ A little bit 'of' role reversal
DeleteIf the Cowboys are willing to go large for OBJ I'd say no. The Cowboys have more salary cap space available, so if it becomes a bidding war it will mean the 49ers need to be pushing more money into 2023.
ReplyDeleteI'd love to have a healthy OBJ on the roster, but I'm not so sure he'll be fully healthy. And so long as all the other 49ers skill position players stay healthy, OBJ would be more a luxury than a necessity.
OBJ isn't going to come cheap. If it was a matter of having no talent on the team at WR I would say yes however the talent is there they just need to buck up. I read somewhere that he was asking 20 million to finish the season, that is just plain crazy IMO.
ReplyDeleteWhy when we'll just run roughshod over the Cowboys if we meet anyhoo.
ReplyDeleteWe have a Top-10 Oline according to PFF
ReplyDeletehttps://twitter.com/PFF/status/1593076464697585666
Not perfect by any means, but trending in the right direction.
Not sure if it's a top ten, if so the other teams lower than the Niners have some real issues. However, the offensive line is way better than I expected and I think that's true for most Niner fans.
DeleteScooter, I have overcome the mental block of running in 30 degree temps with snow on the ground!
ReplyDeleteNice work! That really doesn't sound pleasant though 🤣
DeleteThanks. It's not and I can't believe I'm doing it, let alone at 60.
DeleteI will pass on OBJ. I say bring in Suh if the price is right. We have way too much talent in Offense already and ther is only 1 ball to go around. And the fact we are a running team first. Heck, last week only 1 pass to Kittle!
ReplyDeleteToo late to perSuh him. He's an Eagle.
ReplyDeleteMoving on from stopping the Chargers to clipping the wings of the Cardinals in week 11:
ReplyDeleteTO WIN, CARDINAL PLAYERS THE 9ERS NEED TO STOP?
* QB: whether it's Murray or McCoy, the 9er D needs to pressure
both and force them to make bad decisions.
* JJ Watt: He maybe 33 Y/O, but he has 5 sacks and getting hot at the right time of the season. He has 3 sacks in 3 games and posted one sack, one fumble recovery and five QB hits against the
Rams.
* James Conner: He's missed 3 games this season. But Week 10
showed he can handle a similar workload from last season's Pro Bowl campaign, when he posted 18 total touchdowns. He received all except five of the Cardinals' 26 carries last weekend, rushing for 69 yards and two touchdowns. In his last meeting against the 49ers, he had the best game of his 2021 season, with 96 rushing yards, 2 rushing touchdowns and five receptions for 77 yards and one receiving touchdown.
* DeAndre Hopkins and Rondale Moore: They combined for 192 receiving yards against the Rams.
* Marquise Brown: The Cardinals designated Brown to return from injured reserve this week, allowing him to practice and be reinstated to the 53-man roster. He could be activated to play Monday night.
* Mexico City altitude: It's over 7 thousand feet, so the players conditioning will be a factor.
* 49ers 27 Cardinals 20
No more bullets in the feet and the 49ers should win by 10.
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