49ers offense starts hot in Cincinnati showing improvement from season opener
Jimmy Garoppolo surpassed his Week 1 production against the Buccaneers in the first half of Sunday’s game in Cincinnati. Garoppolo, along with the play calling of coach Kyle Shanahan, had the offense playing well as the 49ers looked for their second straight road win to open the season.
Garoppolo had 181 yards against the Bengals at halftime after totaling 166 in Tampa Bay. He threw two touchdown passes on his first two series Sunday and had just one against the Bucs. San Francisco the break up, 24-10, while Garoppolo had a 108.8 passer rating.
The 49ers had 291 yards offense after logging 256 in Tampa Bay.
Things came easy for Garoppolo in the early going. His first touchdown went to a wide-open Marquise Goodwin up the left side of the field after the defense bit on play action. The second touchdown was a screen to Raheem Mostert, giving Garoppolo touchdown passes of 39, 38 and 39 yards in the first five quarters of 2019.
Garoppolo through two possessions completed 4 of 5 for 96 yards with two touchdowns. He had a perfect 158.3 passer rating.
But the third drive began with a series of 49ers mistakes. Right tackle Mike McGlinchey was called for a false start, than almost allowed a Garoppolo sack before he threw it away. Then Garoppolo was called for a false start on a mix-up of the snap count with center Weston Richburg.
On second-and-20, Garoppolo heaved an ill-advised pass toward Richie James up the left sideline, which was easily intercepted by cornerback William Jackson III.
Fortunately for San Francisco, the Bengals’ possession resulted in a missed 52-yard field goal after quarterback Andy Dalton was called for making a pass beyond the line of scrimmage. It appeared he could have scrambled for to make it a more manageable kick, but the penalty moved Cincinnati back five yards and incurred a loss of down.
The 49ers scored their third touchdown soon after, thanks to an impressive run from Matt Breida on third-and-1, side-stepping multiple defenders before finding a lane up the left sideline to get into Bengals territory. It resulted in running back Jeff Wilson Jr.’s first-career touchdown after being promoted from the practice squad on Saturday.
San Francisco had 90 rushing yards through four the first four possessions while averaging 7.3 yards per carry after having just 98 yards throughout the entire Week 1 in Tampa Bay. Breida had 67 yards on his first six carries.
Ahkello Witherspoon got off to a strong start with a pair of pass breakups, including a dropped pick-six after which he was flagged for kicking the ball of the field, and good coverage on a deep pass to the end zone. Linebacker Kwon Alexander was flying around throughout the first half after being ejected early in Tampa Bay.
He had his first interception with San Francisco late in the second quarter that set up field goal just before halftime.