49ers 'took a step back' in first loss of season against Falcons
ATLANTA -- After each of the San Francisco 49ers ' six wins this season, linebacker Fred Warner insisted he isn't as worried about the final score as whether his team shows improvement from the previous week.
On Sunday, after the Niners blew an 11-point lead and lost their first game of the season to the Atlanta Falcons , Warner had the distinct feeling that the outcome directly aligned with a lack of progress.
"Unfortunately, we're not going undefeated this year," Warner said after the 29-20 defeat. "It's not just about winning. I've said we have to continue to get better as a team. I feel like today we didn't get better. We took a step back."
While the Falcons made their share of impressive plays, the Niners buoyed that upset bid with an avalanche of mistakes, many of them self-inflicted. That included four turnovers, three of which were inside Atlanta's 30, and no takeaways. They had seven penalties for 55 yards -- four of those on the defense and all giving the Falcons a first down, with three of them coming on third or fourth down.
What's more, the 49ers' special teams struggles continued as kicker Eddy Pineiro missed his fourth extra point of the season and the kick coverage unit allowed returns of 61 and 38 yards.
In an otherwise winnable game, the Niners did all they could to help the Falcons improve to 3-4 while losing for the first time in their past 19 tries when leading by 11 or more points.
"That was one of the most frustrating things," coach Kyle Shanahan said. "Anytime you have four turnovers like that and you get zero, it's real tough to win.
"I don't know about the amount of penalties, but the timing of some penalties, just keeping them on the field, giving them some big plays, especially when we have them behind the chains, just illegal contacts or holdings, whatever they called. But too sloppy to win."
Early on, it looked like the Niners might cruise to their seventh consecutive victory and head into the bye as one of the league's few undefeated teams. Despite missing almost all of their top receivers, including Mike Evans (Achilles), because of injury, they jumped to a 14-3 lead after impressive touchdown drives on two of their first three possessions.
Even after running back Christian McCaffrey departed with a thigh injury, rookie running back Kaelon Black rattled off three runs for 52 yards, including a 30-yard score. But with the 49ers marching to potentially take a 21-9 lead, Black fumbled at Atlanta's 29.
Soon after, defensive tackle Osa Odighizuwa jumped offside on a fourth-and-4 just before halftime when the Falcons clearly were trying to draw the penalty, allowing Atlanta to kick a field goal just before the end of the second quarter.
The Falcons followed with a touchdown to open the third quarter after Niners quarterback Brock Purdy made his first big mistake of the day: He attempted to throw the ball away but didn't get it far enough out of bounds, and Falcons safety Jessie Bates III picked it off at Atlanta's 10.
"I thought maybe Christian Kirk on the scramble was going to be there, but then towards the end of the throw, as I was going through, I was like, no, it's not," Purdy said. "I went to just throw it away by the sideline and then Bates all of a sudden came across and made a play and I was like, 'You've got to be kidding me.' In that moment, I've got to completely throw the ball away if I'm not going to make an attempt to a receiver."
The mistakes continued from there, as Purdy threw another interception to kill a potential game-winning drive in the fourth quarter, and tight end George Kittle coughed up a fumble on San Francisco's final possession. The Niners mixed in costly penalties, as well, with two that resulted in automatic first downs helping the Falcons out of backed-up situations.
San Francisco finished with negative-4.73 expected points added on its four defensive penalties Sunday.
"We kind of just stuck our foot in the mouth multiple times in that game," Kittle said.
Now, the 49ers turn their attention to a much-needed Week 8 bye before returning home to play the Las Vegas Raiders at Levi's Stadium.
San Francisco entered Sunday with so many players already ruled out because of injury that it didn't even have the full complement of 48 available to participate on the active game day roster. If all goes according to plan, the Niners hope to welcome receivers Evans, Deebo Samuel (hamstring) and Demarcus Robinson (ankle), end Nick Bosa (calf), safety Marques Sigle (ankle) and cornerback Upton Stout (shoulder) back from injury either right after or soon after the bye.
The week will also provide an opportunity to explore additions on the trade market, with a pass rush that pressured Falcons quarterback Michael Penix Jr . on just three of 34 dropbacks on Sunday expected to get attention.
"Losing is never great, but when you do lose, I think especially in this organization, it makes everybody really just look at yourself in the mirror," Kittle said. "It's definitely going to sour our entire bye week, and I think that's good because I think when we get back next week, I think our guys are going to be incredibly focused.
"Would I rather win? Absolutely. Way more fun. But hey, like I said, it could be worse. We didn't have a bunch of guys get injured today. I think we made it out pretty healthy. And we got guys coming back, so I'm excited about that."