The San Francisco 49ers are now 0-3 at home in 2020. For head coach Kyle Shanahan he will need to take full responsibility for their dreadful effort against the Miami Dolphins.
Jimmy Garoppolo came back from injury and lasted the first half before being benched in favor of C.J. Beathard. The offensive line once again struggled to protect and play calling was atrocious. Miami came in with a struggling defense. Yet it didn’t seem that way.
Shanahan’s poor play calling started from the first series of the game. Raheem Mostert also back from injury ran for four yards on first down. The second down play put Deebo Samuel in motion and went nowhere. A poor throw on third down led to a three and out.
On possession number two. The 49ers faced a fourth and one. So what does Shanahan call? A run play out of shotgun formation with Jerick Mckinnon. A play that didn’t have any chance of success.
San Francisco did move the ball and picked up several first downs on possession number three before having to punt. This led to a muffed punt which forced Miami deep in their own territory. Turning point and possible moment back to the 49ers?
Seemed that way. The 49ers defense forced a punt and got their best field position after a nice punt return by Trent Taylor. Mostert picked up 37 yards on a nice run and ran for another five yards before fullback Kyle Juszczyk scored on a seven yard run. The Dolphins were leading 14-7 at that point.
Miami then put up 16 more points before half time and led 30-7 thanks in part to Garoppolo throwing two interceptions.
Beathard looked erratic in his first series yet thanks to several penalties was able to find Kendrick Bourne for a touchdown reception his first of the season. After that though the offense managed a field goal the rest of the way.
Combined Garoppolo and Beathard completed 16 of 35 attempts and got sacked five times. Meanwhile Mostert finished with 11 carries for 90 yards. It doesn’t look good for Shanahan when there’s speculation that the 49ers were not prepared for today’s game and it certainly seemed that way.
With Shanahan and the 49ers having one of the toughest schedules in the NFL a return to the playoffs has become a daunting task