The 49ers offense went 7-for-10 on third downs in the first half to keep scoring drives alive as they took a 17-3 lead.
— It was like a slow bleed for the Giants’ defense.
Eventually the series of paper cuts became a bloody mess.
One by one, on every key 49ers drive in the Giants’ 30-12 loss on Thursday night at Levi’s Stadium, San Francisco was killing them on third down.
It began on the 49ers’ opening drive and continued all night.
The 49ers offense went 7-for-10 on third downs in the first half to keep scoring drives alive as they took a 17-3 lead.
They finished the game a more modest 9-for-16 for 56.3 percent, but the damage was done much earlier.
Similar damage happened when the Giants were on offense.
They converted just three of 12 third downs, which heavily contributed to the 49ers controlling the ball for 39:10 to just 20:50 for the Giants.
“On both sides, third down was a huge [factor] in this game,’’ Giants head coach Brian Daboll said afterward. “It was a contributing factor to [San Francisco having nearly double the] time of possession.
