A convincing first-half game can be incredibly good for morale and motivation but not if you don’t follow through in the second half when you need to drive the point home. Something very similar happened to the 49ers in last night’s game at the Nissan Stadium, when the Titans claimed a 17-20 win over them, coming alive after the first half was over.
There were several missed throws and turnovers from the 49ers’ quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo that allowed the Titans the chance of a comeback. The 49ers had a 10-0 lead in the first half that came to no avail once the Titans had their play in the second half.
The scores were barely 49ers 7, Titans 0, after the first quarter, moving towards steady 49ers 10, Titans 0 still keeping the 49ers ahead in the game. The third quarter was when it all started to playout for the Titans as they went straight ahead matching the 49ers for a 10-10,
Catching 11 passes, A.J. Brown, the 145 yards hours were all busy for Brown. “It was all on us and we just had to make a play. Then we had to make another play. That was the mindset. Just come out here and make plays, so that’s what we did.” Brown said.
Finally, the score came to be Titans 20, 49ers 17 after the fourth quarter ended the second half to get the Titans their hard hauled-for win. The game’s result ended up springing a playoff for Dallas on Sunday night. This was the second loss for the Niners in seven games as they try to hold their wild card position.
The last time the 49ers lost a lead like this was in Week 14 of 2016 to the New York Jets. Titans’ coach Mike Vrabel said, “We were running out of steam there. We were flatlining, and he made a huge play for us,” regarding Jackrabbit Jenkins who faced and beat George Kittle, calling it a very “critical” part of the game at that point.
