Chargers vs. 49ers: Preseason Week 4 grades and analysis

In their fourth and final preseason game, the San Francisco 49ers fell to the Los Angeles Chargers, 23-21. Niner Noise has your full position grades and analysis from Week 4 of the 2018 NFL Preseason.

The San Francisco 49ers — led by fourth-string quarterback Jack Heneghan — scored two late touchdowns to take the lead before a last-second field goal by Los Angeles Chargers’ kicker Roberto Aguayo sealed the 23-21 victory for the visiting team:

For a summary of the game, check out Niner Noise’s game recap, which includes highlights, scores and analysis from the 49ers’ final matchup of the 2018 NFL Preseason.

While 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan treated San Francisco’s “dress rehearsal” preseason game last week as if it were a regular season game, Shanahan’s intentions for the Niners’ final exhibition matchup were significantly less clear.

The 49ers began the game with starting defensive end Solomon Thomas on the field, as well as oft-injured star linebacker Reuben Foster, who sustained a concussion just five days ago. Defensive end Ronald Blair also saw first-team action, and while Thomas played just a single drive, Foster played into the second quarter of the game.

On the offensive side of the ball, linemen Joshua Garnett and Jonathan Cooper started the game at the two guard positions on the offensive line. Backup quarterback C.J. Beathard also started for the 49ers’ first-team offense under center, but was pulled from action three plays later, before he had the opportunity to throw a pass.

In the end, Shanahan demonstrated that he knew that the outcome of the team’s final preseason game was relatively meaningless. The 49ers’ head coach elected to keep his offense on the field on fourth-and-goal, and allowed the Chargers to run out the clock and score at the end of both halves of play, which ended up being the difference in the game.

Each week — even in Week 4 of the preseason — Niner Noise breaks down and grades the performance of each of the 49ers’ position groups. Let’s start with the San Francisco 49ers’ offense: