Following his team's 16-13 preseason loss to the Houston Texans Saturday night, San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan spoke about some of the aspects from the game, including quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo and the unsightly high number of penalties the Niners committed.
Preseason games don't matter to most fans. But to San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan, they sure do.
The Niners lost 16-13 to the Houston Texans Saturday night -- both teams' second exhibition bout of 2018 and following a number of joint practices in Houston leading up to the contest. San Francisco was in position to win the game late, thanks to some late-game heroics from third-string quarterback Nick Mullens. But the Texans got some heroics of their own, thanks to backup quarterback Joe Webb's 41-yard game-winning touchdown pass with the final seconds ticking off the clock in the fourth quarter.
Those dramatics won't mean much during the regular season. Instead, how Shanahan's starters played should be the focal point of his team's efforts.
Quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo improved upon his 3-of-6 line posted during the Niners' exhibition opener versus the Dallas Cowboys a little over a week ago. Garoppolo was 10-of-12 on the night, throwing for 136 yards and a touchdown to wide receiver Trent Taylor to cap off San Francisco's first possession.
On the Niners' second offensive drive, however, Garoppolo and the offense turned the ball over via a pass wide receiver Dante Pettis couldn't quite grab, which went for an interception. The play before, center Weston Richburg was flagged for an unsportsmanlike-conduct penalty, which thwarted San Francisco's red-zone efforts.
"I thought we should have finished with two scores," Shanahan told reporters after the game. "I thought we had a stupid penalty, a 25-yard penalty, because there were two of them. Just didn't like the way it ended with our group."
Richburg apparently said something to the official, although Shanahan admitted he wasn't sure what was said. And despite the flag, Shanahan also noted he thought Pettis should have come down with Garoppolo's pass that ended up being picked.
Those two penalties were among 15 total for 140 yards against San Francisco on the night.
"There were way too many penalties," Shanahan continued. "Some you can control, some you can't. Always the pre-snap penalties bother me the most. There were definitely some in there, especially the one on Richburg, that really hurt us. They're unacceptable."
The Niners were also victims of the league's new rule against leading with the shoulder or helmet. One play, a punt return by Houston, saw running back Raheem Mostert flagged for what appeared to be a form hit on a player who didn't signal a fair catch. Later on, edge rusher Jeremiah Attaochu was flagged for a similar hit during a defensive play.
"I think a lot of people don't [understand the rule]" Shanahan noted. "We're still trying to figure it out."
San Francisco's first-team offense largely avoided those penalties, however, at least on the initial drive. And Garoppolo looked poised within the pocket and far more like the quarterback fans saw towards the end of 2017.
"By no means was it perfect, and there's a number of things he can do better on," Shanahan said of Garoppolo. "There were a couple of times where he wasn't perfect but made a play and kept us on the field. You've got to take the good with the bad."
Garoppolo played into the early seconds of the second quarter, compared to just one drive against Dallas in the Niners' first preseason bout. And with San Francisco visiting the Indianapolis Colts on Aug. 25, it's likely Shanahan keeps Garoppolo out on the field longer. Week 3 of the preseason is generally viewed as each team's dress rehearsal for the regular season, and starters typically see the most amount of time they'll get before Week 1.
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