The 49ers' rallied for a 22-16 win in Sunday night's showcase went against the visiting Los Angeles Chargers.
SANTA CLARA – So many offensive weapons, so few points. The 49ers’ so-so season wasn’t looking so good in Sunday night’s showcase against the Los Angeles Chargers.
A fourth-quarter comeback would be required – and delivered.
The 49ers’ armada of offensive talent eventually came through with play after play, leading to Christian McCaffrey’s touchdown for their first lead, with 7:54 to spare in an eventual 22-16 win.
Credit also goes to the 49ers’ defense for preserving that lead with a second-half shutout, never mind that the Chargers (5-4) valiantly fought all night without their top three wide receivers, their left tackle and their best defender, the latter being Joey Bosa, brother of 49ers’ defensive star Nick Bosa.
Now the 49ers (5-4) sit a half-game out of the NFC West lead, behind the Seattle Seahawks (6-4).
Next up is an extended road trip to face the Arizona Cardinals on Monday night in Mexico City. But first, the 49ers will acclimate to high-altitude conditions in Colorado Springs, Colo. from Tuesday through Sunday. Their Mexico stay will last just one night, as they’ll fly out after that game, which could inflate their NFC West record to 4-0 with a win.
This prime-time affair was a snoozer until fourth-quarter fireworks came from all corners of the 49ers’ offense.
To sum up their go-ahead drive, the 49ers relied on Jimmy Garoppolo’s third-down completions to Jauan Jennings (11 yards on third-and-5, 10 yards on third-and-8) but especially to Brandon Aiyuk, whose 24-yard conversion on third-and-10 set the 49ers up at the 2, for McCaffrey’s ensuing score.
Garoppolo played turnover-free for the fifth time this season, and, not coincidentally, the 49ers have won all five of those games. He was 19-of-28 for 240 yards.
But the 49ers’ run game also came alive in that crucial time, keyed by Elijah Mitchell (18 carries, 89 yards) in his first action since spraining a knee in the season-opening loss at Chicago.
That 49ers’ rushing attack reached its magic number, producing 42 carries, albeit at a 3.7-yard clip for 156 yards. Mitchell led the way, McCaffrey was limited to 38 yards (14 carries), Deebo Samuel chipped in 27 yards (four carries) and Garoppolo had five carries for minus-3 yards, but that included a third-down touchdown sneak and a fourth-and-1 conversion.
Once the 49ers got the ball back with 6 ½ minutes to kill, they went to the same recipe: a nifty Mitchell run (12 yards) and a third-and-long completion to Aiyuk (11 yards). A punt ensued, but Sam Womack III downed it at the 1-yard line, and the Chargers could not escape, not with Jordan Willis hitting Herbert on a fourth-down incompletion to seal the outcome.
Robbie Gould chipped in insurance points with his third chip-shot field goal of the night: a 20-yarder with 58 seconds to go; he made 20- and 26-yard field goals earlier in the night.
Icing the win was Talanoa Hufanga’s fourth interception of the season.
The 49ers, coming off their bye, opened in sleepy fashion en route to a 13-3 deficit. Then Garoppolo woke everyone up with a 75-yard touchdown drive, keyed by his 71 passing yards and then his 1-yard scoring sneak on third-and-goal.
After marching 75 yards themselves for a touchdown on the game’s opening drive, the Chargers settled for a trio of field goals, after a trio of 49ers’ blunders – an Aiyuk fumble, a blocked punt on fourth-and-1, and, 30 seconds before halftime, Dre Greenlaw’s ejection for a helmet-to-helmet hit on Herbert.
SECOND-QUARTER AWAKENING
The 49ers’ star-studded offense didn’t awaken until the second quarter, with Jimmy Garoppolo sounding the alarm clock via four completions for 72 yards and then a third-and-goal, 1-yard touchdown run.
Garoppolo’s 21-yard, third-down conversion to George Kittle sparked things, then came a perfectly placed pass by Garoppolo on a rollout for a 33-yard connection to Ray-Ray McCloud at the Chargers’ 23.
After McCaffrey produced two catches and two runs, Garoppolo trotted over to the 49ers’ sideline at the two-minute warning to confer with Shanahan. The ensuing call wasn’t surprising: a Garoppolo sneak up the middle, and that 1-yard scoring plunge pulled the 49ers within 13-10 with 1:57 until halftime.
GO-TO GAROPPOLO
Garoppolo’s short-yardage proficiency is, well, almost perfect. His second-quarter touchdown plunge made him 31-of-31 in his 49ers’ career on runs of third- or fourth-and-1, according to The Associated Press’ Josh Dubow. It was Garoppolo’s seventh-career rushing touchdown, and his fifth on a 1-yard run, including one in the 49ers’ home opener after he relieved an injured Trey Lance in their win over the Seattle Seahawks.
But that perfect streak ended on the first series after halftime. He got stopped for no gain on a third-and-1 try, only to follow with a fourth-and-1 conversion that kept alive the field-goal drive.
GREENLAW EJECTED: Greenlaw got ejected 30 second before halftime, having slammed his helmet into that of Chargers’ scrambling quarterback Herbert at the 35-yard line. Herbert, on third-and-6, dashed up the middle and was being tackled by Warner when Greenlaw lowered his left shoulder but also his helmet.
That resulted in Herbert leaving for a concussion evaluation, and the Chargers inserted Chase Daniel, who delivered two incompletions before a third-down sack from Jordan Willis.
The Chargers settled for their third field goal and a 16-10 halftime lead
BOSA IN CLUTCH: Nick Bosa’s first sack of the night on Herbert raised Bosa’s team-high season total to 9 ½. That second-down stop of a scrambling Herbert came at the 8-yard line and impacted a second-quarter drive that ended with a field goal and 13-3 Chargers’ lead.
EARLY DEFICIT
Herbert engineered a 75-yard touchdown drive on the game’s opening series, twice converting on third-and-4 throws before lobbing a 32-yard scoring strike over safety Talanoa Hufanga and into the arms of San Jose native DeAndre Carter.
That seven-play drive took just 3:25 to put the sleepy 49ers in a 7-0 hole, in their first action after the bye and after an encouraging win Oct. 30 over Los Angeles’ other team, the Rams.
The Chargers had been outscored 51-3 in the first quarter of their previous four games.
The 49ers answered with points, but only three, via a 20-yard field field goal from Gould, rather than try again for a touchdown on fourth-and-goal from 2. Their opening script summoned a combination of runs by McCaffrey (five carries, 15 yards), Mitchell (three for 13) and Samuel (one for 7), along with three consecutive completions by Jimmy Garoppolo before his second-down throw to Samuel sailed out of the end zone.
