Thoughts and notes: 49ers defense leads the way in win over Chargers
The 49ers needed a huge second half from their defense to help get their offense over the hump in a 22-16 win over the Chargers on Sunday Night Football.
It wasn’t pretty, but San Francisco will take the win to move to 5-4 on the season.
Here are the thoughts and notes from each quarter of Sunday’s game:
First quarter
Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
– Chargers get the ball first. Kevin Givens had a nice run stop on the first play of the game.
– Nick Bosa in coverage. Interesting.
– Big hit from Azeez Al-Shaair in his first action since injuring his knee in Week 3.
– Oof. 75 yards on six plays for a Chargers touchdown. Not a good look for the 49ers’ defense. Not sure what happened in the secondary on the TD to WR DeAndre Carter, but nobody covered him. It’s 7-0, Chargers.
– Four plays, four runs for Christian McCaffrey. The first three went for 16 yards. The fourth lost a yard.
– Nice third-down work by Jimmy Garoppolo to find Jauan Jennings for a first down on third-and-6. Good protection up front allowed Jennings to come open.
– Elijah Mitchell goes for seven yards on his first carry since Week 1. Nice cutback to find some room. He’s up to 13 yards on his first three attempts.
– Inside handoff from the shotgun on third-and-goal from the 2. That’s a truly atrocious play call. Now they’re settling for a field goal. This is so, so bad from the 49ers’ head coach. It’s 7-3, Chargers after a 20-yard field goal by Robbie Gould. Waste of a good drive.
– The 49ers defense is getting cooked. They can’t get off the field on third down. This is an awful start.
– Chargers WR Josh Palmer dropped a third-down throw that QB Justin Herbert delivered low and behind him. Hard to call that a win for the 49ers defense.
– Now Brandon Aiyuk fumbles. The wheels are falling off for San Francisco.
End of first quarter: Chargers 7, 49ers 3
Second quarter
(Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)
– A 47-yard field goal from Chargers K Cameron Dicker just sneaks inside the upright. It’s 10-3, Chargers.
– The 49ers respond to the Chargers’ field goal with a punt. Mike McGlinchey was flagged for a hold. This is putrid.
– Nice pass breakup from Charvarius Ward on a second-and-long.
– Third-and-3 Garoppolo scramble goes for two yards. Another punt, which gets blocked. The Chargers will take over at the 49ers’ 46.
– Another drop by the Chargers. This time it’s TE Tre’ McKitty who dropped what might’ve been a TD.
– There’s a sack for Nick Bosa, No. 9.5 for him this year. It helped hold the Chargers to a field goal after a big pass to Carter put them inside the five. It’s 13-3, Chargers.
– Garoppolo misses a wide open Deebo Samuel, who has just one touch so far.
– George Kittle’s first touch is a 21-yard catch on a third-and-12. Good to see him involved.
– Nice play by Garoppolo to buy time rolling right and then hitting Ray-Ray McCloud for 36 yards. Nice job to buy time and throw an accurate ball. Good improv by McCloud as well.
– There’s a touchdown for the 49ers. Garoppolo kept himself for a score on a QB sneak on third-and-goal. Nice work from the QB and OL to get him the yard to pay dirt. It’s 13-10, Chargers just inside the two-minute warning.
– Dre Greenlaw got ejected for a helmet-to-helmet hit on a play where Herbert was knocked into him by Jimmie Ward. It’s pretty wild that was a penalty, but even more wild he was ejected. Herbert was removed for medical evaluation as well.
– A Chargers field goal ends the half. Poor, poor, poor first 30 minutes for the 49ers. This does not resemble a Super Bowl team whatsoever.
Halftime: Chargers 16, 49ers 10
Third quarter
Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
– A swing pass to McCaffrey goes for 21 yards, and then Samuel carries for 15. That’s how this offense needs to look.
– There’s the run game. Mitchell’s 10-yard run gets the 49ers inside the 10. It looks like the 49ers are getting more creative with their pre-snap motion and getting the Chargers looking the wrong way.
– And the first two plays from San Francisco in the goal-to-go scenario go backwards.
– Ouch. Aiyuk drops a touchdown. They don’t get a lot easier than that. Tacking that onto his earlier fumble and this is a bad, bad outing for Aiyuk. Another field goal for San Francisco makes it 16-13, Chargers.
– Tarvarius Moore is in at free safety after Tashaun Gipson was banged up.
– Khalil Mack is taking over. Mike McGlinchey is having a tough day at the office.
– The 49ers’ defense is flying around to end the third quarter. Their offense is still absent.
End of third quarter: Chargers 16, 49ers 13
Fourth quarter
(Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)
– Biggest quarter of the season for the 49ers begins with a Chargers punt.
– Really nice game for Jauan Jennings. He has four catches and three of them went for third-down conversions.
– Mitchell has been excellent as well. He’s at 70 yards on 13 carries with the clock ticking toward the middle of the fourth quarter.
– Two screens have been blown up because Garoppolo couldn’t deliver the throw accurately.
– Nice throw to Aiyuk on an all-out blitz by the Chargers to get the 49ers to the 2. McCaffrey punched it in on the next snap, but Robbie Gould missed the extra point. That is a MASSIVE miss. 19-16, 49ers.
– Al-Shaair has had a good game in his return from an MCL sprain in Week 3. He came up with a tackle on third-and-long to force a three-and-out by the Chargers after San Francisco’s go-ahead touchdown.
– WHEW. What a throw from Garoppolo to Aiyuk on a third-and-long. He fit it along the sideline into a tight window for 11 on a third-and-9.
– Sick punt by Mitch Wishnowsky pins the Chargers at the 1. The 49ers needed a big special teams play and got one from their punter.
– Nick Bosa took over on LA’s last-gasp effort from the 1. He forced a couple of hurried throws from Herbert, including one on fourth-and-3 to force a turnover on downs.
– Wow. Shanahan kicks a field goal to make a six-point game instead of trying to ice it with a TD. That’s risky. It’s 22-16, 49ers.
– That didn’t take long. The 49ers’ defense stiffens up once again. Talanoa Hufanga hauls in the interception on first down and that’ll end it from Levi’s Stadium.
Final score: 49ers 22, Chargers 16
