Niners blast Jets, but lose key players
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — The injury carts rolled out twice in three plays and the 49ers lost a few more key players. Still, shorthanded San Francisco had enough to beat the inept New York Jets.
And it wasn’t even close.
Raheem Mostert ran for an 80-yard touchdown on San Francisco’s first play from scrimmage and Jimmy Garoppolo threw two TDpasses — before both players sat out the second half with injuries — to lead the banged-up 49ers to a 31-13 victory Sunday.
It was a costly victory for San Francisco, which was already hurting in a big way before losing Garoppolo to a high ankle sprain and Mostert to an injured knee. Defensive end Nick Bosa and defensive tackle Solomon Thomas were both carted off the field two plays apart with left knee injuries in the first quarter.
The fear is it could be a season-ending ACL injury for Bosa, who’ll have tests Monday. So will Thomas, although 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan said there’s a better chance for him it’s not as serious an ACL injury.
Shanahan and the 49ers said the new artificial turf at MetLife Stadium — where they’ll play the Giants next week — might have played a role in some of the injuries.
“I know that’s as many knee injuries and ankle stuff and people getting caught on a turf as I’ve ever been a part of,” Shanahan said. “From what I saw, the other team did, too. I know our players talked about it the entire game, just how sticky the turf was.”
The 49ers (1-1) also came in without star tight end George Kittle (knee), wide receiver Deebo Samuel (foot), cornerback Richard Sherman (calf ) and defensive end Dee Ford (neck).
It didn’t matter against the Jets (0-2), who have also been hit hard by injuries and couldn’t muster much.
“We did not play the game we needed to play,” Jets coach Adam Gase said.
Jets quarterback Sam Darnold threw a 30-yard touchdown pass to Braxton Berrios with 1:23 remaining. He was 21 of 32 for 179 yards with no turnovers.
Running back Frank Gore, 37, starting for the Jets in place of injured Le’Veon Bell, had 63 yards on 21 carries, becoming the oldest running back in NFLhistory with 20 or more carries in a game.