Giants' win extends 49ers' losing streak to four

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. – The 49ers have been fortunate in the past four games to face three teams depleted by injuries.

On Sunday, the New York Giants were vulnerable, looking nothing like the team that won the Super Bowl last season.

But the 49ers were unable to take advantage of their good luck over the past month with losses to New Orleans, New England and Philadelphia. And they did not make the Giants pay for their sluggish performance, either.

The 49ers’ losing streak reached four games on Sunday, as quarterback J.T. O’Sullivan continued to make costly turnovers in a 29-17 loss at Giants Stadium.

The 49ers never led in the game, but they pulled within a touchdown late in the third quarter when Nate Clements returned Manny Lawson’s blocked field goal 74 yards for a touchdown.

But sandwiched between their biggest highlight were a bunch of errors that doomed the 49ers, who fall to 2-5 on the season.

“We’ve lost four in a row,” 49ers coach Mike Nolan said. “We’re certainly not going in the right direction.”

Nolan is under fire as the 49ers close out the first half of the season Sunday against the Seattle Seahawks at Candlestick Park. If the 49ers lose at home to Seattle, general manager Scot McCloughan is expected to meet with team ownership - John and Jed York – to discuss the franchise’s path for the remainder of the season.

When asked if he thought the speculation about his job security were fair, Nolan answered, “I think when you’re losing it’s fair speculation, sure.” Nolan said he continues to filter out any such talk and continues to keep his focus where it needs to be.

“But as far as if it’s on my mind, it’s not there,” Nolan said. “I can’t control that. I’m just trying to win. If I focus on winning, I have a better chance of doing something about it.”

The 49ers played their sloppiest game of the season against the Giants, who were coming off a 21-point loss to the Cleveland Browns on Monday night.

The 49ers committed a season-high 13 penalties for 134 yards.

Tight end Vernon Davis and receiver Josh Morgan both saw potential long pass plays get away when they dropped perfectly thrown passes from O’Sullivan.

O’Sullivan missed a deep hookup with receiver Isaac Bruce when he overthrew a second-quarter pass.

“That’s just execution,” Nolan said. “Just catching the ball, remaining focused. It was a sloppy game.”

Said O’Sullivan, “I think there were opportunities to make plays, but that’s not what sticks with me walking off the field. I feel like what sticks with me walking off the field is we need to score more than 10 points.”

Running back Frank Gore was virtually nonexistent in the 49ers’ offense, as the Giants’ defense clamped down to allow just 11 yards on 11 rushing attempts. O’Sullivan completed 16 of 28 passes for 256 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions. He was also sacked six times.

“We were doing the right thing,” Gore said. “We were calling the right plays. It’s just turnovers. In this league, you can’t have turnovers, especially against last year’s championship team. They capitalized every time they got a chance.”

O’Sullivan had another turnover-plagued game. He threw two first-half interceptions to Giants safety Michael Johnson. The latter came in the end zone with 15 seconds remaining before the half.

“The quarterback just threw it right to me,” Johnson said. “On the second turnover, I was man-to-man ... and I stayed inside and he threw the ball right to me. It stuck out like a gift.”

Technically, O’Sullivan committed three turnovers – giving him 12 giveaways in the past four games. However, that does not include another O’Sullivan fumble with five minutes remaining that Morgan kicked out the back of the end zone for a safety.

“I think we can play better, whether it be eliminating mistakes or capitalizing on the opportunities when they’re there,” O’Sullivan said. “You’re going to make mistakes, but you have to be able to turn the corner and realize that the game’s going to keep going and you’re going to have more opportunities.”

The Giants scored 12 points off 49ers miscues.

“Some teams can make mistakes and overcome them,” 49ers linebacker Patrick Willis said. “But I think for our team, we can’t afford to make those mistakes. Whether it be penalties or turnovers or whatever it may be. We can’t afford to have any mistakes in order for us to win games.”

The 49ers’ defense played its best game in a month, holding the Giants’ offense to a season-low 273 yards. The 49ers were better on third downs, stopping the league’s top-ranked offense on 10 of 14 third-down conversions.

The 49ers allowed Eli Manning to throw for just 161 yards, while also holding the Giants’ running game to a season-low 112 yards. But that was little consolation.

“It’s hard to see the good when the bad outweighs it,” Nolan said.

For more on the 49ers, go to Instant 49ers at http://blog.pressdemocrat.com/49ers. You can reach Staff Writer Matt Maiocco at 521-5492 or matt.maiocco@pressdemocrat.com