Tough loss, but exciting display for Levi’s crowd
That was it, ladies and gentlemen. We finally have a moment.
The best game in the 49ers’ history at Levi’s Stadium.
Sure, Thursday night’s performance came in a loss to the Rams, the only team that the 49ers beat last season. And, yes, the 49ers are 0-3 and about to hit the road for three straight games.
But the 41-39 defeat was — by far — the most entertainment seen in an actual 49ers football game at their 3-plus-year-old stadium. It was the most points the 49ers have scored
in their new(ish) home. The most points ever scored in a Thursday night game.
The 49ers fought back and they entertained. So, even in a losing effort, their fans will take it.
What were the big takeaways from Thursday’s game?
Defenses are wiped out for a Thursday night game. The 49ers’ defense looked gassed to start, the Rams’ defense looked gassed at the end and the beneficiary was the offenses that were able to rip off huge chunks of yardage. And the injury toll mounted in disturbing fashion during the game.
Kyle Shanahan is better at challenges than his predecessors. Shanahan twice challenged a call and twice replays showed that he was right. Those were big moments in the 49ers’ comeback, as they fought back from a two-touchdown deficit.
The 49ers do know how to score touchdowns. That was a question after the first two games of the season. But the 49ers scored in the first quarter when Brian Hoyer scrambled into the end zone. And they had two passing touchdowns in the fourth quarter.
The 49ers are not an easy out. Earlier in the season, Steve Young said that was one of the things he hoped for: a sign of progress. That the 49ers would not lay down and roll over for opponents. In the past two games, against division opponents, they have not.
The field at Levi’s is still an issue. The south end zone was a mess at the end of the game, and ended up hurting the tenants. Mounting a comeback, 49ers players slipped on the soft, sandy footing, including Trent Taylor on the potential gametying two-point conversion try.
Jared Goff, the Cal and Marin Catholic alum, is going to be a good quarterback.
That last point is the one the 49ers should pay the most attention to because it is a reminder, not that they really need one, of what is truly important this season — figuring out the quarterback they will build around.
The 49ers absolutely have to get a good young quarterback next year. The rest of this season isn’t nearly as important. The goal should be to be in position to get the right quarterback.
And I don’t mean Kirk Cousins, who will be 30 next season and might be 32 by the time the 49ers are actually ready to win again. I mean USC’s Sam Darnold, 20, or UCLA’s Josh Rosen, 20. A quarterback for the next decade.
Someone like Goff. The No. 1 pick of 2016 is now a bigger, stronger version of his prep and collegiate self. The outcry about him last season seems foolish from this vantage point.
A year ago, Goff was young and skinny, a baby in a grown man’s league, saddled with ineffective coaches and way too much pressure. Now he’s a second-year player who understands the system, has better coaches, more tools and more time and is clearly the centerpiece of the Rams’ construction project.
He carved up the 49ers like he was playing Tamalpais back in the Marin County Athletic League. He was 22for-28 for 292 yards, with three touchdowns and no interceptions. His quarterback rating was 145.8. He led the Rams on five touchdown drives. The 49ers were able to mount a comeback mainly because they kept the ball out of Goff’s hands late in the game because of a fumble recovery on a kickoff.
As for the 49ers, Brian Hoyer started miserably but redeemed himself. On the very first snap of the game, he threw an interception that was returned to the 3-yard line. One play later, the Rams were up 7-0.
“It’s a tough way to start out,” Shanahan said. “I told him to start over . ... He got us in the end zone on the next drive.”
Hoyer ended up passing for 332 yards and pulled his quarterback rating up to 98.0. He showed the big arm we hadn’t seen in the first two games: he had a pass to Pierre Garcon for 59 yards — all in the air. The 49ers had 74 passing plays and converted 9 of 18 third downs.
Even with the better performance, some people are going to be upset. You can get worked up about Hoyer if you want; hey, it’s your blood pressure. But we all knew the situation going in: A journeyman in Hoyer, on his seventh team. A rookie in C.J. Beathard who likely will get some playing time and will have growing pains.
What they need is a QB like the local kid who was on the other team Thursday night, in the most entertaining game Levi’s has hosted.