San Francisco 49ers: The good, bad, and ugly in preseason loss to Colts

INDIANAPOLIS, IN - AUGUST 25: Head coach Kyle Shanahan of the San Francisco 49ers looks on in the second quarter of a preseason game against the Indianapolis Colts at Lucas Oil Stadium on August 25, 2018 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images)
INDIANAPOLIS, IN - AUGUST 25: Head coach Kyle Shanahan of the San Francisco 49ers looks on in the second quarter of a preseason game against the Indianapolis Colts at Lucas Oil Stadium on August 25, 2018 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images) /
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San Francisco 49ers
INDIANAPOLIS, IN – AUGUST 25: Pierre Garcon #15 of the San Francisco 49ers runs after a reception against the Indianapolis Colts in the second quarter of a preseason game at Lucas Oil Stadium on August 25, 2018 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images) /

The San Francisco 49ers dropped an exhibition game to the Indianapolis Colts – let’s take a look at the good, bad, and ugly from that game.

Unfortunately for the San Francisco 49ers, their first-team offense wasn’t all that sharp, while Andrew Luck and his were, as the Colts held on to win their exhibition game 23-17.

San Francisco has one more tune-up game with the Los Angeles Chargers coming up, but this was likely the final dress rehearsal for most of the starters. Following the trend around the league, Kyle Shanahan likely won’t play his key starters to avoid the risk of injury in a meaningless exhibition.

And this final tune-up before the season opener had to have left a bad taste in their collective mouths.

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There were definitely some good things that happened during the game. But, there were also a lot of things that maybe, weren’t so good. Penalties (10 for 98 yards), dropped passes, and missed opportunities galore.

This is a game the 49ers probably should have won, given the talent disparity between the two teams, but they came out a little slow, and never fully recovered from that. Add in less than scintillating performances from some of those starters, and it adds up to a loss.

That final tune-up game with Los Angeles is going to be important to some guys who are still on the roster bubble – and there are plenty who are. But, some of them have already started to separate themselves from the pack.

Which means that game four of the preseason slate is going to be critical for those guys scraping and clawing, trying to win a roster spot. Which should make for some exciting football – as exciting as preseason gets anyway.

But, with all of that in mind, let’s take a look back at the game against the Colts. Let’s take a look at the good, the bad, and the ugly from that game…