This is the live blog for the Santa Clara 49ers Week 4 road game against the Carson Chargers. I will update this frequently with information and analysis from my living room.
11:45 Check out my pregame Periscope report: (Note, it should read “Chargers,” not Dolphins)..
49ers pregame report: Why I picked them to beat the Dolphins. https://t.co/GWRDw3dLEK
— Grant Cohn (@grantcohn) September 30, 2018
12:47 Here are the 49ers inactives:
- CB Richard Sherman
- SS Jaquiski Tartt
- WR Richie James
- OG Joshua Garnett
- OG Najee Toran
- DT Jullian Taylor
- OT Shon Coleman
12:50 Here are the Chargers inactives:
- DE Joey Bosa
- LB Kyzir White
- C Cole Toner
- OT Joe Barksdale
- OG Forrest Lamp
- WR JJ Jones
- DT T.Y. McGill
1:25 The Chargers win the toss and choose to receive. Let’s see if the 49ers defense came to play.
1:28 You bet it did. On third-and-10, Antone Exum Jr. picks off Philip Rivers and returns the interception for a touchdown. The 49ers lead 7-0.
1:32 The Chargers go three-and-out again. Reuben Foster blitzes on second down and third down and hits Rivers both times. Great start for Foster, and a great start for Robert Saleh, too. Blitzing Foster is smart and creative.
1:34 Dante Pettis suffered an injury during the punt return. The 49ers carried him off the field.
1:38 On first down, Shanahan calls an outside zone run to the right from the shotgun with no lead blocker. Matt Breida loses two yards. Next play, C.J. Beathard missed Pierre Garcon high over the middle. Weston Richburg leaves with an injury. The 49ers punt two plays later.
1:46 Caleb Sturgis misses a 54-yard field goal attempt wide right. The 49ers will get the ball at the Chargers 44-yard line.
1:52 On second-and-goal from the 2, C.J. Beathard throws a touchdown pass to Kendrick Bourne, and the 49ers lead 14-0. Beathard has completed four passes in a row.
1:54 Dante Pettis has a knee injury and is questionable to return.
1:59 On third-and-goal from the 5, Rivers throws a touchdown to Antonio Gates, who was wide open because Reuben Foster didn’t cover him man to man. Foster thought the 49ers were in zone defense. The Chargers trail 14-6 after Sturgis misses the extra point.
2:01 The Chargers never ran during that drive. Saleh has to make an adjustment to his pass defense.
2:22 On third-and-goal from the 3, Beathard throws the ball away. More red-zone problems for Kyle Shanahan. Still, a good drive. It was 21 plays, and it took 10:44 off the clock.
2:23 Robbie Gould makes a 21-yard field goal, and the 49ers lead 17-6.
2:24 Beathard has stepped up so far. Kyle Shanahan is calling a ton of passes and Beathard is completing most of them. He is 13-for-17 for 100 yards, and his quarterback rating is 103.9.
2:36 On third-and-2 from the 49ers 22, Fred Warner gives up a touchdown catch to backup running back Austin Ekeler. Then, the 49ers give up the two-point conversion, as Rivers throws in the flat to running back Melvin Gordon and he jogs into the end zone. The Chargers trail 17-14. Terrible sequence for the 49ers defense. Terrible sequence for Robert Saleh. If he calls man coverage near the red zone, he needs to give his linebacker safety help.
2:44 The 49ers go three-and-out in just 17 seconds. Marquise Goodwin is down on the field. Joe Staley is on the sideline with a knee injury. He’s questionable to return. Impressive the 49ers are in the game, considering the season’s worth of injuries they have suffered already this year.
2:47 Desmond King returns the kickoff 56 yards to the 49ers 32.
2:49 Sturgis makes a 48-yard field goal as time expires. The 49ers just gave the Chargers three points. The game is tied at 17 and it’s halftime.
3:05 On third-and-7, Derwin James blitzes and sacks Beathard, and the 49ers go three-and-out. During the punt return, the 49ers miss about a dozen tackles, and King returns the punt to midfield. The 49ers have lost all of their adrenaline and confidence from early in the game, and Shanahan has become way too pass happy.
3:11 Staley and Pettis are out for the rest of the game. Mike McGlinchey has a knee injury and is questionable. And now Solomon Thomas is down on the field.
3:15 On third-and-4 from the 49ers 6, Saleh calls Cover 3, the 49ers get no pass rush and Rivers checks down to Gordon who scores easily. The Chargers lead 23-17 after Sturgis misses the extra point.
3:16 The Chargers are schooling Robert Saleh. He is decidedly on the hot seat.
3:22 On first-and-goal from the 8, Garrett Celek drops a well-thrown pass and it tips it directly to Trevor Williams, who returns interception to the 49ers 12 yard-line. What a critical mistake by Celek.
3:31 The 49ers defense holds the Chargers in the red zone. Sturgis makes a 24-yard field goal, and the Chargers lead 26-17.
3:35 Shanahan calls three straight passes and the 49ers go three-and-out.
3:41 On second-and-5, Sheldon Day sacks Rivers for an eight-yard loss. Great individual effort by Day. The Rivers punt two plays later. Big defensive stand by the 49ers defense.
3:45 On second-and-8 from the 49ers 18, Beathard throws an 82-yard touchdown pass to George Kittle, and the 49ers trail 24-26. Great catch and run by Kittle. None of the Chargers could catch him.
3:51 Rivers throws incomplete on third-and-10, and the Chargers punt.
4:08 On third-and-6, Beathard scrambles for five yards and gets clobbered. Shanahan challenges the spot and the challenge fails. That’s the second one he has wasted in this game. The 49ers have just one timeout left.
4:09 Robbie Gould makes a 33-yard field goal, and the 49ers lead 27-26.
4:09 Matt Breida injured his shoulder picking up a blitzer during that drive.
4:15 Greg Mabin breaks up a pass on third-and-goal from the 3.
4:16 Sturgis makes a 21-yard field goal, and the Chargers lead 29-27.
4:19 D.J. Reed fumbles the kick return and the Chargers recover. The play is under review. The Chargers defender may not have had control of the ball when he rolled out of bounds.
4:22 He did NOT have control. The officials reverse their call, and give the 49ers the ball at their 17.
4:24 Breida gains seven yards on first down. Then, Shanahan calls back-to-back passes, they’re incomplete and the 49ers go three-and-out. Run the ball, Kyle.
4:29 The Chargers punt and pin the 49ers at their 7 with 3:49 to go. The 49ers have one timeout.
4:32 On second-and-6, Derwin James blitzes from Beathard’s blindside and hits him. The ball pop into the air and the Chargers intercept it.
4:39 The 49ers lose 29-27. Stay tuned for my postgame report and grades.
I didn’t think JG was playing that good anyhow, if CJ doesn’t throw 3 picks and doesn’t get sacked six times….
Yep.
UC ….
Hope Grant is right .. when he sez Chargers D is horrible…
and hoping the O-Line gives CJ all the time in the world, today..
Then just maybe … the clouds will part and CJ takes the win …
Hey …. it … could … happen … :-}
If CJ plays like he did against the Giants, I can see a victory today.
Grant,
Why are you picking Niners to bear the Fins?
Good question!
Rooster Beathard era begins. Go Niners!
Razor,
Watching the Tenn vs. Eagles and will issue an apology to you and other Landy supporters.
The kid is ball’n and has officially put his name on the NFL landscape today.
Yup, CJ’ time to take the reins.
Can’t wait for all our game blog buddies–those who only show up on game days and BBQ each and every play and player. Such is fandom. Happy they aren’t in charge of oxygen generation and waste disposal on subs.
Wonder how many of them post under different names during games.
Seagull fans– they fly in, c*rap all over the blog, and fly out again….
Yeah. like this….
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HqFrpH6Qtsc
The DBs will be challenged mightily. Had the Chiefs not eased off on the gas pedal last week, they could have probably scored 60 points. The Niners definitely will tackle better (Fearless Foster and Fast Freddie will probably not miss 10 tackles between them again), but it’s hard for me to conjure a scenario as to how Niners will outscore the Chargers.
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Excellent point. Pun intended.
We need a tatoo design for the core members of this blog…something to distinguish ourselves from the rabble…
Cassie… There are only six of you guys… who needs a tat to disguise between you from the rabble?
It’s a long story… I wasn’t always this big. Was just growing up in Micronesia as a nondescript reptile. Then along came all those nuclear bomb tests after WWII. Next thing you know I’m 60 meters tall and weigh 150 metric tonnes. I’ve always been insecure, being thrust onto the world stage like that. So, I’m always looking for ways to stand apart from the rabble in unique ways–knowing that I can never really blend in.
I auditioned for one of the dragon parts in Game of Thrones, but my short arms prevented me from flying. Sometimes I feel like Eeyore…
Can someone point me towards Tokyo?
just finished watching the Bears dismantle the Bucs. I remember when you touted Mitchell Trubisky as a first round talent.
today’s line for him – 19-26 for 354 yards and 6 TDs with no INTS for a 154.7 rating and ran 3 times for 53 yards….
I also seem to remember touting Trubisky.
Naw, you were hoping the Niners would not draft MT. You thought he had too few games in college. You wanted the Niners to draft a safety.
Doesn’t surprise me in the least. You saw it last year with Goff, and now with Trubisky. The team sacks the defensive head coach, and hires an offensive mind to protect their investment….
Hearing Shanahan talk about their philosophy on teaching/working on tackling on the radio and it’s easy to understand why they don’t do it well.
Link? Cliff notes?
Shanahan said something to the effect of, we can’t really practice tackling during the season with only 50 guys on the roster and that if they can’t do it when they get them they don’t belong.
Go show them how its done, stud.
Chargers cannot sack CJB if he does not drop back to pass.
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Saleh needs to disrupt the timing of the WRs by playing tight man to man with checks at the line of scrimmage.
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Defense needs to get a turnover. Hope Thomas gets a sack.
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They should sit Witherspoon and Ward, and play the rookies.
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Anthony Lynn may out coach KS. KS needs to step up his game, and make timely adjustments.
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Hope CJB does well and not make mistakes. Hope he executes a Third Down Bomb.
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Niners 24-23. GO NINERS !!!!!!
Noice. Defense got a turnover.
I have a good feeling about Beathard this season. I think the Niners lose today, but I think it is because of the secondary versus Rivers to Allen, Williams, Benjamin, etc. But I think Beathard shows something today.
That place is louder than SC.
CJB will shock the world….
Yay!
GO NINERS !!!!!!
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Pick six!!!!!!!
i got you babe!
Oh, look. A reverse.
Nice start.
Nice way to start!
Great way to start!
Keep the pressure up.
Foster is looking very good today.
Foster up the middle? Hmmm, Saleh must read these blogs. ;p
i got you babe!
lmao! ?
Was that a bubble screen?
Did I actually see a naked bootleg left?
Another one bites the dust
Hmmm……all new addition to the team..
JimmyG
Sherman
Mckinnon
Pettis
All out with injuries…..who is to blame?
Why Jed of course…or is it Denise?
Wow…on that 1st pass by CJB
This team is pretty awful. Discipline in tackling, avoiding penalties and boneheaded mental mistakes is non-existent.
This points to the coaching. All of the above can be taught if you have a good coaching staff.
Cool… A special teams break–wide right.
Beathard! Beautiful
Well…. CJ Feakin’ Beathard is stinking up the place….
Nice!
Nice play calling
Good job Niners. Keep it up.
Good drive by niners.
Defense needs to keep the chargers from getting going.
There’s that Saleh D…..
Thomas on Gates and then No One on Gates.. ??♂️
Definitely don’t guard gates in the RZ
Yea, Gates is an old man but you still gotta cover him…. and Thomas doesn’t count, Saleh.
Foster….very cerebral.
Fred warner outplaying foster
Damn that was a blown coverage if I have ever seen one.
How can this team blow so many coverages with how simple the defense is?
Well, at least they were playing man…. Foster did not get the call.
Dang, have to settle for a field goal.
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Still, Grant is getting his wish. Niners marched down field for 11 minutes.
How do you feel about them play man on both TD passes dumba$$?
Probably would have had the same result with zone.
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Watch the game.
Which is everyone’s point anyway. We’ve been saying all along we just don’t have the horses. All your dumb sebnynastic schemes will not cover glaring weaknesses on this team regardless of your b.s.
Sounds like you are glad the Niner defense is struggling. You sound like a Niner hater.
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Every suggestion I make is because I want the Niners to succeed and win.
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Sounds like you are gloating, exhibiting schadenfreude.
21 play drive takes11 minutes and only 3 points. Sigh. ?
This game has a ways to go, but so far it’s fun to see the 9ers hang in and play reasonably well, and be up 17 to 6. Especially fun considering all the CJ hate being spewed the last several days.
defense needs to tighten up on pass avtion
Need to hold chargers to a field goal here and take a 2score lead into the half.
Making a game of it so far!
On the plus side… they listened to Seb and were playing man on both touchdown passes.
No, I said tight man on man……
Got to have the players to do that.
They do, only they are standing on the side line.
?
Oh, wait. Foster should have been in man on man coverage, and thought it was zone.
Robert S. does not get it done.
Same ol’ same ol’ on D…. Phillip Rivers looks ready to explode on this sorry D.
To easy this defense has a long way to go
1min left in the half……they have the ball on your 20…….and show you 4 wide…..
You respond by playing man with your LB on a WR with no safety help
FIRE SALEH NOW
Pretty much. Warner was covering a RB, though. But, you’re right. That TD was on Saleh.
And another 49er down!
This has to be some sort of record
That wasn’t a smart play by CJ. He should have slid in bounds. Might as well keep the clock running there.
49ers letter to NFL…please grant us an roster exemption..you see it seems we’ve built our stadium on an Indian graveyard two guys died while building the stadium and ever since we’ve moved there it seems that our team couldnt find they’re axxholes if they were squatting on a mirror…We have now moved to losing four players a game on average to injury may we please bump our roster to 225 players so we have enough players to make it through the season.. Sincerely Jed and Paraag
PS – Don’t blame the crazy amount of injuries on our strength and conditioning staff either. They’re very nice, compassionate guys who don’t deserve that.
Hate to say it but the niners blew it at the end of the half and in this case there were several poorly coached moments. The LB on running back in man coverage with no help was a poor call in that situation. And CJ has to be coached not to stop the clock in that situation… take the sack or slide in bounds. They could have just run the clock out… but instead they gave SD 3 points for free.
Here homes the CJ show!Let’s gooooo
The area where Niners are looking outmatched is on the sidelines.
To quote the late Mrs. Slocum, “Weak as water”, describes the Niners physically. Both tackles now out, and now Thomas is down in the time it takes to write this.
Now you’re seeing the real niners. Game is tied but it’s over. Trust me.
Lol
.now McGlinchey….you can’t make this up…now Thomas is down…wow..this team is unwatchable anymore I have never seen this in 30 years of watching football …These guys are glass dolls
Damn this team is soft. Shanahan needs to make some changes. Getting hard to watch.
Hey Red
Shannahan’s listening…you just got traded to Atlanta for Rush Limbaugh….
I’ve never seen a team lose so many players to injury.
As Ronnie Lott used to say, whoever outhits the other team wins.
Let’s just have CJ Betahard play every position ..He seems to be the only one with a set of stones on this team
Damn, this team just needs to forfeit the season. If they didn’t play another game this season, I’d set the over under at 10 more injuries.
This 49ers team is the softest, most fragile NFL football team I’ve ever seen in my life. They are so easily injured… it’s mind-boggling.
Freddy P Soft has taken over this franchise!!
Amazing. Defender makes sure to back off five yards to give receiver plenty of room to catch td. Saleh needs to go now.
Game over unfortunately….. I’ll be shocked I tell ya if the D can force another punt. Sheldon Day playing zone in the endzone. Only on a Saleh D lol…….
49ers injury report…three players out as they tripped on the stairs coming off the bus…News at 10
Seriously saleh needs to go……either he has no clue on how to call a redzone defense of the players are not listening to him….
This has all the signs of a poorly coached team
I’ll tell you what CJ is quickly becoming my favorite player in this team…Kid has heart
Hmmm, they should have been playing tight man. Instead, easy TD against the zone.
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Thank goodness there was another missed extra point.
Beathard slinging it. He’s got more heart than anyone on the team
Edit: welp
Celek is having a horrible game. 2 penalties and a drop leading to that INT.
Nice Celek..right on the numbers and you can’t catch it…Celek has been called for three penalties and that int was on him
That is the fifth mistake at least by Garrett Celek.
Joe Staley out with a knee injury..Twenty minutes later shot of him cheesing it up on the bench with Celek…Nice
So that interception negates those three PF QB hits. Just doesn’t seem right. It’s like they got those three hits for free.
The niners will lose that challenge but I think they wanted a timeout anyways to help regroup his players.
C’mon CJ !
Celik having a really bad game. Two holding penalties and then this tipped interception.
Is Not a man Thomas still hurt?
No.
Well at this point maybe we can agree that missing JG is not close to being the worst of our problems
Its a miracle.
Ward or Witherspoon, neither one can play. I hope Lynch is getting a clue.
Wonder if the Rams put a 60 burger on Saleh?
Looks like they got smart, and benched Ward. Hope Witherspoon is next.
K. I. T. T. L E!
Great anticipation on that throw by beathard to kittle. Nice chemistry there
Come on defense
I was surprised that Kittle could out run the safety. GO NINERS !!!!!!
And down goes Breida
Mullins Era has begun!
Dang, Breida down……
I don’t know where you would look but this has to be an NFL record for injuries…there’s no way no way this is possible
CJ Beathard is a man!
Gamer for sure. Not going to last long at this rate though
Can’t win the game from the bench or hospital
GO NINERS !!!!!! One point lead.
Great defense on the attempted receiver screen by Greg Mabin. He may need to play over Ward.
Williams could have had a pick 6 if he was paying attention :/
Win or lose this was a fun game to watch and that’s what it’s about
Kyle needs an OC. Play calling for that key series was awful
Im not sure I would have kicked it. I don’t trust our defense at all under pressure… I hope I’m wrong.
Niners D makes every opposing ball carrier look like Bronco Nagurski or Jim Brown
too bad
Losing Staley was huge and the main reason James hit Bethard on that last INT. And of course the D is still a wet paper bag playing without a clue…. Saleh should be fired tomorrow.
Ouch
Hopefully, this is not a start to the “losses by 3 points or less” of last season….
Niners covered. Hope some of you won some money. I did. CJ looks like the second coming of Steve DeBerg. He’s just good enough to lose, which is how Walsh described DeBerg. He’s a tough SOB. The D sucks. First int was a gift. Saleh is not a guru. Kyle’s game management is weak. Overall entertaining game. They weren’t supposed to win and they didn’t. They should win next week.
This loss is not on CJB.
EC9,
Absolutely agree.
This loss is credited to our Defense.
If Selah can’t find a way to sack the QB, every close score in the 4th quarter will be loss by the 49ers.
I think it’s on the coaching staff in general. Poor play calls and the D isn’t ready for real time.
There was a 14 point swing. If that pass did not bounce off Celek, the Niners were poised to score.
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Should have taken Grant’s advice and run it in.
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Glad you won money, but the Niners have been a poor bet these last few years.
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I agree with the Deberg comparison, but I think CJB is more mobile. KS just needs to utilize him properly.
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They may win, but the Niner defense will be picked apart, even with a rookie.
A few things for me (well, actually more).
1. This has to be historically the worst defensive tackling by a team that I’ve seen as long as I can remember.
2. I laughed after the first game when someone said that our injuries may be attributed to poor training habits in TC. Now I tend to agree.
3. Our inability to pressure and sack the QB falls on Lynch’s lap for believing that Marsh could fill that position.
On the positive side.
1. Shanahan’ offense is starting to take shape.
2. CJ could become a viable backup.
3. Kittle is stamping his mark as one of the NFL’ young stars.
These types of losses are the most frustrating because if our tackling had been even average at best, we may have won and left LA 2-2 instead of 1-3.
Saleh needs to get back to the fundamentals. All of his scheming is useless if the players cannot wrap up.
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This game had the players under performing, but this loss was all on the coaches.
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They need to stop playing favorites, and sit some DBs.
Fun game, but the non-tackling stuff is harmful. Is that a specialized technique or are their deltoids too tight?
I think you can pin the loss on the entire team including the coaches. Everyone played a part in the loss. Also, for those of you that are as old as me and lived through the DeBerg years, this was exactly the kind of games he lost. He amassed great statistics but usually lost the game for one reason or another, whether it was the defense, special teams, his own mistakes or all of the above. CJ played pretty darn well today, but in the end, it’s just another loss. Your right Seb, I don’t usually bet on the Niners but a 10 point spread was a steal, and even better I took LAC in the suicide pool so I’m still alive, though I was sweating it there at the end. All 12 remaining players out of 98 advanced so it’s on to next week.