The 49ers played their preseason finale last night against the Los Angeles Chargers, and they lost the game 23-12.
The 49ers opened the game with a nice 70+ yard drive, but it ended with a turnover at the goal line when Jordan Mason fumbled the ball.
Brock Purdy was very good, going 5/9 for 73 yards, and had a rushing touchdown to take a 6-0 lead.
Deebo Samuel ended the game with 2 catches for 18 yards, while Brandon Aiyuk had 1 catch for 35 yards, and Kyle Juszczyk had 1 catch for 7 yards.
The 1st team defense was good, with Fred Warner finishing with 2 tackles, 1 for loss, and a sack.
As for QB2, Sam Darnold went 6/11 for 89yards, with 1TD, and no INTs, he had a couple nice throws, a nice pass to the sideline to Chris Conley for 34 yards, and then followed up with a really nice pass to Willie Snead IV in the endzone for a 6 yard touchdown.
Overall, the 49ers didn’t many of their key starters, we didn’t see the likes of Christian McCaffrey, Talanoa Hufanga, Arik Armstead, Javon Hargrave, but we still saw some good moments.
The best thing coming out of the game was no major injuries to any of their starters, just unknown injuries to Conley, A.J. Parker, & Tayler Hawkins, so we’ll see how this effects their chances at being on the 53, or the practice squad, and if it’s serious injuries, I’d expect them to be IR’d, which would end their 2023 season, unless it’s not a season-ending injury, which would result in an injury settlement.
Overall, I felt the 49ers 1st team offense played really well, driving down the field on both of their drives, getting the one TD, and Sam Darnold looked good, showing why the 49ers chose him over now former-49er Trey Lance as QB2.
Some players who impressed me were the likes of WR Isaiah Winstead, who had 2 catches for 32 yards, he looked really good for a UDFA, and could find himself on the teams’ practice squad.
Another guy I was impressed by was former 6th-rounder Kalia Davis, the nose tackle, who had some nice push on the offensive line, he did come up short on stopping the Chargers on a 4th and short play, but other than that, I was impressed.
For another week, I wasn’t impressed by the interior offensive lineman, namely Nick Zakelj, & Jason Poe, neither look like they’re ready to be on the 53, but I have a feeling the 49ers will keep Zakelj over someone like a Ilm Manning, who really has been impressive at left tackle.
On defense, both Jalen Graham, and Dee Winters played well, with Graham racking up 8 total tackles, and Winters getting 10 total tackles, these two better be on the final 53-man roster come week 1, they need to be out there playing, either on defense, if needed, or on special teams, as I’m not really impressed by Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles, or Curtis Robinson.
There is no doubt that the team will have some tough decisions to make this coming Tuesday by 4pm eastern/1pm pacific time, when rosters must be reduced to 53, plus the team needs to get Nick Bosa extended, and ready for week 1 in Pittsburgh.
I thank you for reading, and follow me on Twitter @49erscap.
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