5 Takeaways from 49ers Loss to the Titans

The real Jimmy Garoppolo showed up again, plus four other takeaways from the 49ers' clunker in Nashville.

The 49ers stormed into Nashville with a methodical opening drive on Thursday night, getting out to an early 7-0 lead on the the hosting Titans. The run game and short pass game were in sync. Then the wheels fell off, and Jimmy Garoppolo returned to his jittery form, tanking the 49ers' hope of a road victory in primetime, and putting their playoff hopes in a more precarious position. 

After a gut-wrenching 20-17 loss, here are five takeaways from the game.

1. Jittery Jimmy Strikes Again

After throwing two horrible interceptions in the road loss to Seattle, Garoppolo was given credit for leading the 49ers on a drive that resulted in a turnover on downs at the three yard line. This after two key misses to Trent Sherfield. The turnovers became billed as an aberration, and the narrative of Garoppolo as a comeback king was alive and well again, despite the comeback never coming to fruition.

One week later, Garoppolo was taking his efficiency tour to Cincinnati, once again given credit for drives where the YAC Brothers got their YAC, and avoiding criticism for what should've been a walk-off pick six by All-Pro safety Jessie Bates to end regulation. It was billed as an aberration again, the 49ers held on in overtime, and Garoppolo earned "mic'd up" montages on ESPN against Atlanta, and was the talk of the town from every "I-told-you-so" apologist for the Run It Back narrative.

When the 49ers got the lowly Atlanta Falcons at home, Kyle Shanahan was in his bag, averaging 7.1 yards per play behind a dominant offensive line, decisive running by Jeff Wilson and the continuation of George Kittle as a downfield threat. The 49ers were back.

Then Thursday night happened in Nashville, and there was no amount of lipstick anyone could put on the pig that was Garoppolo's poor performance. After a great opening drive punctuated by a Jeff Wilson touchdown run, the 49ers were right back in the red zone on the following drive. Shanahan was in his bag, dialing up short passes to Juszcyzk and Wilson, and Garoppolo found Kittle in a soft zone with nobody within five yards of him. 

A minute later, Garoppolo, with no pressure (more on that later), zipped a ball toward Kittle in the end zone, but it was intercepted by Janoris Jenkins, who ended up looking like the intended receiver. After the game, Garoppolo explained it by saying, "Whenever you get a one-on-one with George in the red zone, I'll take that every day of the week." Evidently, that means even if he's completely covered. After the snap on that play, Garoppolo's head and eyes never deviated from his laser-focus on Kittle, clearly indicating this was a pre-snap decision. After the game, Garoppolo said as much, but credited Jenkins for "making a good play." 

Three minutes later, Garoppolo sailed a ball over a wide open Kyle Juszczyk on a leak play down the sideline. With nobody within 10 yards of Juice and with absolutely zero pressure on Garoppolo in the pocket, it would've been a walk-in score to put the 49ers up 14-0. Instead, they settled for a Robbie Gould field goal in a game the 49ers eventually lost by three points.

Later in the second quarter, Garoppolo again almost threw what would've been a pick-6 to Rashaan Evans as if he were the intended receiver, but Evans let it go right through his hands. On the very next play, Garoppolo was given five seconds in a clean pocket, but then took a sack, almost fumbling it, which led to a Mitch Wishnowsky punt. The 49ers got the ball back on another great defensive stand, only to have Garoppolo almost throw his third interception of the night, where he thought he had a free play (he didn't), overthrowing Jauan Jennings deep, and just past the grasp of Kevin Byard.

In the second half, it was more of the same, with Garoppolo throwing his second interception of the night right (with zero pressure) to a Titans defender while trying to force it to triple-covered Deebo Samuel, setting them up in the red zone and tying up the game 10-10, erasing the 49ers lead, a lead they would never relinquish. Later in the quarter, Garoppolo took yet another sack on 1st and 20, this time holding the ball for a full six seconds in a clean pocket. Two more dump offs later, the 49ers were punting.

With the 49ers now 8-7, John Lynch and Kyle Shanahan have to embrace the reality that their attempt to run it back with Garoppolo at the expense of Trey Lance's growth and financial benefits for roster building with a quarterback on a rookie contract has not worked as they envisioned it. After the game, both Shanahan and Garoppolo failed to hold Garoppolo accountable and kicked the can down the road until the Niners host the woeful Texans on January 2 in Santa Clara. This is who Garoppolo is. This is who Garoppolo has been, and this is who Garoppolo will be for whatever team he joins next year. But the 49ers knew that, which makes it that much harder of a pill to swallow.

2. Offensive Line Plays Lights Out

Given Garoppolo's struggles, a fan perusing the box score might assume Garoppolo was under duress all night. Far from it. PFF charted Garoppolo as having a clean pocket on 76% of passing snaps, with all of his sacks, interceptions, and "should've-been" interceptions coming from a pocket that was clean for at least five seconds.

The 49ers weren't bad in the run game against a rush defense giving up only 3.9 yards per carry on the season, and only 43 yards the previous two weeks. In one of my "Keys to Victory," I had talked about how Shanahan would be smart to dial up easy looks for Garoppolo, and try to neutralize the Titans dangerous pass rush of Harold Landry, Denico Autry and Jeffery Simmons. Shanahan did just that, and the offensive line shut down Landry and company all night. 

For all the grief that Tom Compton has received as a pass protector in place of the injured Mike McGlinchey, he was phenomenal on Thursday night in all phases of the game. Compton routinely played into Landry's aggressive style of play, comfortable in pushing him outside and behind the pocket, leaving Garoppolo an eternity to throw unforced interceptions all night.

3. Ambry Thomas Came to Play, But Cornerback Situation Still Dicey

Another player who has been a punching bag for fans in recent weeks is Ambry Thomas, the rookie cornerback out of Michigan who had struggled to get playing time until recently. After an up-and-down several games while matched up against Ja'Marr Chase and Kyle Pitts, Thomas afforded himself well on Thursday, making two PBU's against AJ Brown, with one of them crucially coming in the end zone. His only real snafu of the night was a 41-yard pick up by Brown on a true "50-50" ball, where Brown got away with a borderline-offensive pass interference push-off.

Josh Norman, however, did not come to play. The Titans made a great adjustment in the second half, moving AJ Brown to the left side of the alignment where he could feast on Norman, and put him in tough one-on-one, isolated man coverage situations. In many situations, Norman gave up his initially tight coverage, giving up two to three yards of cushioned separation to Brown, resulting in a touchdown and game-winning field goal. Tannehill didn't have to have pinpoint accuracy, and the Titans took advantage of the fading veteran. With the playoffs looming, and despite the excellent play lately from Jimmie Ward and Jaquiski Tartt, the cornerback situation remains the biggest weakness for the 49ers, outside of quarterback.

4. Third-Down Woes on Defense

The defense really came to play last night, but were frequently put in a tough position by Garoppolo's turnovers and taken sacks. However, the Titans and 49ers had almost identical time of possession, despite the Titans only averaging 4.8 yards per play to the 49ers' 6.7 yards per play. 

This discrepancy in offensive efficiency juxtaposed against identical time of possession was the result of the 49ers allowing the Titans to convert a first down on 60% of the Titans' third down plays. Making matters worse, those third downs were often third and long situations, with Tannehill converting 11 out of 13 passes for 149 yards, with 82% of those completions resulting in first downs. 

That being said, despite shaky cornerback play, it looks like this could be an anomalous performance from the 49ers in regards to third down efficiency. The only other game this season where the 49ers have allowed a 50-plus percentage of third down conversions was against Chicago on Halloween. If the defense can tidy that up, which I think they will, this defense will continue to be the strong suit of this team.

5. 49ers Lose Turnover Battle to Turnover-Prone Titans

My number one Key to Victory before the game was for the 49ers to continue to force the Titans into turning the ball over. In the Titans three previous losses, they had given the ball away a whopping THIRTEEN times! In those games, their opponents had zero turnovers. On Thursday night, Garoppolo threw two interceptions which gave the Titans seven points and took at least three points off the board for the 49ers (not to mention the points left on the board from huge misses to Juice and Aiyuk).

Not only that, but the Titans were also without their first AND second string left tackles, and starting left guard. This should've been a night the 49ers feasted on third and long situations while rushing four. 

Despite notching four sacks throughout the game, they didn't inflict the abuse many assumed they would against inferior competition. Ryan Tannehill entered the game leading the NFL in interceptions with 14. Down several offensive linemen and going up against a dangerous 49ers front, the Niners needed to feast on Tannehill's consistent penchant to put the ball in harm's way. 

They couldn't do that last night and, paired with Garoppolo's reckless play, it was a recipe for disaster for a team that will look to get back in the win column when they host the Texans on January 2.