Finally the right side of a nail biter for the 49ers

The San Francisco 49ers welcomed the Titans to Levi’s Stadium and for the third week in a row got to put a fourth notch in the win column. Quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo registered his third win in as many starts. As usual there were winners and losers but it’s always good when there are more of the former and less of the latter. Bad news first:

Losers:

The yellow flag

The 49ers racked up seven penalties for 70 yards which is slightly better than last week’s 11 penalties for 87 yards but it’s still something the team should be focused on. Those yards could change the momentum of the game and it’s not advisable to put the outcome of the game in the the hands of the officials.

The secondary

He got off to a slow start but Titans quarterback Marcus Mariota finished the day 23/33 for 241 yards and two passing touchdowns. While the Titans avoided registering a 100 yard receiver, Rishard Matthews was close with 95.

The red zone offense

The 49ers were one of four in red zone which is why the 49ers had to resort to Robbie Gould scoring the majority of their points, 18 to be exact. Garoppolo threw just one touchdown pass.

Winners:

The franchise

Jimmy Garoppolo had his second consecutive game with over 300 yards passing. (It was almost three in a row. His first start in Chicago was seven yards shy with 293 yards.) Garoppolo continued to show why he is the future of the team, especially with his command of the two minute offense which sealed the win.

The golden foot

Robbie Gould kicked and made six field goals. While you never want to rely on your kicker to score all of the points, it’s nice to know that he can. Gould’s furthest field goal was 50 yard attempt. According to Elias sports, Gould is the first player in NFL history to make 15 field goals in a three week span.

The run defense

The 49ers defense, which was an absolute disaster against the run last season, only allowed 90 yards rushing which ended up being an average of 3.2 yards per carry. DeMarco Murray was held to 18 carries for 59 yards.

The unexpected

Marquise Goodwin had his second 100 yard receiving game in a row and is on track to reach 1,000 for the season. While he said those numbers aren’t important to him, it’s a significant milestone.

The Faithful

After suffering through several unwatchable seasons the 49ers are finally fun to watch again. The offense moves the ball and the defense makes plays. Hopefully this is just the beginning of more good things to come.