The San Francisco 49ers suffered an embarrassing defeat on Sunday, losing to the New York Jets after blowing a 17-3 lead. After the game, Chip Kelly addressed the media and took the blame for conservative play-calling issues in the second half.
The offense looked good in the first half. Carlos Hyde was running all over the Jets, finishing with 141 yards on seven quarters rushes in the first two quarters. He needed some breathers after big runs, but when you’re having that much success, it is a bit of a surprise we did not see more of him.
That being said, the 49ers took a 17-3 lead into the half, and seemed on track to snap the franchise-record 11-game losing streak. However, the team got conservative in the second half, and things went south. After the game, Kelly took the blame for the play-calling, saying, “Yea, that’s on me as a play-caller. But I just really wasn’t confident — we lost Vance, we lost Torrey, we had two guys in there on the offensive line. We gotta make sure we’re good with protections. They had a lot of zero blitzes, we gotta get the ball out quick, but yea, that’s on me.”
Kelly did get aggressive in overtime, going for it on 4th and 2 at the Jets 37-yard line. Kelly said the defense was tired and he did not want to put them in a position to have to make the stop there. The 49ers could have gone for the 54-yard field goal or punted the ball, but either way, the Jets offense was getting the ball back.
The 49ers players acknowledged after the game that they did not execute the plays that were called. It is not surprising to hear some players take their own share of the blame, but it does not really help this team take any kind of significant step forward. Or really even a small step forward. This has been a problem all season long. Some instances we see problems executing, and some instances we see questionable play-calling. It makes for bad football week in and week out.