49ers notes: Bowman's tight coverage not enough on deciding play

Share

Programming note: Watch 49ers Press Conference Live today at 12:30pm on CSN Bay Area, and streaming live right here.

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. – The irony on a night in which the 49ers’ defense struggled mightily against Eli Manning and the New York Giants’ passing attack is one of the few plays on which they had good coverage came at the end.

It came on the play the Giants scored the winning points with 21 seconds remaining for a 30-27 victory over the 49ers on Sunday night at Metlife Stadium.

Linebacker NaVorro Bowman was in good position at the back of the end zone to defend Manning’s 12-yard pass to tight end Larry Donnell. But Donnell used all of his 6-inch height advantage to leap above Bowman and secure the football while Bowman turned, jumped and tried to jar the ball from Donnell’s hands.

“Just man to man,” Bowman said afterward in describing the play. “I thought I played it pretty good. Just great pass, great catch.”

When asked if he was surprised Donnell was able to make the play, Bowman said, “I thought it was in the white (out of bounds) initially. I thought it (the ball) was probably loose. I don’t know. I thought I played it well enough. They got one in.

“I’ll take that. I’ll put that on me.”

San Francisco 49ers

Find the latest San Francisco 49ers news, highlights, analysis and more with NBC Sports Bay Area and California.

How 49ers could be impacted by NFL's 2025 salary cap spike

Why 49ers likely won't use franchise tag on their 2025 free agents

Manning finished with 441 yards passing, completing a franchise-record 41 passes in 54 attempts with three touchdowns and an interception for a passer rating of 110.2.

“We didn’t make enough plays,” 49ers coach Jim Tomsula said. “Obviously, losing leverage there, in the secondary . . . We got to play tighter and tougher.”

The Giants marched 82 yards on eight plays in 1 minute, 24 seconds after Carlos Hyde scored the go-ahead points for the 49ers.

“We got a four-point lead, so they got to get a touchdown,” Tomsula said. “We’re playing tight coverage and rushing four.”

Manning was not sacked in the entire game, as the 49ers were playing without starting outside linebacker Ahmad Brooks, who was in Louisiana with family after the death of his older sister on Wednesday.

“I wouldn’t pin it all on the D-line,” defensive back Jimmie Ward said. “We have to have tight coverage to allow them to get home.”

---The 49ers scored the go-ahead points with 1:45 remaining in the fourth quarter on Hyde’s two-yard touchdown run. The 49ers took a four-point lead, but allowed Manning enough time to engineer the game-winning drive.

The 49ers could have run more time, but on first and goal from the 2, quarterback Colin Kaepernick attempted a pass to tight end Garrett Celek that safety Landon Collins nearly intercepted. The play stopped the clock with 1:49 remaining. The 49ers could have run the ball, and if they didn't score they could have used up nearly 40 seconds or forced the Giants to call a timeout.

[MAIOCCO: 49ers WR Boldin: Kaepernick sloughs off pressure, had fun]

“(The Giants) loaded the box and we’re calling a play to score a touchdown, Tomsula said.

Tomsula said he immediately looked at the scoreboard to see how much time Manning had to work. But Tomsula said the focus was on doing whatever it took to score the points – regardless of how much time it did or didn’t take.

“If we can score, we’re going to score,” Tomsula said. “We got to go out and get it stopped.”

Said Kaepernick, “That’s not something that crosses your mind. We’re down three at that point and we have an opportunity to score a touchdown and go up four. All you’re thinking about is get into the end zone and make sure we get up four, so we don’t allow them to go down and kick a field goal.”

But Hyde said he knew the Giants would have plenty of time to mount a comeback.

"I was like, 'Ah, we left a lot of time on the clock, and we should have taken time off,' " Hyde said. "Eli Manning is a great quarterback, and you don't give time to a great quarterback."

---Jordan Devey made his fifth start at right guard. He opened the first and second halves and played a total of 34 snaps. Andrew Tiller, who was promoted from the practice squad on Saturday also played 34 snaps, as the players rotated. Both appeared to play well in a game in which the 49ers rushed for 124 yards and totaled 380 yards of offense. Hyde rushed for 93 yards on 21 rushing attempts.

[RELATED: 49ers snap count: Equal time for Devey, Tiller]

“They did what they were asked,” Kaepernick said. “The offensive line played great tonight all around. They allowed Carlos to run, gave us time to throw the ball and allowed our receivers to make plays.”

---It appeared as if the 49ers won the game with :50 remaining when cornerback Tramaine Brock was initially credited with an interception at the 49ers’ 12-yard line. But referee Walt Coleman, with assistance from the NFL’s replay center in New York, overturned the ruling on the field.

“I thought it was a chance of me having it,” said Brock, who recorded his second interception of the season earlier in the game. “But it went the other way. I thought they didn’t have enough evidence to overturn it because they called it an interception.”

---There did not seem to be as much discouragement in the 49ers’ locker room after the latest loss of their four-game losing streak. The 49ers seemed to possess a more positive attitude than after their recent blowout losses at Pittsburgh, Arizona and Green Bay.

“I think we played well,” Bowman said. “I just see this team just continuing to get better. I don’t think anything was out that we (should) hang our heads about. I think we have a bright future with us being so young and having so much adversity early in the season.”

Said Kaepernick, "To me, there's still 11 more games and an opportunity to go 12-4. That's a good record and what we're aiming for."

Tomsula said the message in the locker room after the game was that the 49ers have a lot of season to play and they have yet to play five of their six games against NFC West teams.

"Lock your jaw,” Tomsula said he told his team. “We've been through ups and downs and crazy stuff. OK? And we’ll stay together. There’s a very good resolve in the locker room – a group of guys who are made of the right stuff. Grab that and hold it tight and keep going through it.

“We’re 1-4 and we’re 0-1 in the division, so we got to get it tightened up and keep moving forward. But the effort, how hard the guys played, those things were all evident.”

---Running back Reggie Bush played just three snaps before aggravating the calf strain that sidelined him for all or parts of three games this season. Bush had minus-1 yard on one rushing attempt.

Australian Jarryd Hayne took over as the 49ers’ No. 2 running back and gained nine yards on two rushing attempts. And as a punt returner, Hayne had one return for 16 yards with a fair catch.

---The 49ers started the game in a three tight-end formation with Garrett Celek, Vance McDonald and rookie Blake Bell while Vernon Davis was ruled out with a knee bruise. Celek had a five-yard touchdown catch early in the fourth quarter to pull the 49ers into a 20-20 tie.

That touchdown reception was the 49ers’ first from a tight end since Davis caught two scoring passes in the first quarter of the team’s 2014 season opener against the Dallas Cowboys.

---Wide receiver Bruce Ellington played two snaps in the game. He was on the field for the 49ers' first two passing plays. He caught screen and gained 30 yards. On the next play, the 49ers ran the same play to the other side and Ellington gained nine.

Contact Us