Why did the 49ers lose a game they felt they could have won against the Tennessee Titans on Thursday night? There were a number of reasons, but none were bigger than their shortcomings with third downs and turnovers.
Turnovers have played a significant factor in the successes and failures of the 49ers over the course of their season. Usually, the 49ers have come out on top when they have had success with takeaways, while the opposite has happened when their opponent has won the turnover battle. Such was the case in their 20-17 loss in Nashville on Thursday night, as the Titans came up with two turnovers to the 49ers' none. But while turnovers were indeed a problem for the 49ers against the Titans, their inability to get off the field on third down was also a major issue in why they let the game get away.
The 49ers built a 10-0 lead at halftime, one that may well have been bigger if not for an interception in the end zone. But the defense held the Titans in check and forced them to punt on every first-half possession.
That all changed in the second half.
The Titans turned the second of two interceptions from 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo into a touchdown to tie the game at 10 early in the second half, but they also converted an inordinate amount of third-and-long plays. In the end, the Titans were 9-of-16 on third downs, compared to just 3-of-8 for the 49ers.
"What ultimately ended up losing us the game was the third downs and the takeaways," linebacker Fred Warner said Thursday night. "We had to do one or the other. If we won all those third downs, we're not talking about this right now. And if we took the ball away then the third downs would have been covered up a little bit more. We lost in both those areas, and that's why we lost the game."
The toughest third down to swallow came late in the third quarter when the Titans faced a 3rd-and-23 on their own 28-yard line. The Titans were given a free play when defensive end Samson Ebukam jumped offsides, then they converted when quarterback Ryan Tannehill hurled a deep pass downfield to wide receiver A.J. Brown for a 42-yard gain. The Titans scored four plays later to take their first lead of the game at 17 -10.
49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan singled that play out in particular when discussing the third-down shortcomings in his postgame press conference.
"The ones that I saw live, one, for us to jump offsides and give a free play on third-and-twenty-something is just completely inexcusable," Shanahan said. "Then they just launched it up and the guy made a good play. It looked like the ones over the middle we were playing zone. It looked like they chipped us and we just didn't get there fast enough. From what I saw, it looked like the quarterback looked off for a while and ended up opening a zone up over the middle. It looked like we had three guys close to it but the zone broke apart a little."
The 49ers also gave some credit to the Titans for their success on third downs. Part of that was due to the talented Brown, who in his first game back from a multi-week stint on IR for a chest injury caught 11 passes for 145 yards and one touchdown. But the 49ers also know they failed to do their part too many times, and it cost them in the end.
"I don't think you totally beat yourself," Shanahan said. "Those guys made those plays on third down. They did some good things. That's a good team. They played well. Give them a lot of credit. But I'm frustrated. I think we could have won this one."
Third downs and turnovers weren't the only things that went wrong for the 49ers on Thursday night (penalties played their part as well), but as Warner said, the 49ers would likely be going home with a win if they weren't deficient in those two areas. Unfortunately, they'll be making the long trip back to the West Coast with one of their most bitter losses of the season.
"It's always tough when you're away, especially far away, and you've got to fly home and when you feel like you should win," defensive end Nick Bosa said. "But it's the NFL. It's not always fun."