The San Francisco 49ers will look to end their four-game losing streak on the road in Week 6 in a matchup against the Buffalo Bills.
Buffalo enters the game as winners of three straight and have been powered by their running game, led by star ball-carrier LeSean McCoy. The big storyline for the 49ers is that Colin Kaepernick is making his first start of the 2016 season. Chip Kelly announced the decision earlier in the week that Kaepernick would start in favor of Blaine Gabbert.
Follow along here for updates throughout the contest.
Pregame
Jaquiski Tartt is the most notable inactive for the 49ers. San Francisco's safety got banged up against the Cardinals in Week 5 and was listed as questionable going into the game. Jimmie Ward is also missing his third straight contest and was ruled out with a quad injury on Friday.
The good news for the 49ers is that Garrett Celek and DeForest Buckner are back in the lineup. Buckner missed Week 5 with a foot injury and McDonald has missed the past two games with a hip injury.
Here's the full list of 49ers inactives: Tartt, Ward, Christian Ponder, Tony Jerod-Eddie, John Theus, Blake Bell, Taylor Hart.
And for the Bills: Cardale Jones, Gabe Ikard, Seantrel Henderson, Patrick Lewis, Cyrus Kouandjio, Gerald Christian and Marcell Dareus.
First Quarter
Buffalo won the coin toss and elected to defer to the second half.
That meant Kaepernick and the 49ers got the chance to strike first. Pierre Garçon's first carry went for six yards and Kaepernick followed with a run of five yards to pick up the first down. Quinton Patton then took a jet sweep for 17 yards into Bills territory. Kaepernick took a shot deep for Torrey Smith, who had his man beat, but overshot his receiver in the end zone. The drive stalled and the 49ers punted.
San Francisco got tremendous pressure on Bills quarterback Tyrod Taylor. Nick Bellore, Aaron Lynch and Arik Armstead were all in the backfield early and often. Armstead burst through the line of scrimmage untouched, sacked Taylor and forced a fumble. Buckner recovered to give the 49ers the ball back.
Kaepernick found Smith on a shallow crossing route to convert a 3rd-and-12 situation for a 15-yard gain. The 49ers ultimately had to settle for a field-goal attempt.
Phil Dawson was true from 33 yards out to give San Francisco a 3-0 lead.
The one significant lineup note on Sunday is that Joshua Garnett is starting at right guard for the 49ers in place of Andrew Tiller. Garnett played 18 snaps in Week 5 against the Arizona Cardinals and now has his first career start.
Other lineup notes include Quinton Dial at nose tackle and Keshawn Martin at kick returner.
Buffalo responded with a scoring drive to take the lead. A 20-yard pass from Taylor to tight end Charles Clay got the Bills moving. Taylor then found Robert Woods for an 18-yard gain.
On 2nd-and-goal from the 4-yard line, Taylor pitched the ball to McCoy on an option play for an easy touchdown.
The 4-yard score was McCoy's fifth touchdown of the season. Buffalo's star running back racked up 34 yards on seven carries in the first quarter.
Second Quarter
San Francisco quickly retook the lead. Kaepernick's 7-yard carry and 17-yard pass to Quinton Patton got the drive started. Hyde followed with runs of four and 11 yards. That led to another shot play deep down field.
Kaepernick hit a wide open Torrey Smith, who made one man miss on his way into the end zone for a 53-yard score to put the 49ers up 10-7.
The touchdown was Smith's second of the season.
In what's turned into a high scoring first half, Buffalo wasted no time in their response to the 49ers touchdown. McCoy's 38-yard carry got the Bills into San Francisco territory.
McCoy would finish what he started, taking a direct snap out of the wildcat and running it in for a 12-yard touchdown.
The Bills running back has nine carries for 84 yards and two scores early in the second quarter.
San Francisco scored on its third straight possession. Kaepenrick scrambled for 11 yards. He followed with 13- and 11-yard completions to Patton. Hyde added a 15-yard run to get the 49ers in field-goal range.
Dawson was good once again, this time from 48 yards out to pull the 49ers within one, 14-13.
The kick was Dawson's 392nd career made field goal.
San Francisco's defense appeared to have its first stop of the afternoon, but McCoy was able to pick up 22 yards on 3rd-and-20. That led to more points for the Bills just before halftime.
Dan Carpenter drilled a 40-yard field goal to put Buffalo up 17-13.
The 49ers took a knee to end the half.
Third Quarter
San Francisco got its first stop of the day to open the second half, forcing a three-and-out. The 49ers subsequently went three-and-out on their first possession of the third quarter.
A few injury updates for the 49ers: Carlos Hyde is questionable to return with a shoulder injury and Rashard Robinson is being evaluated for a concussion.
On San Francisco's next drive, Kaepernick evaded a safety and turned it into a 10-yard gain on a scramble up the middle of the field. That's all the 49ers would muster and they punted the ball back to Buffalo.
Hyde returned midway through the third quarter, but Robinson was announced as out for the game.
The defensive stalemate continued with Kaepenrick's 29-yard scramble serving as the lone 49ers highlight in the early going of the second half. Mike Davis was stuffed on a 4th-and-1 attempt from the Bills 40-yard line.
Taylor took advantage of the momentum swing, connecting on a 23-yard pass to Nick O'Leary.
On the very next play, Taylor found Justin Hunter open in the end zone for a 30-yard touhdown to put the Bills up 24-13.
Fourth Quarter
A 19-yard pass from Kaepernick to Vance McDonald plus a 15-yard facemask penalty got the 49ers into Bills territory.
Dawson hit his third field goal of the game, this one from 47 yards out to pull the 49ers within one score, 24-16.
San Francisco's kicker is now at 393 career makes.
Buffalo's offense continued to move the ball, particularly via Taylor and McCoy's running ability. An 18-yard completion to Clay started the drive. Taylor proceeded to evade a sack and scramble for a gain of 21 yards.
McCoy capped off the drive with an 18-yard touchdown run to put the Bills up 31-16.
The score was McCoy's third of the game as the ball-carrier is up to 140 yards rushing.
San Francisco fumbled the ensuing kickoff and Buffalo recovered. A long pass interference penalty immediately got Buffalo inside the 49ers 10-yard line.
Taylor connected with Woods for a 5-yard score to extend Buffalo's lead to 38-16.
Kaepernick was sacked and stripped on San Francisco's next possession. The 49ers recovered but still went three-and-out.
Mike Gillislee broke free for a 44-yard touchdown run to put the Bills up 45-16.
The touchdown was Buffalo's third of the quarter as they broke the game open.
Mike Purcell forced a fumble and Nick Bellore recovered to give the 49ers the ball inside the Bills 30-yard line. Kaepernick connected with Rod Streater for a 16-yard gain to move San Francisco inside the red zone. The drive ultimately stalled as Kaepernick's pass on 4th-and-8 fell incomplete.
The Bills went on to win their fourth consecutive game, 45-16 as the 49ers dropped their fifth straight. San Francisco is now 1-5 on the season and will return home to play the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 7.
