CHICAGO — Following his staff’s disappointing 19-10 loss to the Chicago Bears on Sunday, San Francisco 49ers quarterback Trey Lance stepped to the rostrum ready to shoulder the blame.
The primary question had barely been lobbed his approach earlier than Lance instantly started rattling off all of his errors within the defeat. The record: overthrowing wide-open tight finish Tyler Kroft for a would-be landing, an interception to Bears security Eddie Jackson, taking a sack that knocked the Niners out of discipline aim vary and missed third-down throws to receivers Deebo Samuel and Jauan Jennings.
“Simply too many errors on the sector,” Lance stated. “I’m simply annoyed with myself just a little bit. I simply really feel like I am loads higher than that.”
Lance completed 13-of-28 for 164 yards with no landing passes and an interception for a passer ranking of fifty.3. He additionally ran for staff highs in carries (13) and speeding yards (54). The Bears have been content material to pressure Lance to beat them from the pocket, as they did not blitz him as soon as in his 34 dropbacks. He is solely the seventh quarterback previously 15 seasons to drop again 30-plus occasions and never face a blitz. Quarterbacks in such eventualities are 1-6, in line with ESPN Stats & Data analysis.
In fact, the Niners entered this season understanding Lance would have his share of rising pains, but it surely was additionally exhausting to evaluate him (or anybody else) a lot on a day when the rain by no means stopped and the taking part in circumstances have been extra akin to a Slip ‘N Slide than a soccer discipline.
“Completely not,” proper deal with Mike McGlinchey stated. “Not in these circumstances. I might by no means maintain any of that towards him. However as for our efficiency as a staff, the sport should not have been in that place within the first place.”
That was a sentiment shared all through the Niners’ locker room after coughing up a 10-0 lead in a recreation they appeared to have beneath management. For a lot of the first three quarters, it appeared as if the Niners have been going to dispatch the Bears with relative ease. However with each alternative the 49ers’ offense needed to prolong the lead, they made a expensive mistake within the type of a penalty, a turnover or a mixture of the 2. Whereas the offense was failing to capitalize on these probabilities, the protection stored making the kind of miscues that allowed the Bears to hold round.
San Francisco completed with 12 penalties for 99 yards and two turnovers whereas going 1-for-3 within the crimson zone. Chicago had three penalties for twenty-four yards and one turnover whereas scoring touchdowns on each of its crimson zone journeys. The Niners’ errors have been unfold virtually equally, with 4 penalties on offense, six on protection and two on particular groups.
The timing of a few of these infractions was equally expensive. The Niners had three defensive penalties on third down for 45 yards, all three leading to a Bears first down. Two of these stored the Bears’ first two scoring drives alive.
“It is exhausting sufficient to play towards the opposing staff,” left deal with Trent Williams stated. “It’s even tougher while you play towards your self. I’ve been taking part in soccer a very long time. Any recreation that I might bear in mind the place we had near 100 yards in penalties, we had two turnovers, particularly one in scoring vary within the crimson zone, it usually by no means seems that effectively.”
Now, the Niners should determine the way to repair their many points earlier than Week 2 towards the Seattle Seahawks. Opening video games towards the Bears and Seahawks have been purported to be a comparatively mild introduction for Lance because the starter, however Sunday provided a reminder that there is not any such factor as a certain factor within the NFL.
In idea, the 49ers ought to have the ability to repair a lot of their penalty woes. In spite of everything, a lot of them — akin to linebacker Dre Greenlaw‘s 15-yard face masks flag — have been the results of a foul choice and never a 50/50 name left within the arms of the officers.
That is no assure, provided that expensive penalties have been a persistent downside for the Niners in recent times. In 2021, the 49ers had the third-most penalty yards within the league (1,066), they usually have the Eleventh-most penalties (539) within the league since coach Kyle Shanahan took over in 2017.
However with Lance studying from his errors on the fly, the 49ers cannot afford to make issues tougher on themselves, or a promising season might slip away as shortly as Sunday’s recreation did.
“It is powerful to win while you do this stuff,” Shanahan stated. “We all the time speak about doing proper longer. I believe immediately was the precise reverse of that.”