The good, bad and ugly from 49ers’ efforts versus Rams on Thursday Night Football

The San Francisco 49ers fell to 0-3 after a sloppy, mistake-filled bout versus the Los Angeles Rams on Thursday Night Football. Niner Noise looks at the good, bad and ugly from Week 3.

Thursday Night Football games are rarely good, and such was the case in Week 3.

Well, at least for the now-0-3 San Francisco 49ers.

Head coach Kyle Shanahan remains winless, as the Niners dropped this home contest to the visiting Los Angeles Rams 41-39.

San Francisco 49ers

It’s weird to think the Rams actually have an offense. Or, perhaps, San Francisco’s defense was simply too permeable after showcasing some strength against the Seattle Seahawks less than a week ago.

Or it’s just another Thursday night game on a short week.

Either way, the Niners lost control of this game on the first offensive snap, with quarterback Brian Hoyer tossing a near-pick six, which eventually led to a Rams touchdown the first play.

And from that point onward, San Francisco was playing to catch up.

At least on the positive note, the Niners offense started to click at times throughout the game. The 49ers managed to stage some late-game heroics in the fourth quarter — a point when most probably felt the Rams “had it in the bag.”

So let’s start off there in our weekly good, bad and ugly review from Week 3.

The Good

After scoring just 12 points over the first two weeks combined, San Francisco’s offense finally started to churn things up this third week.

It didn’t exactly start off that way, as the Niners managed just 13 first-half points to the Rams’ 24.

But finishing with 39 points on the night, especially considering everything that happened with this group in Weeks 1 and 2, is a good sign. And ending with 421 all-purpose yards is also worthy of some hope moving forward.

Who can forget the desperation San Francisco played with in the waning minutes either? That’s a positive.

And there were a few players critically involved with this.

Wide Receiver Pierre Garçon

The Niners needed to get veteran wide receiver Pierre Garçon involved more, and such was the case Thursday night.

Garçon had seven receptions for 142 yards on the night, none more impressive than this:

https://twitter.com/toptechin2017/status/911056550738972672

San Francisco’s veteran receiver certainly opened up opportunities for his fellow receivers, Marquise Goodwin and Trent Taylor. But it’s Garçon getting the lion’s share of the credit for his efforts Thursday.

49ers Special Teams

Let’s think about this, the Niners forced two turnovers on special teams and converted an onside kick, thanks to linebacker Dekoda Watson:

Yeah, he’s among the do-gooders from San Francisco in Week 3.

That onside kick certainly helped make up for kicker Robbie Gould’s missed extra point, which would have negated the failed two-point conversion late in the fourth quarter.

Gould made up for it, though, so that’s a positive.

Safety Jaquiski Tartt

With Eric Reid (knee) out for a few weeks, backup strong safety Jaquiski Tartt got the start and didn’t disappoint.

Tartt finished tied for the team lead with seven tackles and also had one pass defended. And all this despite being on San Francisco’s injury report with a neck injury.

It was possible to see Tartt not playing at 100 percent. But plays like this one certainly speak to his development in year three:

Tartt had to come out of the game with a concussion later, which puts San Francisco’s already thin defense — we’ll get to that shortly — into a much more precarious spot.

The Bad

Aside from the NFL’s color rush uniforms — they’re bad — almost the entire game had the feel of sloppiness throughout.

San Francisco was penalized 10 times for 55 yards, and those issues have been problematic for head coach Kyle Shanahan ever since the preseason. And cornerback Rashard Robinson, who was a regular member of the Niners’ penalized group, might want to consider some different coverage strategies. He was flagged on multiple occasions.

Robinson was only part of the defense’s problems, though.

The Pass Rush

If one wants to argue how “it all starts up front,” the 49ers defense certainly lost some stripes in the trenches in Week 3.

San Francisco’s pass rush was virtually non-existent over the course of the game. Rams quarterback Jared Goff wasn’t sacked, and the Niners managed just two quarterback hits — one by defensive tackle Tank Carradine and the other by safety Lorenzo Jerome.

EDGE Elvis Dumervil almost had his 100th career sack, but that was wiped out by a 49ers penalty.

DeForest Buckner and the interior pass rush were non-factors, and San Francisco wasn’t getting any pressure off the edge from fellow defensive ends Solomon Thomas or Arik Armstead.

As a result, Goff was well protected and able to throw almost unchallenged for 292 yards and three touchdowns. His passer rating was 145.8.

Containing Rams Running Back Todd Gurley

Forget 2016, Rams running back Todd Gurley looks like his rookie self. And that was surely the case in Week 3.

Gurley ran all over the 49ers defense, finishing with 113 yards and two touchdowns on the ground, as well as adding another 36 yards and a touchdown through the air.

Stopping him would have been easier if rookie linebacker Reuben Foster (ankle) was available. Instead, veteran linebacker NaVorro Bowman ended up missing tackles.

Not a good look for Bowman either.

Needless to say, defensive coordinator Robert Saleh didn’t scheme enough to take Gurley out of the picture. From Los Angeles’ opening touchdown directly after a Brian Hoyer interception to the final Rams possession of the game, Gurley wasn’t being stopped.

And the 49ers defense paid dearly for it.

Quarterback Brian Hoyer

So Hoyer had a stat line of 23-of-37 for 332 yards, two touchdowns against one interception for a passer rating of 98.0.

That sounds good, but this is one of those instances where statistics are deceiving.

Hoyer set the 49ers up to be playing from behind the very first snap from scrimmage, tossing a pass intercepted by L.A. defensive back Nickel Robey-Coleman that he nearly returned for a touchdown:

Sure, Hoyer ended up with two more passing touchdowns and a rushing TD on top of that. And there were some nice passes mixed in later throughout the game. But the same accuracy issues plagued Hoyer’s ability to effectively move the ball.

And it would be nice to see some better pocket awareness too. Hoyer was sacked four times, and three of those could have been avoided.

The Ugly

The 49ers put themselves in a position to lose this game. And lose they did.

But there were plenty of factors working against San Francisco’s favor. First, Thursday Night Football games are usually ugly and poorly played. Such was the case again in Week 3. Players don’t get enough time to rest and recover, and the product on the field often reflects that.

And then there are the injuries and penalties. Yeah, those hurt the Niners in a big, big way.

Plethora of Injuries

San Francisco was already dealing with a slew of injuries before the game, including critical ones to safety Eric Reid (knee) and linebacker Reuben Foster (ankle).

After a solid start to the game, safety Jaquiski Tartt suffered a concussion and had to leave. So did linebacker Brock Coyle. Fullback Kyle Juszczyk excited with a neck injury, and defensive tackle Tank Carradine injured his knee.

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Did we miss any? Probably.

Oh, yeah. Running back Carlos Hyde was banged up but still managed 84 yards on 25 carries.

Still, the already-shorthanded 49ers didn’t benefit at all from the short week. And, notably on defense, the attrition certainly hurt San Francisco’s bid to contain the Rams offense as the game wore on.

Officiating

Calling out the referees is usually the proverbial “low fruit on the tree,” but it’s impossible to overlook the many bad calls — many of which went against the 49ers — during the game.

Here are some takes:

Speaking of that Trent Taylor “pushoff,” here’s the evidence, courtesy of David Fucillo at Niners Nation:

If that’s offensive pass interference, well…

What we do know is that all but thwarted San Francisco’s final shot to come back and potentially win the game late in the fourth quarter. It would have been a first down, and the Niners were only trailing by two with plenty of time left.

We’ll never know if the 49ers could have staged a last-second field goal or touchdown to win the game, but it’s a shame the officials never gave them a chance.

Sure, referees make mistakes too. But you hate to see it seriously impact the outcome of the game.

If there’s a positive takeaway from San Francisco’s third consecutive loss this season, at least we can say it was entertaining.

Next: Fantasy football: Start-em, sit-em players for Week 3

Haven’t been able to say that for a while.