Category: San Francisco 49ers

 

By Morris Phillips

Every trying football season has a loss like this. Of course, the hard-luck 49ers have had several, just not one with such a heavy contribution from the referees, who flagged the team 13 times, including a controversial call against Quinton Dial on Arizona’s game-winning drive.

Playing arguably the NFC’s best team, and a division rival that embarrassed them in September with a 40-point loss, the 49ers battled the NFC West-leading Cardinals on even terms for 3 ½ quarters only to lose late, 19-13. A roughing-the-passer penalty against Dial allowed the Cardinal’s game winning drive to continue as Carson Palmer rumbled into the end zone to break a 13-13 tie with 2:28 remaining.

On the pivotal play, Dial sacked Palmer, rapping both hands around the quarterback for an eight-yard sack. But the referees maintained that Dial had tackled Palmer using the crown of his helmet, giving Arizona a critical first down. Nine plays later, Palmer scrambled into the left corner of the end zone for the game-deciding score.

“He hit me right in my face with the crown of his helmet,” Palmer maintained when asked about the play afterwards.

Dial felt that Palmer ducked his head at the point of contact, inadvertently selling the call to the referees. Had the call not been made, the Cardinals would have faced 3^rd-and-18 at their 24-yard line with less than seven minutes remaining in a tie game. To that point, the 49ers’ defense had held the NFL’s highest rated offense to one touchdown and two, first-half field goals.

Blaine Gabbert-in his third start in place of the injured and benched Colin Kaepernick—kept the 49ers in it with his 25 of 36 passing for 318 yards. Gabbert led the 49ers on a 12-play drive just before halftime that closed the Arizona advantage to 6-3. Then after the Cardinals opened the second half with a nine-play drive that ended with David Johnson’s one-yard touchdown run, Gabbert kept the 49ers in it with a 77-yard drive and an 8-yard touchdown pass to Vance McDonald that made the score 13-10.

“I think Blaine has continuously gotten better as he’s been in here,” Coach Jim Tomsula said, far more responsive about his quarterback than he was willing to discuss the refereeing. “I thought he ran the offense well today.”

The 49ers outgained the Cardinals on the day with 368 yards in total offense, but couldn’t strike early and they saw their final drive of the day end when Anquan Boldin’s 18-yard catch left him two yards short of a first down at the Arizona 22-yard line. Gabbert had some success with his deep ball, hitting Torrey Smith on a 41-yard pass play that set up the game-tying field goal in the fourth quarter.

Overall, better than those Kaepernick days, but still not good enough.

“I believe there’s progress, but we’re in the business of winning games and we have to win games,” Tomsula admitted.

While the 49ers battled the referees as much as the Cardinals, Arizona overcame the loss of two running backs to stay atop the NFC West. Starter Chris Johnson and key reserve Andre Ellington were both lost during the game to injury, but Carson Palmer kept the Cardinals driving, often with the help of veteran receiver Larry Fitzgerald. Fitzgerald finished with 10 catches for 66 yards, and added some perspective from Arizona’s viewpoint afterwards.

“It wasn’t pretty,” Fitzgerald admitted. “But I’ve been around enough to know that any way you can get a win is a good one.”

The Cardinals won in San Francisco/Santa Clara for the first time since 2008. The 49ers were officially eliminated from the division race with the loss, falling to 3-8.

The 49ers are on the road the next two weeks, first visiting Chicago, then Cleveland, before returning home to face the Cincinnati Bengals.

 

  By Morris Phillips

As if the 49ers didn’t already have enough nemeses waiting for them at CenturyLink Field on Sunday, they went a created another one in rookie Thomas Rawls.

Rawls—undrafted and thought to be too small for the NFL—tore up the 49ers with 209 yards rushing on 30 carries as the Seahawks blew past the 49ers 29-13. The 49ers have lost seven of eight to their NFL West rivals, most of them as uncompetitive as this one, including the January 2014 NFC Championship Game meeting that appears to have defined both franchises going forward.

Coming off a rare win, and an extra week of preparation the 49ers couldn’t have been any flatter than they appeared in falling behind 20-0 well into the second quarter. Rawls had a lot to do with that, trucking cornerback Tremaine Brock on the third play of the game instead of running out of bounds. The Seattle sideline erupted in reaction to Rawls’ physical play, and the tone was set on that play as the 49ers went on to tackle poorly and wilt, while the Seahawks were invigorated.

Rawls replaced the injured Marshawn Lynch–a well-established nemesis of the 49ers—finding out just before game time that he would be the starter. Rawls had already proven in previous stints replacing Lynch that he’s an emerging factor for the Seahawks, but with the run through Brock and his franchise record for rookie rushers established on Sunday, he took his game to another level.

“I never run out of bounds,” Rawls said. It’s just my makeup. It’s my whole mentality. I think I would feel less of a person just running out of bounds instead of being physical.”

While Rawls sounded like he played, 49ers Coach Jim Tomsula found himself in the familiar position of explaining his team’s shortcomings. Given that, Tomsula got high marks for originality in the face of repetitiveness, when explaining how his defense missed so many tackles.

“You can’t go into a tackle worried about missing the tackle. You’ve just got to tackle,” Tomsula explained.

And if you don’t tackle, the statistical nightmare that the first 25 minutes of Sunday’s game was for the 49ers could be the result. At that juncture, the 49ers trailed 20-0, and were out-first downed 17-2. The 49ers amassed just 38 yards of offense at that point, a number that looked considerably healthier once the team mounted a 92-yard touchdown drive to end the first half.

The score right before halftime also announced the arrival of Blaine Gabbert, who went on to play well, passing for 264 yards and no interceptions, including the first touchdown pass for the 49ers against the Seahawks since 2013. At one point, Gabbert pulled the 49ers within 20-10, but the defense didn’t have delayed awakening, going on to allow 508 yards in offense to Seattle, including 255 yards rushing.

Gabbert found success throwing to his tight ends, Brent Celek and Vance McDonald, who combined for six catches for 100 yards and a touchdown. Gabbert also hooked up with Anquan Boldin on a 28-yard gainer in the fourth quarter, but the veteran receiver departed after that play, clutching his previously injured hamstring.

With the win, the Seahawks improved to 5-5, giving them a footprint in the NFC playoff picture. The Cardinals beat the Bengals in the Sunday Night game to re-establish a three game lead in the NFC West. The 49ers fell to 3-7 and 0-5 on the road.

So what was learned on Sunday regarding the Seahawks and 49ers? For San Francisco, effort—or lack therof—is everything. The 49ers were so far removed from the mindset of a physical, committed football team it spilled all over the statistical picture of the game with the missed tackles and paltry 22 minutes of offensive possession time. Seattle reporters didn’t hesitate to take their shots with Times columnist Matt Calkins registering the biggest blow saying “the 49ers are the NFL’s version of airbrushing: They make everyone look better than they are.”

So for the two-time NFC champion Seahawks, the same line of thinking applies. Seattle’s struggled to close out in the fourth quarter with late leads in all five of their losses. After a hum-drum win against the 49ers, those same Seattle reporters couldn’t help but point out that the Hawks have beaten the 49ers twice, Dallas (without Tony Romo), Detroit and Chicago (without Jay Cutler). So are the Seahawks merely good enough to beat the downtrodden or are they legitimate contenders again?

Richard Sherman brushed off all of the negative talk, simply saying “a win is a win.”

And for the 49ers, luckily on an afternoon that was as bad as any in a forgettable season, a loss is just a loss.