((HT: BASTA Bay Area/Baichwal))
The 49ers came out strong today, in their usual style, with a strong defensive performance coupled with a solid offense. The entire team seemed to click, especially the defense, as they went out and began the game by forcing a three and out then scoring a touchdown. This three and out involved a nine yard sack by Aldon Smith, on the second play of the game, proving that he is unquestionably back to football and ready to return to his form and play amazingly. He seemed extra quick on the field, working extremely well with his fellow Smith, tackle Justin Smith, to basically hassle Washington quarterback Robert Griffin III through the game. In total, he finished with two huge sacks today, giving him two sacks in his first two games of the season. He looked great on the field, and fortunately seemed to work well with Ahmad Brooks, who was benched for the second half of last week’s win over the Giants, because he felt that his playing time was being cut into too much by the returning Smith. Today, however, both players managed ample field time, and they were both strong points in the 49ers’s overall stellar defense.
After Aldon Smith’s sack and Washington’s three and out on the drive, the 49ers picked up the ball with great field position on their own 41 yard line. From there, Kaepernick looked stellar leading the offense, as he managed to get the 49ers into the end zone with only five plays: three passing and two rushing. On this drive Kaepernick connected with Anquan Boldin twice, for 18 yards and then a beautiful 30 yard score to give the 49ers a 7-0 lead. This touchdown came on a gorgeous corner route, where Kaepernick perfectly landed the ball in Boldin’s hands for the easy score. You can view this touchdown below:
Anquan Boldin’s 30-Yard Touchdown Catch
After this score, the game was quiet for a while, as neither team scored until the second quarter. Until Washington’s score, the 49ers defense was perfect, as they forced RGIII and the ‘Skins to punt to end all four of their offensive drives. Unfortunately, this perfection had to come to an end, as the defense allowed Washington’s rushing attack to get going, allowing a one-yard rushing touchdown to tie the game 7-7.
The 49ers looked like they might lose the game momentum with this score, but they were extremely efficient to end the first half. With 5:33 to go in the half, they began a long drive from their own seven yard line that eventually resulted in a field goal. They ran twelve plays to pick up 70 yards, including six pass plays, four rush plays, and one sack. The highlight of this drive came on fourth and two at Washington’s 48 yard line. Vernon Davis was only able to pick up 12 yards on the previous play, even though the 49ers needed 14 for the first down after the sack. However, in his usually aggressive style, coach Jim Harbaugh decided to go for it on fourth and two, with only eleven seconds remaining. Kaepernick executed another brilliant pass on this play, this time a 25 harder to Michael Crabtree for the first down at the Washington 23. In a beautiful feat of athleticism, Crabtree rose up, snagged the ball, and managed to land both feet barely inbounds before tumbling to the ground out of bounds, keeping possession of the ball all the way. This play may have been the highlight of the game, due to both its importance and sheer athletic beauty. You can watch the brilliant catch below, beginning at 1:10 in this highlights video:
Game Highlights (Michael Crabtree’s 25-Yard Catch)
Going into halftime, the 49ers had now regained the momentum, and the lead, with a 10-7 score. Unfortunately, as has been the theme this whole year, they came out of halftime looking a whole lot worse than they did going in. The 49ers were held scoreless in the third quarter, with three rather ugly possessions. The 49ers were forced to punt twice, the first on a three-and-out, and Kaepernick threw an interception on a questionable pass intended for Boldin. To his credit, Washington had just put a rookie cornerback into the game, so Kaepernick wanted to test him, and see if Boldin could power through him for easy yards. However, he overthrew this specific ball to Boldin, allowing the rookie defensive back to come up with his first career interception. Also, on a side note, this interception was Kaepernick’s first in 129 passing attempts, as he has been really good as of late at not making errant throws. Hopefully, this one interception can be chalked up to a little bit of overeagerness in going after the rookie, and it should be a single mistake that is not repeated, as Kaepernick has made great strides in his control this year.
To begin the fourth quarter, this trend of fruitless offense continued, as the 49ers almost immediately punted again on a three and out. On the next offensive drive, Frank Gore actually fumbled the ball, in an incredibly unexpected moment. This is Gore’s second fumble of the season, with his first happening last week against the Giants. Once again this fumble was very unusual, as Gore is usually a very sure-handed back, and all of the laudatory comments made last week about the veteran still apply. Last week, I wrote:
“[Frank Gore’s] fumble was his first of the season, and it is very possible that it will be his last, simply because he has averaged 2.5 fumbles per season in his last four. Frank the Tank is called a tank for a reason: he is strong and sturdy. So, the 49ers coaches and their fans should put this fumble behind them if they have not already, as Gore is still a stellar running back and the workhorse for the 49ers.”
Obviously, Frank Gore just fumbled again today, therefore he did fumble again this season, but he is still Frank the Tank, and he is still an extremely strong and sturdy running back, and one of the most reliable in the league.
Gore’s fumble today, was also the 49ers’ second fumble of the game, as Carlos Hyde had one on the first play in the second quarter. Both running backs fumbled today, but Hyde’s fumble is the only one that deserves any worry, as he is a rookie running back and each and every one of his moves needs to be scrutinized, to make sure he can really be the future franchise rusher for the 49ers. Fortunately, this fumble was Hyde’s first of the season, so there is no need to worry about his fumble either. Overall, neither of these fumbles were very noteworthy, as neither Gore nor Hyde’s playing time will be affected, and the 49ers still managed to come away with a win.
Also, on a positive note, Washington were extremely inept at capitalizing on the three turnovers they forced. Simply the fact that they forced three turnovers off the 49ers was surprising, for two reasons, however. Firstly, this is the largest number of turnovers the ‘Skins have forced this season. Secondly, the 49ers were +10 in their turnover differential coming into today’s game, and only +8 leaving it, due to the fact that they gave up three turnovers, and only earned one of their own. Hopefully this sloppiness was just a fact of today, as the 49ers prey on turnovers, and their season is made or broken based on this statistic. Back to the positive note, Washington only managed three points total off of their three turnovers. More specifically, they only earned one field goal that came after a long drive following Gore’s fumble. So, although the turnovers hurt the 49ers statistically, they were not too big of an issue in the game, especially seeing as the Niners still came away with the win.
After the ‘Skins field goal, they went up 13-10 on the 49ers. This score fortunately did not last long; however, as the 49ers scored on their next offensive drive. This drive was 75 yards long, and it took eight plays, four passing, three rushing, and a sack. This sack came on the first play of the drive setting the 49ers back six yards. An interesting statistic is that Colin Kaepernick has been sacked 15 times on first down this season, the most in the league. Although this number sounds menacing, its simply an interesting fact, and nothing to get too worried about. From here, the 49ers managed to create a slow and steady, but successful offensive drive, as they broke into the end zone on a Carlos Hyde four-yard touchdown run, in a little under five minutes. This score gave the 49ers a 17-13 lead, and the final score for the game.
After this touchdown drive, the 49ers defense was strong again, as it prevented the ‘Skins from scoring. They forced one punt, but unfortunately the offense was not able to completely drain the clock due to the fact that Washington had and used all three of its timeouts. However, they very quickly ended Washington’s final drive, with a resounding defensive play. Justin Smith sacked RGIII hard from the back, forcing him to cough up the ball, right into the waiting hands of Ahmad Brooks. Brooks caught the ball to recover the fumble at the Washington seven yard line, sealing the game for the 49ers. This play was huge as it gave the 49ers the win, but it also gave Brooks a large role in the win, showing that the 49ers administration still trusts him, even after his questionable sideline antics last game. This fumble was also a sack, and it was the fifth one that the 49ers managed on Griffin III, as they completely dominated the ‘Skins offensive line.
From a statistical point of view, the 49ers completely dominated the game today, except in turnovers and rushing. They managed 246 passing yards to Washington’s meager 77, and their offense was generally more fruitful. However, Washington’s star running back Alfred Morris had a field day as he picked up 125 rushing yards and a touchdown on 21 carries. Even so, if you add up all of the ‘Skins’ offensive yards, you only get to 213, as they were generally held in check.
Colin Kaepernick was pretty good today, and probably better than his stats show, as he finished the game 20 of 29 for 256 passing yards, a touchdown, and an interception. He also rushed for 14 yards on nine attempts, but the Washington secondary mainly kept his rushing game in check. Anquan Boldin was the favorite target of Colin Kaepernick today, as he was a monster on the field. He recorded 137 yards and a touchdown, catching nine of his twelve targets, including one where he took a helmet-to-helmet hit, where the safety fell down dazed, but kept running to pick up five more yards. Boldin is a monster, and almost super-human when he gets going, and today was one of those days as he put on a showcase on the field. Michael Crabtree also had a reasonably good day today, although it pales in the face of Boldin’s, as he caught five of seven targets for 58 yards, including his stellar one mentioned above. Fullback Bruce Miller also had a respectable day, working hard as the all-around player that he is, and picking up 40 passing yards while catching all three of his targets.
On the other hand, the rushing attack was rather weak today, as Frank Gore only picked up 36 yards on 13 carries, and Carlos Hyde had a similarly poor day with 16 yards on seven attempts. Add to the fact that they each fumbled the ball once, and you get to a really quite poor day for the rushing attack today. Hopefully, they can get back to running the ball well, without fumbling at all, as they will need their rushing attack to be strong this Thursday, for the Thanksgiving matchup against the division rival Seattle Seahawks.
The Seahawk’s beat another division foe, the Arizona Cardinals today, giving them the same 7-4 record as the 49ers. Currently as it stands this is the NFC West standings:
1 Arizona Cardinals 9-2
T-2 Seattle Seahawks 7-4
T-2 San Francisco 49ers 7-4
4 St. Louis Rams 4-7
The Rams are effectively out of the playoff chase, but all of the other NFC West teams have a legitimate chance at making it. Today, the Seahawks proved that even the Cardinals, who are tied for the best record in the NFL, are mortal, and they pushed them down to a still stellar 9-2 record. The Seahawks and the 49ers play this Thursday, and the winner of this game will most likely be in the lead for a wildcard spot in the NFC. Currently, both teams are tied for the second Wild Card spot, and it is very possible that three teams from the NFC West make the playoffs, with both Wild Cards in this division. Above all, it is imperative that the 49ers win this Thursday, as a loss will make the road to the playoffs exponentially harder. So, hopefully, they can win this Thanksgiving, to keep their playoff hopes alive, while also defeating the hated Seattle Seahawks.
NOTE: We will not be addressing the Washington football team by their current official name due to its highly offensive nature. We will instead by addressing them by their city or a nickname, until the organization changes its name. This move is part of a boycott effort that is being followed by many people and organizations, including entire television stations, like CBS, and ex-football legends. We respectfully ask that the Washington team changes its name, due to the fact that it is currently a racial slur against Native Americans.
Showing posts with label Anquan Boldin. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Anquan Boldin. Show all posts
Monday, November 24, 2014
Monday, November 10, 2014
BASTA Breakdown:A Closer Look at 49ers OT Win at New Orleans
By: Apurv Baichwal
This game was, quite literally, the definition of a nail-biter. It went deep into overtime, after a closely-matched and hard-fought regulation period. The 49ers eventually ended the game victorious, with a score of 27-24, winning on Phil Dawson’s field goal in overtime. Both teams badly needed this win to maintain their playoff hopes, but the 49ers played just well enough to secure the win.
Following this season’s theme, the 49ers played extremely well in the first half, while falling off in the second half. They came out of the gates strong, scoring fourteen unanswered points. These points were made even better by the fact that they were both rushing touchdowns, as the 49ers went back to what makes them a great team, their rushing offense. As of late, they had attempted to pass the ball too much, and they weren’t allowing Frank Gore to run loose on their opponents. Today, the 49ers emphasized the run game, even though they had an even split with thirty-two pass and rush attempts each, and this rediscovered emphasis carried the Niners to the win. Frank Gore rushed for eighty-one yards and a touchdown on twenty-three carries, looking like the workhorse that 49ers fans were accustomed to seeing. This was a welcome change, as the 49ers have not scored a rushing touchdown in their last five games. Frank Gore had not scored a rushing touchdown since Week 2, and he had not topped 50 yards since Week 5. Essentially, the 49ers rushing offense has been lackluster as of late, and today’s revival on the ground showed that they are a more complete team offensively.
Frank Gore scored the first touchdown of that the game on a four yard run after an interception by veteran safety Antoine Bethea. Bethea picked off the Saints’ quarterback Drew Brees on their first drive, and after snagging the ball at midfield, he ran it back twenty-two yards to the nineteen. Frank Gore then carried the ball three times, scoring on the third play. The defense played really well today, especially through the first half, as they held a usually prolific offense, especially at the Super Dome, somewhat stagnant.
After forcing a punt on the Saint’s next offensive drive, the 49ers took the ball on a long, deep drive for another score. They started at their own 21 yard line then used eight rushing plays and five passing plays to drive the ball down the field and score. The rookie running back Carlos Hyde got the score this time, on a nine-yard run that he took outside to the left, giving him his first touchdown since Week 3. He has been a great complement to Frank Gore, allowing the veteran to take rests liberally, while also providing a more elusive and cut-back heavy style of running. The bruiser Frank Gore and the elusive Carlos Hyde have combined for some great results as they have torn defenses up together, providing two different looks and a strong extra dimension to the 49ers offense. Carlos Hyde is still quite obviously the backup, as Frank Gore always gets a much larger share of the touches than him, but Hyde has been quite efficient with his looks, helping the team wherever he can, as he also serves as the kick returner. Carlos Hyde finished today’s game with only four carries, but he still managed 36 yards and a touchdown, giving him a quite respectable showing for a backup.
After scoring 14 points straight to open up the first quarter, the 49ers regressed slightly as they allowed the Saints to score 10 points in response. Fortunately, the 49ers were able to tack another score onto their total, allowing them to go into the half up 21-10. This score came in the middle of the second quarter, after another long drive from the 49ers’ 20. This drive had a lot more passing involved, as Kaepernick passed for 68 yards on the drive. He also threw for the touchdown, on a beautiful 15 yard touchdown to the right side of the end zone that Anquan Boldin snagged while diving. You can see this great play below, one that showcases Kaepernick and Boldin’s connection:
Anquan Boldin’s 15-yard touchdown catch
After this score, both teams were quiet for the rest of the half, in addition to also being extremely sloppy. The 49ers’ defense made a great stop and forced the Saints to punt. The 49ers recovered this punt close to midfield, and with a 1:13 to go in the half, with one timeout, it looked like the 49ers could add onto their score. However, Kaepernick decided to hold onto the ball for too long instead of throwing it away, and he fumbled it as he was sacked. Now, the Saints won back the ball with even better field position. Fortunately for San Francisco, Chris Culliver caught an interception in the end zone, ending the Saints’ drive and preventing them from scoring.
Coming out of halftime, the 49ers looked just a little slower on both sides of the ball, as the Saints appeared to have the edge. The 49ers were held scoreless in the third quarter while the Saints picked up a touchdown, bringing the game to 21-17.
The 49ers have been woefully awful in the fourth quarter this season, and that theme continued today, although they still managed to score. In the middle of the fourth quarter, the 49ers gave up the lead for the first time, as they allowed Drew Brees to connect with this Pro-Bowl tight end, and arguably the best in the league, Jimmy Graham for a two yard touchdown. The 49ers were able to contain him up until this point, but Graham’s superior size and strength was too much for the 49ers cornerbacks on this play as he used his basketball history to box out Chris Culliver and grab the touchdown pass.
The game looked to be all but lost after this score, as the Saints maintained their 24-21 lead deep into the fourth quarter. Fortunately, after a long and sloppy drive, filled with countless dropped passes, Phil Dawson was able to hit a 45 yard field goal to tie the game. On this drive, the 49ers looked extremely desperate as they started from their 22-yard line then suffered from three dropped passes, the first two from Anquan Boldin, and the last from Michael Crabtree. With these drops, the 49ers were facing a fourth and ten situation where they had to go for the first down if they wanted to win the game. Kaepernick took the snap, rolled out right, waited for a seemingly huge amount of time for a receiver to get open, then eventually rocketed the ball 51 yards to Michael Crabtree, who secured the ball on the ground to extend the drive and put the 49ers in field goal range. You can view this marvelous, game-changing, season-saving play below:
Michael Crabtree’s 51-yard catch
On the subject of drops, all the 49ers receivers seemed to have butterfingers today, as they dropped an immense number of passes, hindering the 49ers offense. Both Michael Crabtree and Anquan Boldin are usually sure-handed receivers, but today they had four and two drops respectively. Boldin received 15 targets today, but was only able to catch six of them, a quite pathetic number for him. However, on the bright side, he was able to turn these six catches into 95 yards and a touchdown. Crabtree only caught three of his eight targets, and he finished with 62 yards, including his game-saving catch in the fourth quarter. Stevie Johnson was the only sure-handed receiver today, as he caught all three of his targets for 43 yards.
With Phil Dawson’s field goal, the 49ers tied the game 24-24 and took it into overtime. However, in another exhilarating play, Drew Brees actually completed a 47 yard touchdown pass to Jimmy Graham with the clock winding down. Fortunately for the 49ers’ this play was nullified by an offensive pass interference flag, that saved the 49ers. Since the clock ran out on this play, the game was taken to overtime, with the 49ers barely hanging on to the game.
New Orleans won the toss and chose to possess the ball first, but this decision was to no avail as the 49ers defense was extremely strong and managed to force them to punt. Unfortunately, the Saints’ defense was similarly good, as they returned the favor and forced San Francisco to punt as well. With the new rules to overtime, after the Saints had punted first, any score would win the game, and after the 49ers punt, the Saints could have won the game with any score. In the defensive battle of overtime, the 49ere were able to win on the next drive, however, as they completely stuffed Drew Brees and the Saints. They allowed one first down but then clamped down with a five yard sack to make it 2nd and 15. They then had arguably had the play of the game, as Ahmad Brooks came in for another sack on Drew Brees, in addition to a fumble, as he stripped the ball right out of Brees’ hand. Rookie linebacker Chris Borland, who is filling in for the injured Patrick Willis, fell on this fumble and recovered it giving the 49ers the ball only 17 yards away from the end zone.
Chris Borland is another story of this game, as he has been huge the last two games filling in for Patrick Willis. In today’s game he recorded a whopping 17 tackles in addition to the fumble recovery. Eleven of his tackles were solo tackles, and he also had two tackles for losses as he was all over the field making plays everywhere. He was also stellar in pass defense in an overall amazing day. Borland was drafted just this year out of Wisconsin by the 49ers, with the 77th pick, in the third round. He has proven himself mightily, as he had a stellar outing today, and an equally stellar outing last week against the Rams. Last week, he recorded 18 combined tackles, including 15 solo and three tackles for loss. He has been a great fill in for Patrick Willis, as he plays with the energy of a rookie and the smarts of a veteran.
Back to the game, Ahmad Brooks and Chris Borland earned the 49ers the ball on the 17 yard line with a fumble. The 49ers then decided to play it safe and immediately take a 35 yard field goal for the 27-24 win.
As stated before, this game was tight to the very end, with multiple shifts in the lead. The 49ers played well overall, with the rushing attack looking very strong, and Colin Kaepernick seeming to benefit from its strength. Kaepernick threw for 210 yards and a touchdown while completing 14 of 32 passes. All of these numbers could have been much better as well if his wide receivers had not dropped so many balls. Even with the sloppiness of the usually strong receiving corps, the 49ers still managed to provide enough offense to come away with the win. Going into next week’s away matchup against the middling New York Giants, the 49ers need to tighten up some of the sloppiness on the offensive side. Specifically, Kaepernick needs to continue his growth and realize that it is okay to throw the ball away when he does not have a play, rather than making an errant throw that could be picked off or taking a sack. Also, the receivers need to snap out of whatever funk they were in today, as there were many balls dropped that very clearly should have been caught. Essentially, their drops costed the 49ers about 100 yards of offense and a touchdown. Finally, the 49ers need to continue to use the rushing game like they did today, to allow both Frank Gore and Carlos Hyde to pound defenses and give the defense rest. The strong rushing attack should be the basis of their offense, and it should allow them to gain yards when needed and open up the passing attack for deep throws.
The 49ers move to 5-4 with this win, and they maintain their playoff chances, although they are somewhat slim. They are currently third in the NFC West, behind the Cardinals and the Seahawks. They need to pick up a few more wins to raise themselves in the standings and give themselves a chance to earn a wildcard spot. Although the chances right now are slim, the 49ers looked better this week, and they should be able to use this game as an example and pick up more wins in the future.
CSNBayArea with some post game talk from Frank Gore:
Follow me on Twitter: @abaichwal
This game was, quite literally, the definition of a nail-biter. It went deep into overtime, after a closely-matched and hard-fought regulation period. The 49ers eventually ended the game victorious, with a score of 27-24, winning on Phil Dawson’s field goal in overtime. Both teams badly needed this win to maintain their playoff hopes, but the 49ers played just well enough to secure the win.
Following this season’s theme, the 49ers played extremely well in the first half, while falling off in the second half. They came out of the gates strong, scoring fourteen unanswered points. These points were made even better by the fact that they were both rushing touchdowns, as the 49ers went back to what makes them a great team, their rushing offense. As of late, they had attempted to pass the ball too much, and they weren’t allowing Frank Gore to run loose on their opponents. Today, the 49ers emphasized the run game, even though they had an even split with thirty-two pass and rush attempts each, and this rediscovered emphasis carried the Niners to the win. Frank Gore rushed for eighty-one yards and a touchdown on twenty-three carries, looking like the workhorse that 49ers fans were accustomed to seeing. This was a welcome change, as the 49ers have not scored a rushing touchdown in their last five games. Frank Gore had not scored a rushing touchdown since Week 2, and he had not topped 50 yards since Week 5. Essentially, the 49ers rushing offense has been lackluster as of late, and today’s revival on the ground showed that they are a more complete team offensively.
Frank Gore scored the first touchdown of that the game on a four yard run after an interception by veteran safety Antoine Bethea. Bethea picked off the Saints’ quarterback Drew Brees on their first drive, and after snagging the ball at midfield, he ran it back twenty-two yards to the nineteen. Frank Gore then carried the ball three times, scoring on the third play. The defense played really well today, especially through the first half, as they held a usually prolific offense, especially at the Super Dome, somewhat stagnant.
After forcing a punt on the Saint’s next offensive drive, the 49ers took the ball on a long, deep drive for another score. They started at their own 21 yard line then used eight rushing plays and five passing plays to drive the ball down the field and score. The rookie running back Carlos Hyde got the score this time, on a nine-yard run that he took outside to the left, giving him his first touchdown since Week 3. He has been a great complement to Frank Gore, allowing the veteran to take rests liberally, while also providing a more elusive and cut-back heavy style of running. The bruiser Frank Gore and the elusive Carlos Hyde have combined for some great results as they have torn defenses up together, providing two different looks and a strong extra dimension to the 49ers offense. Carlos Hyde is still quite obviously the backup, as Frank Gore always gets a much larger share of the touches than him, but Hyde has been quite efficient with his looks, helping the team wherever he can, as he also serves as the kick returner. Carlos Hyde finished today’s game with only four carries, but he still managed 36 yards and a touchdown, giving him a quite respectable showing for a backup.
After scoring 14 points straight to open up the first quarter, the 49ers regressed slightly as they allowed the Saints to score 10 points in response. Fortunately, the 49ers were able to tack another score onto their total, allowing them to go into the half up 21-10. This score came in the middle of the second quarter, after another long drive from the 49ers’ 20. This drive had a lot more passing involved, as Kaepernick passed for 68 yards on the drive. He also threw for the touchdown, on a beautiful 15 yard touchdown to the right side of the end zone that Anquan Boldin snagged while diving. You can see this great play below, one that showcases Kaepernick and Boldin’s connection:
Anquan Boldin’s 15-yard touchdown catch
After this score, both teams were quiet for the rest of the half, in addition to also being extremely sloppy. The 49ers’ defense made a great stop and forced the Saints to punt. The 49ers recovered this punt close to midfield, and with a 1:13 to go in the half, with one timeout, it looked like the 49ers could add onto their score. However, Kaepernick decided to hold onto the ball for too long instead of throwing it away, and he fumbled it as he was sacked. Now, the Saints won back the ball with even better field position. Fortunately for San Francisco, Chris Culliver caught an interception in the end zone, ending the Saints’ drive and preventing them from scoring.
Coming out of halftime, the 49ers looked just a little slower on both sides of the ball, as the Saints appeared to have the edge. The 49ers were held scoreless in the third quarter while the Saints picked up a touchdown, bringing the game to 21-17.
The 49ers have been woefully awful in the fourth quarter this season, and that theme continued today, although they still managed to score. In the middle of the fourth quarter, the 49ers gave up the lead for the first time, as they allowed Drew Brees to connect with this Pro-Bowl tight end, and arguably the best in the league, Jimmy Graham for a two yard touchdown. The 49ers were able to contain him up until this point, but Graham’s superior size and strength was too much for the 49ers cornerbacks on this play as he used his basketball history to box out Chris Culliver and grab the touchdown pass.
The game looked to be all but lost after this score, as the Saints maintained their 24-21 lead deep into the fourth quarter. Fortunately, after a long and sloppy drive, filled with countless dropped passes, Phil Dawson was able to hit a 45 yard field goal to tie the game. On this drive, the 49ers looked extremely desperate as they started from their 22-yard line then suffered from three dropped passes, the first two from Anquan Boldin, and the last from Michael Crabtree. With these drops, the 49ers were facing a fourth and ten situation where they had to go for the first down if they wanted to win the game. Kaepernick took the snap, rolled out right, waited for a seemingly huge amount of time for a receiver to get open, then eventually rocketed the ball 51 yards to Michael Crabtree, who secured the ball on the ground to extend the drive and put the 49ers in field goal range. You can view this marvelous, game-changing, season-saving play below:
Michael Crabtree’s 51-yard catch
On the subject of drops, all the 49ers receivers seemed to have butterfingers today, as they dropped an immense number of passes, hindering the 49ers offense. Both Michael Crabtree and Anquan Boldin are usually sure-handed receivers, but today they had four and two drops respectively. Boldin received 15 targets today, but was only able to catch six of them, a quite pathetic number for him. However, on the bright side, he was able to turn these six catches into 95 yards and a touchdown. Crabtree only caught three of his eight targets, and he finished with 62 yards, including his game-saving catch in the fourth quarter. Stevie Johnson was the only sure-handed receiver today, as he caught all three of his targets for 43 yards.
With Phil Dawson’s field goal, the 49ers tied the game 24-24 and took it into overtime. However, in another exhilarating play, Drew Brees actually completed a 47 yard touchdown pass to Jimmy Graham with the clock winding down. Fortunately for the 49ers’ this play was nullified by an offensive pass interference flag, that saved the 49ers. Since the clock ran out on this play, the game was taken to overtime, with the 49ers barely hanging on to the game.
New Orleans won the toss and chose to possess the ball first, but this decision was to no avail as the 49ers defense was extremely strong and managed to force them to punt. Unfortunately, the Saints’ defense was similarly good, as they returned the favor and forced San Francisco to punt as well. With the new rules to overtime, after the Saints had punted first, any score would win the game, and after the 49ers punt, the Saints could have won the game with any score. In the defensive battle of overtime, the 49ere were able to win on the next drive, however, as they completely stuffed Drew Brees and the Saints. They allowed one first down but then clamped down with a five yard sack to make it 2nd and 15. They then had arguably had the play of the game, as Ahmad Brooks came in for another sack on Drew Brees, in addition to a fumble, as he stripped the ball right out of Brees’ hand. Rookie linebacker Chris Borland, who is filling in for the injured Patrick Willis, fell on this fumble and recovered it giving the 49ers the ball only 17 yards away from the end zone.
Chris Borland is another story of this game, as he has been huge the last two games filling in for Patrick Willis. In today’s game he recorded a whopping 17 tackles in addition to the fumble recovery. Eleven of his tackles were solo tackles, and he also had two tackles for losses as he was all over the field making plays everywhere. He was also stellar in pass defense in an overall amazing day. Borland was drafted just this year out of Wisconsin by the 49ers, with the 77th pick, in the third round. He has proven himself mightily, as he had a stellar outing today, and an equally stellar outing last week against the Rams. Last week, he recorded 18 combined tackles, including 15 solo and three tackles for loss. He has been a great fill in for Patrick Willis, as he plays with the energy of a rookie and the smarts of a veteran.
Back to the game, Ahmad Brooks and Chris Borland earned the 49ers the ball on the 17 yard line with a fumble. The 49ers then decided to play it safe and immediately take a 35 yard field goal for the 27-24 win.
As stated before, this game was tight to the very end, with multiple shifts in the lead. The 49ers played well overall, with the rushing attack looking very strong, and Colin Kaepernick seeming to benefit from its strength. Kaepernick threw for 210 yards and a touchdown while completing 14 of 32 passes. All of these numbers could have been much better as well if his wide receivers had not dropped so many balls. Even with the sloppiness of the usually strong receiving corps, the 49ers still managed to provide enough offense to come away with the win. Going into next week’s away matchup against the middling New York Giants, the 49ers need to tighten up some of the sloppiness on the offensive side. Specifically, Kaepernick needs to continue his growth and realize that it is okay to throw the ball away when he does not have a play, rather than making an errant throw that could be picked off or taking a sack. Also, the receivers need to snap out of whatever funk they were in today, as there were many balls dropped that very clearly should have been caught. Essentially, their drops costed the 49ers about 100 yards of offense and a touchdown. Finally, the 49ers need to continue to use the rushing game like they did today, to allow both Frank Gore and Carlos Hyde to pound defenses and give the defense rest. The strong rushing attack should be the basis of their offense, and it should allow them to gain yards when needed and open up the passing attack for deep throws.
The 49ers move to 5-4 with this win, and they maintain their playoff chances, although they are somewhat slim. They are currently third in the NFC West, behind the Cardinals and the Seahawks. They need to pick up a few more wins to raise themselves in the standings and give themselves a chance to earn a wildcard spot. Although the chances right now are slim, the 49ers looked better this week, and they should be able to use this game as an example and pick up more wins in the future.
CSNBayArea with some post game talk from Frank Gore:
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