SANTA CLARA, Calif. — The Chargers dropped a bruising 22-16 decision to the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday at Levi’s Stadium, a game in which they were prepared to take a punch or two or three or four in the mouth. But that knowledge of what was likely to come didn’t make it any easier on the field.
Christian McCaffrey’s two-yard run with 7:54 left in the game gave San Francisco its first lead of the game. Robbie Gould’s extra point sailed wide right, however, and the 49ers led 19-16, after a punishing 14-play, 77-yard drive that chewed up nearly seven minutes in the fourth quarter.
Gould then kicked a 20-yard field goal to make it 22-16 with 58 seconds remaining.
The 49ers (5-4) held the Chargers (5-4) scoreless in the second half.
The Chargers ended their four-game streak of trailing by double digits by the end of the first quarter, taking a 7-3 lead over the 49ers on the strength of a seven-play, 75-yard drive that produced a Justin Herbert-to-DeAndre Carter 32-yard scoring pass only 3:25 into the game.
Two gaffes by the 49ers could have helped the Chargers build a larger halftime lead than their modest 16-10 advantage. A fumble led to Cameron Dicker’s 47-yard field goal and a deflected punt later set up Dicker’s 25-yard field goal that gave the Chargers a 13-3 lead in the second quarter.
Dicker then kicked a 40-yard field goal on the final play of the first half as a promising drive in the closing minutes stalled after Justin Herbert took a shot to the head from San Francisco’s Dre Greenlaw at the end of a scramble for a first down. Greenlaw was penalized and ejected.
Herbert was sidelined for the final three plays of the half while he was checked out for a possible head injury. Chase Daniel replaced him and threw two incomplete passes and was sacked for a one-yard loss, setting up the third of Dicker’s three field goals in the second quarter.
A 16-10 lead was all well and good for the Chargers, but there was a sense of what could have been if they had scored touchdowns instead of settling for Dicker’s three field goals. The Chargers limited the 49ers to Gould’s 20-yard field goal and Jimmy Garoppolo’s 1-yard run.
Herbert was cleared to return to the game to start the second half. He began the game playing behind a patchwork offensive line, with rookie Jamaree Salyer continuing to start in place of an injured Rashawn Slater at left tackle and Foster Sarell filling in for injured right tackle Trey Pipkins III.
The Chargers’ defensive line wasn’t in great shape either, after Austin Johnson suffered a season-ending knee injury in last week’s victory over the Atlanta Falcons and Otito Obgonnia hurting his knee in the first half and needed a ride on the cart to get to the locker room.
