Niners defy third-and-16 percentage — and win

By Art Spander

SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Third and 16. That’s not field position, that’s an impossibility. Especially on your own 19 with just under two minutes left in a tie game.

“They’re less than 10 percent,” Kyle Shanahan, the 49ers coach, said of going for it on third and 16. “I know that. In the league this year, you watch and it’s like one out of 20.

“Usually you just try and survive the down and get half (the yardage) and punt. But we were in a situation that we didn’t have that, and I think we struggled on third downs most of the day.”

This time Shanahan didn’t play the percentages, he played the opposition. He played to get the victory and what might be looming, a top seed in the playoffs.

According to one numbers man, Josh Dubow of the Associated Press, the 49ers had failed the previous 15 times trying to convert on third and 16.

So naturally in this suspenseful and magical season of 2019, they made it, kept the ball on an 18-yard completion to Kendrick Bourne and kept alive a drive that ended with 0:00 on the clock at Levi’s Stadium, Saturday night.

Another one of those waiting-to-exhale results, beating the Los Angeles Rams 34-31 on Robbie Gould’s 33-yard field goal.

Such an emotional and tragic day, the Niners receiving word around 3 a.m. that the younger brother of backup quarterback C.J. Beathard had been fatally stabbed in a bar fight in Nashville. Players were notified before the game. That the Niners quickly fell behind was no surprise.

“How horrible it is,” said Shanahan.

That the Niners, trailing 14-3 in the second quarter, rallied to win and raise their season record to 12-3 wasn’t a surprise either.

The Niners are what teams must be in pro football: resilient. First the awful news about a teammate’s sibling; then the Rams, desperate because a defeat would eliminate them from the playoffs, striking quickly; then Niners quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo getting sacked six times; then the Rams regaining the lead, 28-24, in the third quarter.

But winners have something special. Back in Foxboro, Brady brought the Patriots from behind to take the AFC title for a 11th straight year. Then a few hours later out here on the other coast, Garoppolo, who was the Patriots starter-in-waiting behind Brady — and if the Niners hadn’t traded for him he still would be waiting — brought San Francisco from behind.

Next Sunday the Niners face the Seahawks in Seattle, the winner getting home field advantage and the first-round playoff bye.

Which is a perfect place to mention Richard Sherman, the defensive back who as part of the “Legion of Boom” helped the Seahawks win their only Super Bowl and now would hope to help the Niners win their sixth.

“This is a special team,” Sherman said of the 49ers. “Guys care about each other. Guys care about winning. Guys go out there and execute... It’s not always how you draw it up but if you got guys willing to fight to the last play.”

Four Niners games this season have come down to that last play, and the Niners have won two of them and, of course, lost the other two.

They won this one in part because at halftime San Francisco made changes in its defense. Set up to stop the run, mainly Todd Gurley II, it gave up yards and touchdowns on passes by Jared Goff, the onetime Cal star who was the No. 1 pick three years ago.

Goff got the Rams to the Super Bowl last season. Garoppolo might be able to get the Niners there this year.

“Usually,” said Shanahan about his quarterback, “you’re not feeling great in those (third and very long) situations. He had two this game. Play calling, offense defense, everything was up and down this game. But each individual kept coming back.”

Memories of the ’80s: Garoppolo, Niners find a way

By Art Spander
For Maven Sports

SANTA CLARA, Calif. — It’s football, the NFL. Not ice skating or diving.

There are no points for style, only for touchdowns or field goals. The only thing that counts is the final score.

Read the full story here.

Copyright 2019, The Maven 

Shanahan on first loss: “You’re always disappointed”

By Art Spander
For Maven Sports

SANTA CLARA, Calif. — They let it get away. The game. You can’t turn over the ball the way the Niners did, two fumbles and an interception, and expect to win.

Read the full story here.

Copyright 2019, The Maven

Niners turn over the ball but not the game

By Art Spander
For Maven Sports

SANTA CLARA, Calif. — The New England Patriots are 3-0. So are the 49ers. This is fact, not an attempt to compare.

Read the full story here.

Copyright 2019 The Maven 

For 49ers, a win is a win

  SANTA CLARA, Calif.—The result is what matters, the final score. It’s wonderful to perform flawlessly, to play to a level worthy of coaching texts and highlight videos. But however you do get there, at the end what matters in the NFL is who has the most points.

   On a warm Sunday in September, with the 75,000 seats at Levi’s Stadium maybe three-quarters full , at most, and with imperfection all too evident in the passing game—are six sacks enough evidence?—the San Francisco 49ers were able to beat the Detroit Lions, 30-27.

  Which means they now have a 1-1 record and unlike his rookie season as head coach, 2017, Kyle Shanahan will not continuously be asked when he’ll get his first win of the year. After two games, he has it and has a measure of satisfaction.

   “The win feels good,” said Shanahan. “It took me a while last year to get that win”

 Ten games to be exact. But this time only two games, which in Shanahan’s mind was one game too many.

 “I wish it was last week,” he said, “but I’m very happy. It was tough last year. I’m happy for our guys. I thought our defense played its butts off.  Our special teams made some huge plays, especially D.J. Read.

 “I thought we ran the heck out of the ball. There was a little struggle in the passing game, with the receivers, tight end and quarterback, but we found a way to win.”

  Or the 0-2 Lions, who botched up an interception that brought the ball to the Niners seven with 2:24 to play, with a penalty that nullified the pick, found a way to lose.

  Why the Niners, leading by three with the ball on their own 43, were throwing is beyond comprehension—or coaching.

  They got away with it, and maybe that once outdated slogan about the fans, the faithful, should be revised to “Faithful then, fortunate now.”

 Nothing goes perfect, said Shanahan, the offensive coordinator for Atlanta’s Super Bowl team before he took over the 49ers.”But we’ve got to do a better job with our passing. It’s not all on the blocking. We’ve got to get men open, and the quarterback shouldn’t hold the ball that long. We’ll look at it and correct it.”

  No correction is needed for Matt Breida, who along with Alfred Morris is sharing the position of starting running back, fill-ins for Jerrick McKinnon, who is on injured reserve. In the third quarter, gliding effortlessly following his blocking intelligently—including a juke near the goal line—Breida raced 66 yards for a touchdown.

   To echo the head coach, yes, they ran the heck out of the ball.

   “It was just a great job y the O-line,” said Breida. “They opened up a big hole on the play, and I found Pierre (wide receiver Pierre Garcon. He became my fullback down th4e field essentially . . . He’s a monster. He’s fearless, and he’s not afraid to block.”

  So running worked well. Passing worked less well.

 Jimmy Garoppolo held the ball too long at times. Often the quarterback takes six sacks, the team takes a loss, but as Shanahan said the running game was effective, 190 yards of the Niners 346 total. The Lions’ total was 427, including 329 passing on 34 of 53 by Matthew Stafford (Garoppolo was 18 of 26 for 206 yards and two touchdowns), but Detroit was stymied near the goal line.

  “Too many penalties,” said first-year Lions coach Matt Patricia. Detroit had 10 for105 yards, the Niners 9 for 66. “Too many mistakes. Too many plays there that obviously cost us the game. We had a game-changing play there that got called back”

The interception negated by defensive holding.

   “That was a good thing,” said Garoppolo.

Getting pummeled while waiting to throw was not

   “Got to get the ball out quicker,” said Garoppolo, “The offensive line played great today. We had a chance to blow them out. I think that comes with mental toughness. You can’t let human nature take over.”

  What he meant was the tendency to ease up.

  .Cornerback Richard Sherman emphasized that.

  “A win’s a win,” Sherman agreed, “but it feels like a loss because we played like crap.”