49ers @ Bears live blog

This is the live blog for the 49ers’ Week 13 road game against the Chicago Bears. I will update this frequently with information and analysis from my living room.

9:52 Here are the 49ers inactives:

  • DL Aaron Lynch
  • DL Tank Carradine
  • DL D.J. Jones
  • DL Pita Taumoepenu
  • OL Tim Barnes
  • DB Antone Exum Jr.
  • RB Jeremy McNichols

Right tackle Trent Brown and free safety Adrian Colbert are active.

9:57 Here are the Bears inactives:

  • DB Adrian Amos
  • DB Deon Bush
  • DB Bryce Callahan
  • OL Hroniss Grasu
  • DB DeAndre Houston-Carson
  • RB Taquan Mizzell
  • QB Mark Sanchez

10:02 The 49ers will receive the opening kickoff.

10:14 Jimmy Garoppolo leads the offense to the Bears nine-yard line, but a holding penalty by Trent Brown on second-and-goal backs up the 49ers to the 19-yard line, and their drive ends. Robbie Gould makes a 33-yard field goal. The 49ers lead 3-0.

10:19 On third-and-8, Elvis Dumervil sacks Mitchell Trubisky, and the Bears go three-and-out. They look totally inept. Trent Taylor returns the punt 19 yards to the 49ers 46-yard line.

10:26 On third-and-9 from the 49ers 47, Garoppolo throws slightly behind Louis Murphy, who was running a shallow crossing route, and Bears cornerback Kyle Fuller rips the ball out of Murphy’s hands to make the interception. Bears ball.

10:36 On third-and-five from the 49ers eight-yard line, Trubisky throws a touchdown pass to Dontrelle Inman, who beat reserve cornerback Greg Mabin across the back of the end zone. Mabin was playing for Dontae Johnson, who was injured on the previous play. Bears lead 7-3.

10:37 Key sequence on that drive: Solomon Thomas jumped offsides on third-and-7. And on third-and-2, K’Waun Williams gave up an 11-yard catch to Kendall Wright, who ran a quick slant route. I don’t understand why Robert Saleh allows his corners to get beat by quick slants on third-and-short so frequently. They should use inside leverage to take away the inside-breaking routes.

10:47 Garoppolo easily moves the offense into the red zone with three straight completions longer than 15 yards. But when he reaches the red zone, he throws a pass to Murphy who is out of bounds, and then throws a four-yard pass to Carlos Hyde on third-and-7. Gould makes a 28-yard field goal, and the Niners trail 7-6.

10:55 On third-and-10, Trubisky scrambles and gets tackled by Reuben Foster six inches short of the first down.

11:05 On first-and-10 from the 49ers 24, Garoppolo fakes a handoff, rolls to his right and runs into Lamarr Houston, who sacks Garoppolo for an 11-yard loss. The 49ers punt  three plays later.

11:06 Tarik Cohen returns the punt 61 yards for the touchdown. Bears lead 14-6. He ran backward first, then turned around and ran about 80 yards untouched. The play looked like a highlight from an outtakes reel.

11:22 Garoppolo moves the offense to the Bears seven-yard line, but George Kittle commits a false start, and then Marquise Goodwin does on the next play. On third-and-11 from the Bears 17, Garoppolo rolls to his right, fades backward and throws a rope to Kittle, who jumps and catches the ball out of bounds. Almost looked like “The Catch,” but the play didn’t count. Gould makes a 35-yard field goal, and the Niners trail 14-9.

11:24 The first half ends. The Bears will get the ball to start the second half.

11:27 The 49ers committed eight penalties in the first half, and six were enforced. New quarterback. Same undisciplined team. That’s Kyle Shanahan’s fault.

11:47 On third-and-6 from the 49ers 42-yard line, Solomon Thomas lines up a one-technique nose tackle, beats the center, hits Trubisky and forces an incomplete pass. That’s the best way to use Thomas — as a pass-rushing nose tackle on third down. The 49ers get the ball at their 14 after the punt.

12:00 Garoppolo moves the offense into the red zone for the fourth time, but this time he throws a two-yard pass to Kendrick Bourne on third-and-6 from the 16. Bourne catches the ball, but the officials flag him for illegal touching because he stepped out of bounds before making the catch. Loss of down. Gould makes a 34-yard field goal, and the 49ers trail 14-12. The offense is 0-4 in the red zone today.

12:08 On first down, Trubisky fumbles the snap and recovers the ball. On third down, the Bears forget to block Cassius Marsh, who strips Trubisky. Trubisky recovers and the third quarter ends. The 49ers should win this game.

12:11 The 49ers get the ball at their 48 after the punt. They need just a couple first downs to get in field-goal range.

12:18 On second-and-2 from the Bears 33, Garrett Celek commits a block-in-the-back penalty that knocks the 49ers out of field-goal range. On third-and-14 from the Bears 45, Garoppolo throws too high for Louis Murphy, and the pass is incomplete. The 49ers punt.

12:28 On third-and-12 from the 49ers 48, Trubisky scrambles for six yards. Then the Bears punt. Trent Taylor makes a fair catch the 49ers eight-yard line.

12:47 Gould makes a 24-yard field goal with four seconds left. The 49ers lead 15-14.

12:49 The 49ers win. Stay tuned for my grades and postgame Periscope.

This article has 316 Comments

  1. What the heck was Goodwin thinking? Everyone on the field, except Taylor, is bigger than him…

  2. I am glad that KS is calling innovative plays. Hyde needs to just get the ball handed off to him, deep in the I.

  3. The receivers need to complete the damn catch. A shame those go as interceptions, that is totally on the receiver and is really more of a fumble.

  4. Sometimes I think the NFL needs to have a ‘takeaway’ category to go with fumbles and interceptions.

  5. Grant, he didn’t throw that ball slightly behind him. He threw it directly to him. Murphy just got outplayed

  6. This announcing team is horrible. They just called Foster ‘Fuller.’ And they’re routinely mis-identifying players, calling losses ‘gains’, etc.

  7. Saleh is a moron. Why are you playing man in that close to the end zone? Especially with a rookie after Johnson went out!

  8. Bucker was getting strangled on that TD! Where’s the holding call??? Dude had Buckner in a strangle hold.

  9. Damn on the phone with an service person. didn’t expect it to take so long and missed the whole first Q. Well am DVR’ing it.

  10. Feel sorry for JG, that pick was on Murphy, and also a good play by Fuller.
    .
    That pass to Goodwin was thrown with anticipation and hit him in stride.

  11. I like how Garopollo it hitting guys in stride, it has been so long since we had a QB that could do that.

  12. You had to know that red zone offense was going to be a problem for Jimmy G today.
    You can only teach so much.

    1. My prediction is edge rusher will be our first pick in the draft. Im guessing if we have the second pick we trade down and pick Chubb or Landry.

  13. Why do they lose a timeout if they changed the spot? They challenged the spot, not whether it was a first down.

  14. How do players not know to not block the opposition from the back? I mean they must have serious spacial handycaps. They also can not tell where the line of scrimmage is and constantly draw off side penalties.

  15. Petty bad when a new QB has to correct a RB. Carlos is slow he had a big hole but couldn’t get through fast enough to make it a bigger gain. That should have been a bigger gain.

  16. Grant whats your take on Treant Taylor?

    He seems like he could be a reliable slot receiver for us for some time to come. He isn’t scared to take the hit

    1. Nah! He just is a above average RB who doesn’t fit the system where they do a lot of outside running where quickness and speed is an advantage. He lost weight to gain speed and it looks like he did, but Brieda is a lot quicker. He should gain back his weight and get on a team that runs between the tackles. Unfortunately when you lose weight you often lose strength which seems to have effected him negatively.

      1. The Niners, on the other hand, should not waste a high pick but rather draft a fast RB in the later rounds. Those type are always available. Brieda was a free agent. Not very many teams run a system that take advantage of those types of runners.

  17. Grant is right: KS does not correct mistakes of instilling pride in this team. He has been a disappointment to all respoects

  18. While the Td’s havent been there Jimmy has looked really good so far.
    If Carlos Hyde and the wr’s were not sabotaging the team this offense would be looking pretty good overall.

  19. Take away the punt return and we have the lead, 9-7. Too many penalties as usual, some CS. Nothing being called on the Bears, including the critical missed face mask non-call on the Niner punt return. Seems like the team is fighting the refs every week on top of their opponent. The “bad teams get called” theory doesn’t jive because the Bears aren’t that great either.

  20. ON rh last drive in the red zone. Hyde stays in the gap on rh right side and it’s an easy TD.
    Instead he bounces it outside and is tackled short of first down.
    He’s gotta go. He can’t read worth a crap.
    Then of course we grab a gun and aim it at our foot. Smh!
    Just leave Breada in

    1. I think they are concerned with durability. Next season they will probably have more back up rb’s with speed so they will be less concerned. I suspect they play Hyde because they do not totally want to abandon the inside runs. Hyde does well when he gets in space . The thing is that so do a lot of other rb’s.

      I think they also wanted to give Hyde more reps to see what he has. Breda will return so they do not need to evaluate him that much as someone who will be a free agent. They do seem to be giving him more carries as the season goes on.

  21. Looking forward to the halftime adjustments on offense. Speaking of O, Jimmy/Shanahan are doing great on TOP (20:54 Niners; 9:06 Bears). I just hope the D doesn’t regress as they often do in the 2nd half… Not like they’re tired in this one though so we’ll see….

  22. Bears ran 16 plays on offense, our defense was just fine except the one TD. Blown punt coverage, penalties, dropped passes, turnover, dropped pitches, the QB position has not been the main problem with this team. JG is looking real good to this point, he looks very good.

  23. 49ers terrific between the 20’s. 0-3 in the red zone. More things change the more they stay the same.

  24. First half for Jimmy G, yeah he looks like the real deal. 15/22, 172 yards!

    Give him a legit WR and RB(Barkley), and some interior blocking, this offense could be legit next year.

    East, where you at? What are your thoughts on Jimmy G?

  25. 13 first downs and 214 yards of offense in the first half. That’s the most and second-most they’ve put up in a first half this season, respectively. Throw in TOP to this point and not quite the same ol’ Niners….

  26. From what I see from JG I really like him. But then I might hate on him because he took Beathards job because of injury. LOL.

    1. the trade deadline has passed and he is a free agent next season. They would have to resign him to trade him. Some team will give him a decent offer.

    1. Actually, yes, there have been some. Including that idiotic ‘catching the ball after coming back in’ pass.

  27. The Niners offense looks good considering JG is only playing with a little dumb down plays on the field.

  28. This game might be a win-win and still be a loss. We dominate the bears, validate that jimmy G might be the real deal, but hopefully still lose to maintain draft position. Let’s give up a run back TD so the offense can get more reps…

  29. I have seen at least 2 obvious hits to Jimmy G’s head with no call? I thought QB’s are untouchable?

    A couple of late hits also with no call.

  30. WRs and TEs not only can’t catch…they kill drives with moronic penalties. Time to drain the swamp!

  31. Ugh.

    You guys got Jeremy Clarkson on your commercials now?

    All I can do is apologise, on behalf of British people everywhere…

  32. I like JG better than Cousins. He seems to have a big upside while Cousins has hit his already. I wasn’t that impressed with him. At least not for the contract he will demand.

  33. Goodwin is a 4th receiver. WE need a second and third receiver. Garcon is more of a second so we need a first receiver.

  34. Perfecy scenario, JG leads TD drive and our D lets them score. Keeping our high draft position.

    1. Wrong, JG will milk the clock and score, and the Niners will be back to that winning tradition.

    1. He may be playing more cautiously today after getting the ball ripped away from him last week on that INT

  35. This is what Gore did and Brieda just did that Carlos doesn’t seem to do — keep moving their legs when they hit the opposition. Push the pile or at least attempt to. I think it’s because of his high running style.

      1. Yes…I agree. Jimmy and Beathard are good for #1 and #2.

        Now, we have to quickly sign JG for a long term contract and not make the mistake that Washington did with cousins!

    1. It sure looks that way, doesnt it? The way Grap played today was not an abberation for him.

  36. We are set at the QB position, JG and CJ Niners are suddenly looking good at that position.

  37. Would’ve liked to see the niners take a shot in the EZ to prove JG could score a TD from there when it mattered. Still, Fangio defenses are tough to score on in the red zone.

  38. Hate to sound like Seb and toot my horn but I had this one pretty darn right (17-13 was my call) Bonus! Won both bets! Nice job Jimmy!! Nice job defense! Celebrate you guys (and gals) We deserve it!! It’s Pliny time!!!

  39. I must praise the Niners for their precise game time management.
    .
    Even though they lost that challenge, I think Murphy caught the ball. The All 22 will confirm that.
    .
    Glad they wisely used their time outs, and they helped win the game, especially in the first half.

  40. OK lets all agree this is a no negativity zone for the next 6 hours. I am very curious how Grant will minimize what Jimmy G did today especially with a very limited playbook. Maybe he will just rip KS instead.

    1. They kept shooting themselves in the foot with all the miscues, but still managed to win the game.
      .
      JG was clutch, and threaded the needle on some of those throws. That one to Murphy surrounded by DBs was impressive.

    2. Some positives.

      Shanny beat Fangio.
      Looks like we got our QB.
      Hyde was smart enough not to go out of bounds, which let us run out the clock.
      We are leaning how to win.
      JG to Taylor for many years to come.

  41. Great first win for Jimmy G as a 49er! Certainly looks the part at QB. The red zone was definitely an issue that needs to be cleaned up, but he did a great job moving the ball consistently and keeping drives going with key 3rd down completions.

    For those in the bubble wrap JG camp – this is why he should be playing. Yes, he took a few hits. But nowhere near as many as Beathard. He is quicker with his decisions, and quicker with his release. And quite simply a better QB, at least right now, which helps the rest of the players look better too. The main thing is he now has another game of starting experience under his belt, which will only be a positive heading into next year.

    Also, did anyone else notice how the QB that has been here 5 weeks and doesn’t have full command of the offense was correcting his skill position players on where to line up? That’s taking control. He’s a natural leader and this team is better off getting used to him in the huddle now, let him be the leader.

    1. I was one of those, and I still would not mind if they did it.
      .
      With the Niner’s luck, I am just expecting the worst, and JG took some big hits. Glad he proved his value, but there were some missed blocks and free shots on the QB.

    2. “For those in the bubble wrap JG camp – this is why he should be playing. Yes, he took a few hits. But nowhere near as many as Beathard. He is quicker with his decisions, and quicker with his release. And quite simply a better QB, at least right now, which helps the rest of the players look better too. The main thing is he now has another game of starting experience under his belt, which will only be a positive heading into next year.”

      Bingo!

  42. I don’t give a shi? what Jimmy’s QB rating is.
    My rating scale uses two letters (W and L).

  43. Haven’t seen QB play like that around here since the early to mid 2000’s. First game and he’s light years above the recent! Rejoice!

  44. Think the niners are undisciplined? Watching the Chiefs Jets game, Marcus Peters got a flag, then picked it up and threw it into the stands, lol

  45. Thank you Crab! My sentiments exactly. It’s all about winning. All the other stats are just that, stats. Who cares if you can supposedly put your foot on the one yard line and run the distance for a TD if you can’t ultimately win any friggin games! LOL!

  46. Would have loved a passing score, but wow…
    Haven’t had this much fun watching a 49er QB tossing the rock for awhile.

    8/8 to Goodwin for 99 yards
    6/6 to Taylor for 92 yards

    1. Yep, Don’t know the numbers, but it sure felt like 3rd down conversion efficiency was pretty good!
      Less stress on the Defense.

  47. Niners total offense: 388
    Bears total offense: 147
    Niners TOP: 38:47
    Bears TOP: 21:13

    Jimmy G not only gave the offense a huge boost but really helped the D out… Really interested to see if his play carries over next week.

  48. JG could really pull off a gold chain look right here. SO HAWT!!!

    So humble and poised. Is this for real?

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