49ers vs. Giants: San Francisco Grades, Notes and Quotes
The San Francisco 49ers dropped a heartbreaking loss to the New York Giants on Sunday Night Football thanks to a spectacular two-minute New York drive in the fourth quarter and a phenomenal go-ahead touchdown reception by Giants tight end Larry Donnell.
The 30-27 loss puts the 49ers at 1-4, and it's becoming clearer the 2015 NFL season is going nowhere fast for a beleaguered San Francisco franchise.
There were some positives from the effort, however.
San Francisco did manage to showcase some offensive prowess, especially in the second half. Quarterback Colin Kaepernick appeared to shake off the negativity following him over the last two weeks and connected for two touchdowns and 262 yards through the air.
Running back Carlos Hyde also managed 93 yards—the first 90-yard rusher New York has allowed in 2015.
But the 49ers defense proved to be the problem in Week 5 as quarterback Eli Manning threw for 441 yards and three touchdowns against a secondary that seemed to have no answer for the Giants passing offense.
What went wrong for San Francisco, and what are the aspects upon which the franchise can build in Week 6?
Let's take a look as we break down what happened during this prime-time showdown.
Position Grades for 49ers
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| Position | Grade |
| QB | B+ |
| RB | A |
| WR | B+ |
| TE | A- |
| OL | C |
| DL | C |
| LB | D |
| DB | F |
| Special Teams | B |
| Coaching | D |
Quarterback Colin Kaepernick looked nothing like the lost man under center seen the last two weeks.
Kaepernick's efforts—262 passing yards on 23 attempts with two touchdowns against zero interceptions—stand in contrast to what happened against the Arizona Cardinals and Green Bay Packers previously.
Granted, Kaepernick was going up against a Giants defense ranked last in the NFL in total passing yards allowed prior to the game. But his 107.1 passer rating is enough to suggest he took this game seriously and put the 49ers into a position to win.
Running back Carlos Hyde also had a strong 93-run effort plus a touchdown, and the 49ers wide receivers also got involved. Without No. 1 tight end Vernon Davis, Kaepernick was able to get production from backup tight ends Garrett Celek and Vance McDonald throughout the game.
Celek hauled in one of Kaepernick's two passing touchdowns.
San Francisco's offensive line saw some changes at right guard as backup lineman Andrew Tiller switched off with starting guard Jordan Devey on multiple occasions. Kaepernick's protection was substantially better than it has been in previous weeks. But the unit still remains a work in progress.
But the defense is another story.
In Week 4 against the Packers, San Francisco's defense gave up a mere 17 points. Yet Giants quarterback Eli Manning seemingly picked apart the 49ers secondary, which was primarily in zone coverage all night, with ease.
San Francisco had few answers for wide receiver Odell Beckham and couldn't figure out how to stop a surging Giants offense with less than two minutes remaining—plays upon which the game would be decided.
Cornerback Kenneth Acker nearly picked off Manning on the drive, but the ball deflected off his fingertips.
Instead, tight end Larry Donnell hauled in the game-winning touchdown to send the 49ers to 1-4.
A game of inches.
Colin Kaepernick Answers Back
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Much-maligned quarterback Colin Kaepernick entered Week 5 with plenty of pressure on his shoulders after abysmal efforts against the Arizona Cardinals and Green Bay Packers in Weeks 3 and 4, respectively.
One could fathom the 49ers starting backup quarterback Blaine Gabbert given all that has happened with Kaepernick this season. Yet the No. 1 signal-caller revealed he isn't ready to be benched just yet.
Kaepernick led the 49ers offense effectively in the second half and helped engineer a number of drives that put San Francisco on top late in the fourth quarter.
Tyler Emerick of 49ers.com described the quarterback's impact and how switching from the shotgun made a difference:
"The 49ers switched things up a bit on Sunday night, lining Kaepernick up under center more and using play-action and bootlegs to keep the defense on its toes.
In the first half, Kaepernick completed 12-of-17 passes for 118 yards. He also rushed twice for 24 yards. The quarterback’s best throw of the opening 30 minutes went to Smith on a rocket for a 17-yard gain.
After the break, Kaepernick continued to flourish under center. Trailing by seven points midway through the third quarter, the signal-caller led a 10-play drive spanning 88 yards. ... Kaepernick went on to orchestrate two more touchdown drives, both spanning 80 yards. That season-high point tally wasn’t enough, but it was still Kaepernick's best performance of the year.
"
Kaepernick looked much more like the quarterback of old rather than the indecisive, incapable signal-caller seen in recent weeks.
And, hopefully, this is a development upon which the 49ers can build moving forward.
San Francisco's Receivers Show Up
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San Francisco's receiving targets have been all but absent over the last two weeks. But this wasn't the case on Sunday when the 49ers passing game broke out for 262 yards and two touchdowns.
Leading the charge was veteran wideout Anquan Boldin. Boldin hauled in 107 yards on eight receptions plus a touchdown.
And fellow wideout Torrey Smith also got into the mix with 42 receiving yards of his own. More importantly, Smith drew a couple of critical pass-interference calls late in the game on deep-route attempts—an approach of which San Francisco hasn't shown much in 2015.
Despite the absence of the injured Vernon Davis, the 49ers were also able to incorporate their tight ends into the mix. Tight end Garrett Celek had three receptions and a touchdown, and fellow TE Vance McDonald also added two catches to the mix.
This is also a good sign for San Francisco's offense moving forward. Receivers Boldin and Smith were visibly frustrated in Week 4 due to the lack of offensive prowess and execution.
All that seemed to change against the Giants.
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Defense Can't Answer the Call
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As stated previously, San Francisco's defense did a commendable job against quarterback Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers offense in Week 4.
Week 5 was an entirely different story.
New York amassed a total of 525 all-purpose yards against a defense that seemed completely unable to scheme up against the Giants' offensive weapons.
Receiving targets like wideout Odell Beckham and running back Shane Vereen regularly found seams in defensive coordinator Eric Mangini's defense for big plays. And the 49ers lacked the adjustments necessary to compensate for the Giants' efforts here.
Matt Maiocco of CSN Bay Area described further:
"[Manning] posted the 34th 300-yard passing game of his regular-season career. He completed 41 of 54 passes for 441 yards with three touchdowns and one interception. ...
A good chunk of Manning’s production came when he teamed up with Odell Beckham, who caught seven passes for 121 yards and two touchdowns before leaving the game with a hamstring strain after catching a 17-yard scoring pass late in the third quarter.
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San Francisco did have one interception off manning thanks to a pick from veteran cornerback Tramaine Brock at the end of the first half. And a near interception from second-year back Kenneth Acker would have sealed a 49ers victory.
But the pick never happened, and the Giants were able to connect for a game-winning touchdown from tight end Larry Donnell.
This capped off a rough outing from the defense, which, aside from linebacker Aaron Lynch, struggled to get pressure on quarterback Eli Manning.
The result speaks for itself.
Jim Tomsula on His Team's Efforts
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Head coach Jim Tomsula didn't necessarily have to take the blame for a widespread disaster as had been the case in Weeks 2 through 4. But he does recognize the potential impact such a tough loss can have on his team moving forward.
True, the 49ers nearly pulled off this seemingly improbable victory.
But a loss is a loss regardless of how close it may have been otherwise.
"We will stay together," Tomsula noted, per Taylor Price of 49ers.com. "There's a very good resolve in the locker room, a group of guys who are made of the right stuff."
Tomsula is clearly trying to build up his players despite the final result. And it's something—especially the young players—they'll need as the 49ers try to regroup after such a disheartening defeat.
"We're obviously disappointed in the result," Tomsula continued. "Hats off to Eli Manning and Giants. We didn't make enough plays."
Yet words don't translate into wins and losses, so it will be interesting to see how San Francisco responds in the upcoming week.
Carlos Hyde on Staying Positive
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Running back Carlos Hyde was one of many positives emanating from San Francisco's defeat on Sunday.
Week 5 was the second-year back's best effort since rushing for 168 yards against the Minnesota Vikings in Week 1.
The Giants top-ranked run defense hadn't allowed 90-plus yards on the ground all season, and Hyde managed to break out for 93 yards rushing over the course of the game plus a touchdown.
He averaged 4.4 yards per carry in the process.
"That was a tough way to lose," Hyde said of the eventual outcome via the team's Twitter account. "We were battling back, but there's a lot of good things that we can take from tonight and build on."
Building on strong offensive efforts will be something the 49ers need to do after this week. San Francisco managed a number of strong drives in the second half, and it was promising to see the team take the lead late and remain in a position to come away with a much-needed victory.
The 49ers offense will likely stay built around moving the ball on the ground, so the ability to do so against a strong run defense suggests good things moving forward provided San Francisco can keep this offensive momentum going.
Kaepernick on the Positive Takeaways
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Quarterback Colin Kaepernick's efforts in Week 5 were clearly the best of the season. True, he had some nice stats in "garbage time" during Week 3 in Pittsburgh, but Kaepernick was at the heart of putting San Francisco into a strong position to come away with a Week 5 victory.
"I'm never going to accept losing or be happy losing," Kaepernick later said, per 49ers.com. "I do think there are things to build on. We need to put complete game together."
Kaepernick is, of course, speaking about the inability to close out the game and also prevent the Giants from asserting their offensive will throughout most of the game.
But the positive outlook from the offense is a good sign. The 49ers needed that performance from Kaepernick and Co. The only question is whether San Francisco can continue it on a regular basis.
"To me there's still 11 more games," he later said. "We have an opportunity to go 12-4. We have to get on that path."
San Francisco clearly isn't going to finish with an 11-game winning streak to close out the season. But failing to play to that goal is an ultimate failure should the 49ers' rocky season continue any worse than it already has in 2015.
All statistics, records and accolades courtesy of Pro-Football-Reference.com and ESPN.com unless otherwise indicated.
Peter Panacy is a Featured Columnist covering the San Francisco 49ers for Bleacher Report. Follow him @PeterPanacy on Twitter.
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