49ers notebook: Nick Bosa unhappy with his performance vs. Falcons
Nick Bosa had his ninth sack of his promising rookie season. But the 49ers defensive end wasn’t at all happy with his performance Sunday in the 29-22 loss to the Atlanta Falcons.
“I know I let all of (my teammates) down,” Bosa said afterwards. “I didn’t win my rushes. I did the wrong things on a couple plays. I just need to be more of an impact player.”
The 49ers outgained the Falcons 313-290, but allowed touchdown drives on Atlanta’s final two possessions that ultimately cost them the game. Bosa and San Francisco’s defensive front had just a pair of sacks and didn’t force a takeaway for just the second time all season.
The 49ers played without 60 percent of their starting secondary, including cornerback Richard Sherman, and allowed Atlanta’s most dynamic offensive player, Julio Jones, to go off for 134 yards and a pair of touchdowns. More than half of Matt Ryan’s targets went Jones’ way, and no other Falcon had more than 27 receiving yards.
The 49ers did, however, clinch their first playoff berth since 2013 thanks to the Rams losing Sunday to the Dallas Cowboys, 44-21.
“That’s our goal, so that is a great thing,” Bosa said. “But it just hurts to let one go like that.”
Ryan on the first of two straight touchdown drives completed 6 of 7 passes, not including a 32-yard pass interference penalty on safety Jimmie Ward, that set up a 1-yard touchdown run to cut the 49ers’ lead 19-17 with 5:20 remaining.
“I thought our offensive line played extremely well,” Ryan said. “That front seven and that defensive line is one of the better ones in the league. I know they’re missing a few guys, but they’re tough to go against.”
Ryan on the final drive found Jones for a massive 25-yard gain that got them to San Francisco’s 24-yard line. From there, he scrambled for 9 yards, converted a third-and-1 to Jones for 10 yards, and found Jones for the decisive touchdown after it appeared tight end Austin Hooper nearly won the game, but replays showed his catch in traffic touched the ground and was incomplete.
Ryan confirmed the game plan was to get Jones the ball a week after losing starting receiver Calvin Ridley for the year with an abdominal injury.
“It was no secret that our plan was to get (Jones) involved,” Ryan said. “We targeted him quite a bit. Pass interference was a huge play. We had a couple of others that didn’t go our way on those types of calls, but we gave him some chances and he delivered.”
49ers face no new injuries on short week
One sliver of good news for San Francisco was not having any new injuries to report after the team placed four players on injured reserve this week: center Weston Richburg (knee), receiver Marquise Goodwin (toe, knee), tight end Garrett Celek (back) and defensive tackle D.J. Jones (high ankle sprain).
San Francisco has six days to prepare for its next game against the Rams, which is a rare Saturday evening kickoff.
▪ San Francisco didn’t get any help in the NFC West standings from the Carolina Panthers on Sunday. They lost to the Seahawks, 30-24. Seattle improved to 11-3.
Defensive end Dee Ford missed his third game in four weeks after aggravating a hamstring injury last week in New Orleans.
▪ Jones was placed on injured reserve Saturday after sustaining a high ankle sprain against the Saints. It came a week after spraining his right ankle a week earlier in Baltimore. The 49ers were also without defensive tackle Jullian Taylor, who missed his second straight game with an elbow injury.
