5 Biggest Takeaways from San Francisco 49ers' Preseason Week 3 Loss
One big takeaway from the San Francisco 49ers 19-12 preseason loss to the Denver Broncos: Running back Carlos Hyde is good.
His best run was a 17-yard gain on a stretch-zone play to the left in the second quarter. Now that Hyde is running in the zone-blocking scheme he’s used to, he seems like an upgrade over the Niners’ former starting running back, Frank Gore.
During the preseason, Hyde was the best player on the Niners offense by far. Earlier in the offseason, it seemed the Niners would use a running-back-by-committee approach. Now it seems they’ll have no choice but to give Hyde the ball as often as possible.
Here are five more takeaways from the 49ers’ preseason loss to the Broncos.
The 49ers’ Best Cornerback Other Than Tramaine Brock May Be Kenneth Acker
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When healthy, Tramaine Brock clearly is the 49ers’ best cornerback. He’s a smart veteran in his athletic prime.
But he didn’t play against the Broncos. He sat with a pulled hamstring. In his absence, second-year cornerback Kenneth Acker seemed like the best cornerback on the Niners.
Acker prevented two touchdowns Saturday night. First, he intercepted a Peyton-Manning pass intended for All-Pro wide receiver Demaryius Thomas in the back-right corner of the end zone. Then Acker broke up a pass intended for Cody Latimer, who was running a slant route on 3rd-and-goal from the 3-yard line.
Acker definitely should be the Niners' No. 2 cornerback.
The 49ers’ Best Pass Rusher May Be ILB NaVorro Bowman
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The 49ers defense struggled rushing the passer with their front four, so defensive coordinator Eric Mangini blitzed frequently, and the Niners' best blitzer by far was inside linebacker NaVorro Bowman.
Bowman sacked Peyton Manning twice in one drive simply by blitzing right up the middle through the A-gap. The Broncos barely touched Bowman, and on both plays Manning fell to the ground as he was dropping back to avoid getting blasted.
Without Aldon Smith, NaVorro Bowman may be the best pass-rusher on the team, and he isn’t even a pass-rusher—he’s an inside linebacker who can blitz. Mangini is going to have to come up with clever ways to blitz Bowman this season.
The 49ers' Run Defense Seems Vulnerable
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As well as Bowman rushed the quarterback, at times he seemed to struggle against the run.
The entire starting defense struggled stopping the Broncos’ ground game. Denver gained 79 rushing yards just in the first half, and its offensive line seemed to push around the Niners’ defensive line. The Niners’ linebackers, including Bowman, seemed to get walled off during their pursuit of the Broncos' running backs.
The Niners’ front seven has just one returning starter from last season—nose tackle Ian Williams. They’ll have a big test in Week 1 when they face the Minnesota Vikings and all-time great running back Adrian Peterson.
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The 49ers' Passing Attack Seems Broken
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The first-team offense played the entire first half. Starting running back Carlos Hyde had four carries for 28 yards, backup running back Reggie Bush had one carry for 21 yards, and quarterback Colin Kaepernick had three carries for 53 yards.
The running game was good.
The passing game was awful. The Niners' first-team offense generated zero net passing yards—Kaepernick completed two passes for 13 yards and got sacked twice for negative-13 yards and a safety.
Through three preseason games, Kaepernick has completed five of 13 pass attempts. He seems totally uncomfortable playing behind the Niners’ new offensive line and in the Niners’ new offensive scheme. The regular season is a couple of weeks away, and San Francisco’s passing game has nothing to build on.
The 49ers Probably Should Have Signed G Evan Mathis
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The entire offensive line played poorly against the Broncos, but the worst offensive lineman probably was rookie right guard Ian Silberman.
When the Niners drafted Silberman in the sixth round this year, it seemed unlikely he would play in 2015. But the Niners are desperate for a right guard, so they gave Silberman a shot to the play with the first-team offense this week. He played with them in practice and in Saturday’s game.
Silberman was a total bust. He is nowhere near ready to start. The Niners are still searching for a starting right guard.
You have to wonder why they didn’t they sign former All-Pro guard Evan Mathis. He was a free agent until a few days ago—the Denver Broncos signed him on August 25 for one year and $4 million, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN.com.
The 49ers could have afforded him. According to Spotrac, they have $13.5 million in cap space.
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