49ers grounded by Jets

by Otis Redding

Blogger, San Francisco Chronicle

The San Francisco 49ers, having just beaten the Buffalo Bills with a stout defense and just enough offense, met another AFC East foe in the New York Jets this week. Without home cooking, however, the 49ers were quite pedestrian and struggled mightily on offense, losing 13-7 in the Meadowlands.

Both teams were feeling each other out early, but the 49ers finally found some holes in the Jets' defense enough to get Branden Oliver close for a 1 yard touchdown run and a 7-0 lead on the first play of the second quarter.

Jets' quarterback Dylan Thompson, in relief of an injured Bryce Petty, was erratic all day, but accurate enough late in the second quarter to get the Jets within field goal range (thanks to windy conditions), and Georgio Tavecchio knocked home a 54 yard field goal to shorten the lead to 7-3.

The Jets would come out in the second half with a modified game plan, A quick screen pass to Ronnie Hillman snuck past the 49ers' secondary, going 70 yards for a touchdown and a 10-7 lead for New York.

Dylan Thompson would make an error midway through the 3rd quarter, and safety Eric Reid would be the recipient of good fortune for San Francisco. The drive for the offense would quickly stall, however, and San Francisco would punt away with no damage done.

49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick would hit a big pass play late in the 3rd quarter to Quinton Patton for 68 yards. However, a red zone interception to Dee Milliner on a terrible throw by Kaepernick ended a potential scoring drive. The Jets would drive down the field enough for another Tavecchio field goal from 25 yards out to lengthen the lead to 13-7 with under 5 minutes to play.

San Francisco would muster a last drive into the red zone, but would fall short when a Kaepernick throw to the end zone was batted down.

For the 49ers, Colin Kaepernick was better than his numbers, going 22 of 41 for 245 yards and 1 interception. The running game was underwhelming, with top honors going to Branden Oliver (9/21/1 TD). The receivers dropped passes all day long, but Robert Woods was the leading man on the day, catching 9 passes for 115 yards. Defensively, lineman Quenton Dial had 2 tackles and a sack on the day.

The Jets' young quarterback Dylan Thompson had a bad day in a victory, going 5 of 16 for 142 yards with a touchdown and an interception to his credit. The run game for New York also had issues, with halfback Knile Davis getting 31 yards on 11 carries. Halfback Ronnie Hillman was the hero for the receivers, getting only 1 catch but making it count, a 70 yard scamper on a screen. Defensively, linebacker Jaquain Williams led all tacklers with 5 tackles, and the Jets mustered 2 sacks as well.

"We didn't execute on offense," Coach Winuvas said after the game. "We have to do a better job in the run game. Our offensive line did not open up holes against a great Jets' front. We have to execute better."

The 49ers have officially iced up no worse than the #3 pick in the upcoming GFML draft. A disappointing campaign is officially over now, as the coaching staff and front office look to a potentially exciting offseason. What could happen? We will report is as we find out.