Yuck!
The 49ers on Sunday suffered their first loss of the season when they fell 19-17 to the Browns in Cleveland.
San Francisco’s offense was dismantled by the Browns defense, and eventually Cleveland’s offense did enough to pull out the win.
Here’s our quarter-by-quarter observations from Sunday:
First quarter
– 49ers get to wear their home reds in Cleveland. That’s fun.
– Jordan Mason is the first running back off the bench even though Elijah Mitchell is active.
– Like butter. The 49ers offense rolls 84 yards in five plays thanks to a couple of Browns personal fouls penalties. Christian McCaffrey takes a shovel pass from Brock Purdy and makes a couple of excellent cuts to find room into the end zone for a touchdown. McCaffrey has now scored in 15 consecutive games, including the playoffs. It’s 7-0, 49ers.
– There’s Fred Warner. He steps in front of a Browns receiver for an interception and his return put the 49ers at Cleveland’s 26. PJ Walker telegraphed that throw and Warner had plenty of time to step in front for an easy interception.
– Ouch. The 49ers’ second drive starts with a huge loss on a screen to McCaffrey. Then a penalty and an incomplete pass that set up third-and-23. This Browns defense is for real.
– Yikes. Jake Moody misses a 54-yard field goal try.
– San Francisco continues getting bailed out by Browns penalties. This time Cleveland has a touchdown called back because of a hold on a screen.
– Now the Browns miss a 47-yard field goal. The 49ers are having a lot of things go their way.
– Uh oh. Trent Williams got rolled up on. He walked off under his own power, but that’s scary for the 49ers. It’s Jaylon Moore in at left tackle.
– Now Deebo Samuel is in the blue medical tent. This couldn’t be going a lot worse for San Francisco.
– Wow. Purdy dropped a dime to Brandon Aiyuk on a deep shot and Aiyuk couldn’t reel it in. That was a terrific throw where he made a subtle adjustment backward in the pocket to give himself time. Aiyuk just couldn’t haul it in.
– The Browns offensive line is doing a really nice job.
– Samuel and Williams are both questionable to return. It’s a shoulder for Samuel, but it’s unclear when he got hurt. Williams has an ankle injury from when he got rolled up on.
End of first quarter: 49ers 7, Browns 0
Second quarter
– Trent Williams is back on the field.
– Jet sweep to Ray-Ray McCloud. That’s good for 15 yards. The 49ers are going to have to continue attacking the edges to try and stretch the Browns defense horizontally.
– Now a play action boot gets Aiyuk wide open for 33 yards. He nearly hurdled a defender and kept running. That would’ve been fun. The Browns bit hard on the play fake which allowed Aiyuk to get wide open.
– Maybe it’s weather related, maybe it’s the Browns defense dictating what the 49ers want to do offensively, but San Francisco isn’t doing much creatively in the passing game. They stalled out in the red zone thanks to a couple runs that went nowhere and then a short completion on third-and-6.
– Yikes. Deommodore Lenoir fell down covering Amari Cooper and Walker found his receiver for 58 yards after being backed up at their own 17. Good hustle by Oren Burks to chase him down and keep the Browns out of the end zone.
– Touchdown Browns on a toss play from a tight end who lined up under center on a third-and-short. That was a nice play call the 49ers weren’t prepared for. San Francisco needs to answer with a long scoring drive before the half. Cleveland gets the ball to start the second half. It’s 10-7, 49ers after the TD.
– Really nice play call on third-and-short. It was a quick jet sweep to McCloud who got the edge and the first down.
– Purdy had a free play and McCaffrey wide open down the field and he missed him bad. That’s one the QB has to connect on.
– Better throw from Purdy on the next snap. He found Jauan Jennings for 17 yards on an in-breaking route.
– Purdy looks to be struggling to grip the in the rain. He missed Kittle down the field, and then fumbled trying to make a third down throw on the next snap. Yikes.
– It sure looked like Walker fumbled on the Browns’ final drive of the half. The officials called it a forward pass, but that was a very close call. It looked to us like the ball was moving before he moved his hand forward. Alas, the call stood after a review.
– SHEESH. Browns punter Corey Bojorquez unleashes a 69-yard punt to pin the 49ers inside their own 10. That forced them to kneel to end the half.
– What an ugly 30 minutes of football. San Francisco was not the better team.
Halftime: 49ers 10, Browns 7
Third quarter
– Unbelievable catch by Amari Cooper on a deep shot down the right side. He went up over Charvarius Ward for a 27-yard gain. The Browns are ripping off a ton of big plays in this one.
– The Browns are doing a really nice job of getting to the edges and mitigating the interior push by San Francisco. The 49ers DTs are spending a ton of time in the backfield, but Cleveland’s runs are all going outside away from them.
– San Francisco’s defense tightens up just outside the red zone and holds the Browns to a field goal. Walker is playing really well for the Browns. It’s 10-10 early in the third quarter.
– There’s Purdy’s first interception. He’s been erratic all day and finally threw one to a Browns defender. Just an abysmal day from the QB.
– Now the 49ers defense steps up and gets a three-and-out. Randy Gregory got in for his first sack on a third-and-forever. That was a really nice move to get on the tackle’s inside shoulder and blow by him.
– The wheels are falling off for the 49ers. They’ve got nothing going on offense and then they made a special teams mistake when punting from deep in their own territory. Shemar Jean-Charles ran out of bounds covering the kick, but didn’t try to get back in bounds. San Francisco’s defense is gonna have to win this one.
– Now McCaffrey is dealing with an oblique injury. Yikes.
End of third quarter: Browns 13, 49ers 10
Fourth quarter
– Purdy has been abysmal. Aiyuk was open twice on the 49ers’ first drive of the fourth quarter and the QB missed him both times. Four drives, negative-12 yards for the 49ers in the second half.
– It is shocking that there’s been no adjustment to the Browns screen game. They’re killing San Francisco on them, but twice now the 49ers have been bailed out by penalties on big gains.
– Huge play by Deommodore Lenoir who intercepted Walker and ran it back to the Browns 8. That felt inevitable at some point. Walker has been throwing up interceptable passes all game.
– Now Jordan Mason plows in on the first play from scrimmage to give the 49ers the lead. San Francisco’s offense needed that from its defense. It’s 17-13, 49ers.
– Randy Gregory gets a tackle for loss. He’s having a really nice game in his 49ers debut.
– Huge fourth-down conversion by the Browns on a fourth-and-4 late in the fourth quarter. Nice throw by Walker in between Oren Burks and Charvarius Ward.
– That’s better. The Browns are driving late in the fourth and they tried a screen. Kevin Givens sniffed it out and stuffed it for no gain. Good work from the DT.
– Huge, HUGE play by Nick Bosa to blast in for a sack. He ran a stunt and nobody picked him up. The 11-yard loss made it a 50-yard field goal for the Browns.
– Hopkins drills the field goal. It’s 17-16, 49ers. What a game.
– Intentional grounding from Purdy on the first snap of the biggest drive of the game. Woof.
– A three-and-out that burns 16 seconds. Abysmal from the QB and the 49ers offense.
– The 49ers defense is getting very lucky. Walker has had Elijah Moore open twice in the middle of the field and he’s missed him twice.
– Unbelievable. Third-and-10 and Tashaun Gipson gets flagged for a hit on a defenseless receiver. He went shoulder-to-shoulder and didn’t run through the receiver. Just a brutal, brutal call.
– Looks like this one is over. A couple of tough calls went against the 49ers and they appear to have packed it in. Cleveland is in the red zone at the two-minute warning.
– Hopkins drills the short field goal and Cleveland takes a 19-17 lead. That will probably seal it given how the 49ers offense has looked.
– Huge 25-yard catch-and-run by Aiyuk puts the 49ers into Browns territory. That’s a great play on a short throw.
– Third-and-Jauan. Jennings makes a nine-yard catch on third-and-2. That’s a big-time throw from Purdy.
– Moody missed the game-winning field goal. His second miss of the game. Ouch.
Final score: Browns 19, 49ers 17
