Tag: 49ers

Competing against the Seahawks still a mystery for the 49ers

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Rawls running  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.

49ers holding out hope that they haven’t played their last game at the ‘Stick

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By Morris Phillips

The NFL’s hottest team is about to hit the road for the playoffs.  And while the 49ers might be plenty comfortable at Lambeau Field on Sunday for their meeting with the Packers, and just as comfortable in Charlotte to face the Panthers the following Sunday, the team and their fans wouldn’t mind a final farewell at the ‘Stick on January 19 for the NFC Championship Game.

And what might the odds be that the 49ers could play one more game at their home for the last 43 seasons and become the first No. 5 seed to host a conference championship game?

Probably right around 5 percent.  But here’s how it could happen:

The 49ers would have to beat the Packers on Sunday, after the Saints go into Philadelphia and knock off the NFC East champion Eagles on Saturday.  Then the Saints would have go into insanely noisy Century Link Field, and beat the top-seeded Seahawks, when they couldn’t pull off the feat on December 2, losing 34-7.  The next day the 49ers would have to turn the tables on the Panthers, reversing the result of their November 10 loss to Carolina at the ‘Stick, 10-9.

Yes, four playoff games, four road winners, and at least one extremely unlikely result in a New Orleans upset of the Seahawks.  And now you see why the feat has never been accomplished, although the 2010 NFC playoffs in which No. 4 seed Arizona became the lowest-seeded team to host a conference championship came pretty darn close.

The scenario has just as much to do with the Saints as the 49ers, so in taking a closer look let’s start with Drew Brees and the Saints.  The Eagles have been installed as an early 2 ½ point favorite over the Saints on Saturday, mostly because New Orleans—3-5 on the road in 2013—has been far less formidable team in away games than they have been at home in the Superdome.  But the “over-under” is 55 points, the highest number of any of next weekend’s four games which portends a shootout.  And the Saints, Brees and Coach Sean Payton could tip the scales with the experience factor as they have plenty more of that then Nick Foles, Coach Chip Kelly and the youthful Eagles.

If the Saints win there, then they go into Seattle (regardless of whether the 49ers win or not) where they would hope to take advantage of a weakened Seahawks’ secondary as well as a Russell Wilson-led offense that has struggled to make plays down field in recent weeks.

If nothing else, the Saints collectively have a long memory.  They visited Seattle in the 2011 wild card round as defending Super Bowl champs and fell 41-36 to the 7-9 Seahawks.   If beating a good team three straight times (over three seasons) is extremely difficult than maybe, just maybe, the pressure might be on Seattle.

With the narrow win over the Cardinals on Sunday, the 49ers improved to 17-7 on the road in three seasons under Coach Jim Harbaugh.  That’s the best such mark in the NFL over that span, and really illustrates what a difficult opponent the 49ers will be come next week.  Also factor in a league-best six-game win streak heading into the playoffs and the relative health of the team after a September and October littered with missing pieces and you can see why the 49ers have been installed as the early favorite over the Packers by 2 ½ points.

Following that the 49ers would get the Panthers and Cam Newton in Charlotte where they haven’t been to the playoffs since 2008.  The 49ers would enjoy the edge in experience here as well although they would be unlikely to be favored.  But the Panthers could be without receiver Steve Smith, and for sure they won’t have the surprise factor they enjoyed when the two teams met the first time in San Francisco.

Sound plausible?  Sure it does when you—insert the old football axiom here—just take it one game at a time.

Kaepernick key to win

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Photo by Bob Martin

By Pearl Allison Lo

LONDON– San Francisco 49ers’ (6-2) quarterback Colin Kaepernick had a season-high two rushing touchdowns in a 42-10 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars (0-8), who were playing in their inaugural International Series game at Wembley Stadium Sunday evening.

The final count of 83,559 fans marked the 4th best attendance of the eight NFL games played here so far, outranked by the two New England Patriots games and the other San Francisco game. It was the third lopsided scoring margin at Wembley Stadium, with the two other games New England games. It was a mainly red jersey crowd, but the fans were equally supportive of their “home” team until 2016. Dan Skuta thought, “It seemed pretty split to me,” and “they cheered for things that I don’t think Americans usually cheer for. They were fired up for extra points and stuff like that, which is pretty cool.”

Both teams had a number of drops, including miscues returning the football for the first time. The 49ers’ Kyle Williams fumbled off the kickoff reception but retained possession. Josh Scobee dropped the ball on his return, but was able to recover the ball before the players reached him.

San Francisco scored during their first four drives and Kaepernick scrambled during them as well, overall running seven times for 54 yards. Coach Jim Harbaugh commented, “He used his legs on third down to pick up valuable first downs.”

During the 49ers’ opening drive, Kaepernick found Bruce Miller wide open on the far right for 43 yards. Teammate Frank Gore found a hole up the middle later, to give San Francisco the opening touchdown with 19 yards and 11:48 left in the first quarter.

Kaepernick looked like he was going to run a third time before he connected with Anquan Boldin for 21 yards. It was Kaepernick’s fourth rush that brought him into the end zone the first time as he went to the far left, knocking over the orange cone in the process. It was Kaepernick’s longest rush of the game at the time, 12 yards with 2:36 left in the quarter.

The 21-0 first score of the second quarter, almost mirrored the time of the first score in the first quarter, with 11:52 left. Kaepernick had his longest rush of 17 yards and eventually found Vernon Davis, just before Davis went out of bounds at the back of the end zone.

The first play of the 49ers’ fourth drive was a 32-yard pass to Davis. Jacksonville cornerback Alan Ball got a hand on the ball in the end zone to prevent the third pass of the drive to Davis. However, this was followed by Kaepernick’s second rushing touchdown as he traveled nine yards to make the score 28-0. This was the first drive Kaepernick did not run in any of the plays before the score.

The Jaguars’ Jordan Todman returned the ball 40 yards after muffing a catch, but the drive ended quickly, with Williams muffing a catch on the other end.

San Francisco finally went scoreless on their fifth drive. It was also a drive in which Kaepernick’s scramble was taken back by a holding penalty.

Jacksonville followed their defensive performance with their first journey into enemy territory and score. Cecil Shorts, who was the main target during the drive, made a nice break from one of the tackles. Josh Scobee kicked a 38-yard field goal to make the score 28-3 at halftime.

The Jaguars received the ball again to start off the third quarter, but had several battles, including two penalties. Maurice Jones-Drew ran for 30 yards. On fourth down and less than a yard, they converted. Shorts dropped the ball in the end zone, leading to fourth down again. This time,the pass was incomplete to Mike Brown.

Just under three minutes later though, Jacksonville got the ball back as Frank Gore fumbled on his own 34 yard line and Russell Allen recovered the football. The Jaguars were able to turn the fumble into their first touchdown eventually, when Chad Henne passed to Mike Brown for 29 yards.

The 49ers wasted no time getting the score back afterwards. Kendall Hunter had a 41-yard rush and Gore made up for his fumble with a two-yard score with less than a minute left in the quarter.

In the fourth, Jacksonville went for their third fourth down conversion and were successful. Marcedes Lewis fumbled, however, and Dan Skuta turned the game’s first straight fumble into a score, with a run of 43 yards.

Regarding keeping morale high, Jones-Drew replied, “We’re competitors. We’re never going to let anyone break our will. Some guys are saying, ‘Why are you still playing?’ I say, ‘Why are you talking to me about that? We’re trying to get our job done, play football, and play it at a high level.’ We’re going to continue to work and do what we have to do…we can make a change and we will.”

Notes: The most special of the four honororary captains of the game was Brandon Bell from Scotland, who has been a fan since receiving brain tumor treatment in Jacksonville. His “Make-A-Wish” was to see the play in Wembley Stadium. It was Henne’s third straight start at quarterback in place of Blaine Gabbert. The Jaguars’ Will Rackley received a blow to the head during the game and did not return. San Francisco next gets a bye week and then plays the Carolina Panthers November 10th. Jacksonville also gets a bye next week and will aim to get their first win again against the Tennessee Titants. The Jaguars’ next game at Wembley will be against the Dallas Cowboys and will also feature four other teams, as 2014-2015 will mark the first season three NFL games will be played in London, a step in a bigger direction.

Niners take on the Jaguars in London

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By Pearl Allison Lo

London – The San Francisco 49ers will be playing their third international game, second at historic Wembley Stadium, while the host Jacksonville Jaguars will be playing their first, when the two teams meet on the field Sunday, October 27th at 5pm London Time. This is a part of the NFL’s International Series with the help of the Mayor of London.

Re the scene before the game for the public, I haven’t seen much besides the Fan Rally, but there were glimpses. I’ve seen ads in the subway, on street vehicles and banners hanging between buildings. There were multiple going-ones during the week though.

Yet to be back in San Francisco, after arriving in London Monday, the team got together with the famed Tottenham Hotspurs for a community event encouraging young ones to be more active. Both sporting teams got to indulge in each others’ respective sport.

NikeTown hosted an evening on Tuesday that centered around Jacksonville Jaguars’ players.

After 49ers practice on Friday, re the yet to win Jaguars, coach Jim Harbaugh said his players “respect the team…They play with great effort, very physical, so I’ll just say that. I haven’t had to say anything along those lines. They’ve seen it on the tape.” Re his own 5-2 team, Harbaugh expressed, “hopefully we play our best football. That’s what we’re looking for. We’ve played good football, but I think we could do better…”

When asked about plans for London, Harbaugh pulled out a list that included Marble Arch, Park Lane, Buckingham Palace and Parliament Square to received laughter. He grinned while inquiring afterward; “think we’re hitting the right spots?”

NFL jerseys started popping up Saturday on the day of the fan rally on the train, before the Commisioner’s Fan Forum and after the rally elsewhere. They were most prominent, however, with the 49ers heavily supported, decorating the invited fans at the forum who were to be bused to the rally after Q&A. Commissioner Roger Goodell, 49er quarterback legend Joe Montana and former Jacksonville Jaguars’ offensive Tony Boselli, who sat in a circle in the middle of the fans, were the other components of the equation.

Eager questions surrounded the possibilities of Monday and Thursday night games, 2015, women in the NFL and the Super Bowl to a collective intake of inhaled breaths and gasps. When asked if a Los Angeles franchise or a U.K. franchise would be first, Goodell stated, “it doesn’t matter to me. I would like to be able to continue to expand our game,” but moreover, emphasized “success” and “doing things right…Ultimately, I would love to see us doing both.” Goodell also mentioned the possibility of women in the NFL as referees.

Bare chested young men sported painted letters, numbers and symbols during the off part of off and on rain at the rally, with a message that read, ‘U.K. Franchise in 5 years? Odds 8/1.’

We’ll see Sunday if the game can help with the “success” Goodell emphasized during the forum, thereby improving the odds and the possibility of more burgeoning American football fans not only in the U.K., but Europe.

NOTES: My experience being in London so far is that people are pretty nice, friendly and helpful. The roads being reversed and other oddities like the light switches being the opposite way, cell phone stores being called car phone warehouses, a lot of hookah bars, the European smoke and free wifi in telephone booths provide additional interest. The UK accents are quintessential.