My wife said it best when she said this game was a tale of two halves, as that is exactly what it was. Kaepernick will start Sunday and the 49ers hope he will resume the upward trend he had displayed in the previous four gams before the game against Chicago. Losing several offensive starters to injury prompted Kelly to admittedly become too conservative with his play calls.
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49ers starting center Daniel Kilgore left the game with 5:53 left in the first quarter because of a leg injury and his return was ruled out.
San Francisco (1-11) has lost a franchise-record 11 straight games since a season-opening win over the Rams. By the end of the fourth quarter, it felt as if we were waiting for the 49ers to lose as opposed to seeing if they could close out the Jets.
Then he led a drive for a tying field goal in the final minute of regulation. He had some up-and-down moments that he’d like to have back, or some reads he’d like to have back, but his feistiness got better as the game went on. NY didn’t catch up right away, but they stayed in the game, giving Petty confidence.
OUR PREDICTION: The Jets are coming off a short week in which they were embarrassed on Monday Night Football against the Colts and now have to fly cross-country to play an opponent that is 1-11.
“The first half was probably about as ugly as I could play”, Petty said. But, what he showed the coaching staff and the fan base is his toughness. Smith went up, along with New York Jets cornerback Juston Burris, for a deep pass from Colin Kaepernick in the third quarter. He was sacked six times, all in the first half.
“Some guys stepped up and made some plays”.
Case and point is the two-point conversion that brought the Jets within a field goal. “I’ve been around long enough to know that you don’t put a lot of stock in that [rankings]”.
Petty’s day couldn’t have started any worse when he threw an interception that set up San Francisco’s first TD on his first pass of the game.
It wasn’t all wine and roses.
With 5:04 remaining in the game, Powell scored on a 5-yard run, capping a 15-play, 66-yard drive. Looking to get their rushing attack back on track, the Jets have a good chance against a 49ers D that is giving up 169.3 yards per game.
“His feistiness got better as the game went on”, Bowles said after saying Petty had made “some unsafe throws” and “some gutsy plays”. With only two sacks, the pass rush wasn’t exactly dominant either.
Petty followed with a 26-yard prayer to Robby Anderson, who went up as if he was on a trampoline. Many analysts and experts believe a huge roster overhaul is on the horizon for the Jets, as they look to purge numerous aging veterans with expensive salaries.
Bilal Powell will get most of the running back reps in Forte’s absence.
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Petty had some gunslinger-like throws down the field, including one late in the second quarter that threaded the needle so closely that it first appeared it was intercepted, but was actually caught one-handed by Quincy Enunwa.
