Going into Sunday afternoon’s game against the New England Patriots, the 49ers appeared to be overmatched.
In fact, Chad Finn of the Boston Globe wrote that the 1-8 49ers were the ideal opponent for the 7-2 Patriots, who were coming off a loss to the Seattle Seahawks.
“Nowadays, the Niners are hapless, hopeless and just what the Patriots need,” he wrote.
Unfortunately for San Francisco fans, he was right.
On Sunday, Tom Brady threw for 280 yards and four touchdowns in a 30-17 New England victory that gave head coach Chip Kelly his ninth straight loss. He’s the first head coach in franchise history to lose nine straight games.
After the Niners hung with the Patriots in the first half, trailing just 13-10, New England blew them away in the third and fourth quarters. The Pats scored 17 straight points until a late, meaningless TD in the final minutes.
Niners quarterback Colin Kaepernick completed 8-of-9 throws for 116 yards in the first half, but then went flat. Over the final two periods he was 7-of-21 for 90 yards.
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It was a dominating win for the Patriots, who held the 49ers to just 299 total yards, sacked Kaepernick five times and forced San Francisco to punt eight times.
Patriots running back LeGarrette Blount was a handful, carrying 19 times for 124 yards, including a burst of 44 yards. Brady spread the ball around in the passing attack, findng the holes in the 49ers secondary and connecting 21 times with the receiving quartet of Malcolm Mitchell, Julian Edelman, James White and Dion Lewis.
After forcing four turnovers vs. Arizona last week, the 49ers didn’t get any against the Patriots.
The game slipped away from the 49ers in the fourth quarter after a scoreless third. The 49ers defense allowed the Pats to drive for three straight scores – two TD passes from Brady (one to Danny Amendola and one to Mitchell) and a field goal by Stephen Gostkowski.
By the time San Francisco answered with Kaepernick’s 13-yard scoring throw to Shaun Draughn with 2:09 remaining, the outcome of the game was long decided.
Now, at 1-9, the 49ers have six games remaining – including against the Dolphins this coming Sunday – and the only question remaining is, can they overtake the 0-11 Browns for the No. 1 overall pick?
