This is the live blog for the 49ers Week 7 matchup with the Indianapolis Colts. I will provide updates and analysis throughout the game.
3:42 The rain isn’t that bad at the moment, however the wind is really whipping out of the South. Rain is expected to pick up right around game time.
3:46 Carson Wentz just wrapped up his pregame warmup. He was throwing for the last 20 minutes. No sign yet of Jimmy Garoppolo.
3:54 The last time San Francisco beat Indianapolis was 2001. Following the game Colts coach Jim Mora was asked about his teams’ playoff chances. The response still lives on.
3:58 49ers inactives: QB Trey Lance, WR Travis Benjamin, CB Ambry Thomas, CB Deommodore Lenoir, LT Trent Williams, DT Maurice Hurst, DT Javon Kinlaw
4:01 Colts inactives: QB Sam Ehlinger, G/T Will Fries, WR T.Y. Hilton, T Braden Smith, DE Kemoko Turay, RB Jordan Wilkins, CB Rock Ya-Sin
4:07 Jaylon Moore will start at left tackle in place of Trent Williams, and Aaron Banks is active for the first time this season.
5:06 While the flags at the top of the stadium are really blowing, the wind is not bad down on the field. Rain has begun to pick up in the last 10 minutes.
5:20 Colts win the toss and defer. 49ers will have the ball to open the game.
5:28 Talk about explosive plays. Elijah Mitchell with three in a row, 20 yards, 14 yards and then another from 14 yards out a touchdown. Joey Slye misses the extra point though. 49ers 6 Colts 0
5:31 The two 14 yard rushes for Mitchell came with Indianapolis putting eight men in the box.
5:33 On the Colts first play, Josh Norman knocks the ball out of his hands and Fred Warner recovers the fumble.
5:38 Mitchell opens up the 49ers possession with a 12 yard run, but it stalls with back to back incompletions from Garoppolo. Joey Slye comes on to kick the field goal to put the 49ers up 9-0. The most first quarter points for the 49ers since week one in Detroit.
5:47 Why is Josh Norman playing and both rookie draft picks inactive tonight? The veteran gives up a 57 yard completion and then chases play action, vacating his zone, and Carson Wentz hits tight end Mo Alie-Cox who was wide open for an easy touchdown.
5:53 49ers get another FG from Slye, this one from 56 yards out. The wind was at his back. 49ers ran the ball three times, all to the left side. The rookie left tackle Jaylon Moore looks pretty good so far.
6:01 Jonathan Taylor came into the game averaging a run of 10 or more yards once in every five attempts, hits a 33 yard run down to the 49ers 2 yard line on his fourth attempt of the game. First quarter comes to a close with the Colts on the 49ers four yard line. 49ers 12 Colts 7
6:04 Carson Wentz gets pressured by Nick Bosa and tosses the ball directly to 49ers lineback Azeez Al-Shaair.
6:07 On third and four, center Alex Mack gets beat and Jimmy Garoppolo throws incomplete to JaMycal Hasty. Mack has been mediocre in pass protection this year.
6:13 Carson Wentz has thrown four passes to 49ers defenders so far tonight. Tried to throw two to Emmanuel Moseley on the last Colts possession but the cornerback dropped them both. Dee Ford put good pressure on Wentz on third down to force the last throw to Moseley.
6:19 After a strong opening drive, the 49ers offense has stalled out with back-to-back three and outs. Didn’t even attempt a pass on that last possession.
6:28 Deebo Samuel drops his seventh pass of the season, and the 49ers offense goes three and out for the third time in a row.
6:38 Next possession, Jimmy Garoppolo completes the third down pass to Deebo Samuel who then fumbles. Indianapolis recovers the ball deep in San Francisco territory.
6:41 The achilles heel of the 49ers defense this season has been the pass interference penalty. Emmanuel Moseley commits one in the end zone to set the Colts up with first and goal at the one. Carson Wentz makes them pay with a touchdown run two plays later. Wentz ran a touchdown in against the 49ers last year as well.
49ers have given up 59 yards on pass interference penalties in the first half. Colts 13 49ers 12
6:49 49ers run out the clock to end the half.
7:16 Third and four, San Francisco 40. 49ers defense stops Marlon Mack for no gain. Long drive for Indianapolis to open the second half results in no points, but the San Francisco offense will be backed up for their first possession of the half.
7:23 49ers get a first down for the first time since the opening quarter, but Garoppolo gets hit and fumbles the ball. The San Francisco offense looks like it’s running in quicksand.
7:28 49ers defense commits yet another pass interference penalty, this one on Jaquiski Tartt, and Jonathan Taylor makes them pay with a five yard touchdown run. Colts 20 49ers 12
That’s now 97 yards in pass interference penalties tonight. No wonder this defense is ranked so high in yards allowed.
7:38 The 49ers are such a sloppy football team. Get a completion for a first down, but it’s called back due to an illegal man downfield. Next play is a hold. That’s followed by a drop from Jauan Jennings. Then they finally throw a pass to Brandon Aiyuk for six yards before Kyle Shanahan gives up by calling a screen pass on third and nineteen.
7:47 After the 49ers defense holds, Kyle Shanahan calls three straight play action passes and Jimmy Garoppolo hits on all of them for a 3 play, 70 yard touchdown drive. Garoppolo finished it off by finding Deebo Samuel over the middle. The two-point conversion fails. Colts 20 49ers 18
7:59 Colts offense responds by driving down to the 49ers 24 yard line before settling for a field goal. Carson Wentz picked up 17 yards on a scramble. Colts 23 49ers 18
8:05 Garoppolo’s pass bounces off Deebo Samuel’s chest and is intercepted by Xavier Rhodes.
8:14 The 49ers drafted two cornerbacks this season. Neither are active tonight. Instead the journeyman replacements get beat for touchdowns. Dre Kirkpatrick allowing the 28 yard touchdown pass from Wentz to Pittman. Colts 30 49ers 18
8:18 Garoppolo throws another interception. Ballgame. 49ers will fall to 2-4 on the season. Colts 30 49ers 18
Gary Plummer would have returned that for a touchdown
What the hells with Aiyuk. He can’t handle a punt return?
This is Seattle game redux. Not good.
This is the Super Bowl. Once the game plan stopped working Shanny threw up the white flag.
On another note- the weather not withstanding, if you NEVER attempt a deep pass, how do you get better at it?
Crickets in here, where has everyone gone?
I’d rather see Deebo drop the ball before he makes the catch.
I realize that the conditions are tough, but all I can do is roll my eyes at this offense.
What the hell is KS doing? Another major gaffe by the HC. Loss of timeout for absolutely nothing.
Shanny is in over his head. I don’t know if he’s so thick headed that he won’t listen to anyone else or not, but he’s just lost out there on game days.
They came out blazing in the run game on the first drive- ONLY because he’s had 2 weeks to prepare.
Absolute $hi+ since. Win or lose, he’s wasting the talent on this team. The hard part is there isn’t anyone really better out there either. We’re just stuck with this crap game after game.
Frank Reich has had the right idea- go for some home run plays because one or two of those is going to be the difference in the game. No way they’re sustaining long drives today.
And now he’s calling the EXACT play over and over again after the Colts already adjusted to it.
How do you come out of the bye week with nothing in your bag?
kshan has been unstable this season
1st you picked Sermon – who led all RB’s in training camp – turns out to be a 3rd string RB during the season
He said Sheffield was playing better than Aiyuk – who was a pro last yr – so far Sheffield is a back up or no show during the season
You start your young QB who is mobile and you call no run design plays and end up calling more pocket plays.
You start JimmyG who is coming off a leg injury and you keep calling bootleg plays forcing him to run – It’s not rocket science that once JimmyG bootlegs and no receiver are opened the play is dead cuz Jimmy can’t run – these are Trey’s plays
where are the WR screens.,…where is that TE isolation plays – no creativity – everything just looks dull.
Thank u for #25….so far Jimmy has played worse than the opposing QB at home games this season
finally – put Deebo in that TE iso play…
Of course McGarbage gets beat again. Fumble. Turnover.
Can someone tell me why McGarbage isn’t in Shanny’s so-called Dog House?
How is Shanny watching this game and not seeing that the home run plays are what’s going to win this game?
His 3 downs and 3 yards per play sustaining drives design won’t work in a game like this with the driving rain.
The only reason the hone run plays are working for Indy is because of poor corner play.
Shanahan basically giving up now. Pathetic.
To many mistakes by the players is the problem. We lead the league in interference calls. That’s on the players.
And the KS challenge? Anyone could clearly see there was nothing to challenge and the Colts had made the 1st down by several yards even after the fumble.
He lost a time out not a play on the field. Good grief.
It’s a waste and it might come back to haunt the team at the end of the game. A professional HC should be able to do better.
So now he’s not a professional coach? Are you kidding?
Where did I say he wasn’t a professional coach. Are you kidding? I merely said he should be able to do better.
You certainly implied that.
That’s on the coaches as well.
This is not new. This has been going on for years.
Of course everything is the coaches fault or the QBs.
Over the years the personnel at cornerback has changed over. The PI penalties have stayed the same.
And your point at how that’s the coaches fault instead of the players fault?
At this point you have to come up with a well designed play. The 10 play drive is simply not viable in this weather.
He must have heard me screaming finally. Wtf Shanny where has this been all game for chrissakes. Waiting until you’re forced to do it???
Yeah!!
The Shannie ropa-dope.
Do you think he just lulled the Colts defense with loser plays only to unleash the passing attack. I wish I could believe that – but hey, it’s a score. Now maybe the secondary will stop getting beat.
It only works if the D can keep them within striking distance.
Blech
Get your bag of excuses ready, Ribico.
Let me guess ….. but it was RAINING ….. blah, blah, blah
Can you guys say these two words – POORLY COACHED?
Go ahead, give it a try.
This is what we get from Shanahan and Garoppolo coming out of a bye week? YIKES!
Did you watch the game? 122 yards of penalties. What’s you opinion on that?
Penalties fall under the category of EXECUTION, Jerry, and ultimately the Head Coach bares the responsibility for how well his team EXECUTES on both sides of the ball … including limiting penalties.
DISCIPLINE falls under the same umbrella. This team has ZERO discipline, and I half expect them to beat themselves, if their opponents don’t beat them to it.
Is it too soon to compare Garoppolo’s and Wentz’s Passer Ratings, and Total QBR?
Or is this wound still too fresh?
I’ll bet you couldn’t find one football player who would agree with you.
Jerry, all I know is that I feel bad for the Forty Niner Faithful who suffered through the traffic and torrential rain at Levi’s Stadium, just to watch that embarrassing display!
SOMEBODY SHOULD BE FIRED!
wtf – so you can play like this? – this is the Jimmy we want
This is so stressful – look at his eyes and the command with the will to win -where have you been Jimmy?
Such a frustrating performance from the coaches on down. Win or lose this is just a stinker coming out of the bye week.
And…. wow. Just wow.
Poorest DB play I have ever seen!
I don’t get it. Down by 2 touch downs with 2 minutes and change left and you still don’t attempt a deep pass. What the hell is wrong with Shanahan?
Well that dead duck for an interception at the end was Garappolo’s version of a deep pass.
If it quacks like a duck …..
I guess we shouldn’t wonder why Kyle never calls those deep shots.
Shades of the losing team we were in the years before going to the Super Bowl.
Oh wait, that’s been every year under Shanahan except one.
This reminds me of when Tomsula was the coach
Wow. That was bad.
It’s time, time to clean house. Don’t care about contracts, but it’s time for Kyle and Lynch to go. This team seems to be in free fall. One home win in the last 11 games now. Tired of guys who play well going into the dog house, while the worst players can do no wrong (McGlinchy). Tired of poor drafts and under utilization of rookies we do get. Tired of over reliance on old, and bad players that no other team in the league wants. Tired of the terrible play calling, and the absolute clueless game management. Time for a change.
Don’t give me that crap of “He will be hired in a minute by other teams”, or “who else can we get”. Don’t care what he does elsewhere, it isn’t working here. As for who they can hire, there are ALWAYS good candidates out there, you just have to go get one.
If he will be hired in a minute, then trade him.
It seems that ShanaLynch have brought a new culture to the 49ers – one of mediocrity at all levels of the organization. You can’t even count on the HC not making boneheaded mistakes during a game, so why shouldn’t the players?
They should trade him.
A lot of people would be excited to work with Lance, especially with all of the talent the 49ers have around him!
This feels like Rock Bottom to me, so at least there’s that.
Notice how Jaylon Moore actually played pretty well considering he never gets an opportunity?
Why the hell isn’t he starting over McGarbage right now? Shanahan, that’s why. It’s time for a mutiny, his head is way too big.
He’s always been a left tackle going back to college. That type of switch is part of why Aaron Banks is not playing yet.
At the press conference, they asked Kyle what happened on his failed (blunder) challenge and he claims … are you ready for it …. his “headset went out”, I kid you not … he said that!
I’m done with the boldface BS!
I don’t throw the word liar around lightly, because that was the way I was raised. But Kyle is a liar, I know that as a matter of fact, and it goes way beyond “gamesmanship”.
You wouldn’t know the truth if it hit you square in face. I think you’re the liar.