San Francisco 49ers 21

Dull, lifeless and frustrating, the 49ers play in yesterdays lost.  J.T. O’ Sullivan held onto the ball finally, was sacked only once and passed for three touchdowns but had three interceptions. Isaac Bruce had two touchdowns but on only four receptions. Frank Gore was forgotten by Mike Martz rushing only twelve times gaining a paltry 54 yards. And most importantly the defense gave up 30 points for the second straight week and could not get off the field in the second half. The Niners had the ball for just over twenty mintues, while the D allowed the Pats to hold onto it for almost forty minutes. Way too long for a team to trying to pull out a win in the fourth quarter.

It is hard to find positives in a loss so ugly and within reach of turning into a win. The Niners were up 14-7 well into the second quarter but the Patriots put up 20 unanswered points. The offense finally got onto the field in the fourth quarter and scored a touchdown cutting the lead to 27-21 only to not get the ball back. Delaine Walker, Vernon Davis and Arnaz Battle dropped important passes. Walker’s being the most costly in the first quarter as he dropped a potential first-down and then some only to have it hit off his hands with no defenders around. The secondary was horrendous and defensive coordinator Greg Manusky needs to be called out for not making the important adjustments needed in the second half for the second week in a row. Bill Belichick made his offensive and defensive adjustments so the blame also lies with Martz and Mike Nolan. The most disappointing thing in the loss is we have seen the 49ers D which has been the strongest force on this team get burned again. The offense has its work cut out but the D needs to learn how to make the important stops. When you play minor league football against one of the best major league teams then results like yesterday will continue even against the bad teams.

Next Up: @ home against the Philadelphia Eagles (2-3)

Game three of Schedule Hell. The Eagles are fresh off their own frustrating loss at home. This won’t be easy.       

San Francisco 49ers 13

Where to start?…five turnovers…back to back fumbles, first one recovered, second one lost…one touchdown on 291 yards of offense…Anquan Boldin shut out in the first-half only to have eight catches in the second-half with six of them going for first downs….no catches for Isaac Bruce, only three for Bryant Johnson…four sacks given up by the O-Line…Cardinals offense on the field for almost all of the third quarter….Insert negative adjective here____

The San Francisco 49ers held tough in a loss yesterday…for only the first quarter. In the first the 49ers D held-off the Cardinals offense as they reached inside the 20-yardline twice resulting in two field-goal attempts, one made and the other missed by Cardinals kicker Neil Rackers. Frank Gore showed how great of a season he will have on team that will have not have a great season with his 41-yard TD run in the first quarter. After that the 49ers only scored six points which included four fumbles and one interception.

The shining light in the game was J.T. O’Sullivan looked posed as he was pressured numerous time, although sacked four times, getting off how did he do that Bret Favre like passes to Gore and Vernon Davis for minimal gains. O’Sullivan finished 14 for 20 with 195 yards passing, one interception and a QB rating of 80.2. But what plagued the 49ers again as it did all of last year was leaving the defense on the field for what seemed like all of the second half. The D was actually on the field for 25 of the last 32 minutes in the game which means they tired as the Cardinals built-up their lead. The offense rested, but you cannot score on the sidelines and by the time they got back onto the field they were down by two scores.

Biggest Turnover: It is sad when you have five turnovers to choose from but the costliest one came after a Cardinals field-goal broke a 10-10 tie. Rackers sent a pooch kickoff to Takeo Spikes who lost the football. The Cardinals only needed to go 33 yards to go up 23-10.

Final Word: It is only the first game of the season and so many teams had great and horrible games yesterday (the 49ers fall in the middle of all that) but with all of the new players on the team and the genius of the Martz System saving the 49ers non-existent offense, yesterday did offer the hope the 49er Faithful were looking for. At times yesterday they looked no better with O’Sullivan as their QB than Alex Smith, Shaun Hill or Trent Dilfer. What does give the 49ers hope is they are in the worst division in the NFL but they lost to the best team in the division.

Back before the draft I said the 49ers needed to draft WR DeSean Jackson because he was a speedy wide receiver who would give the 49ers the deep threat they thought they had in Ashley Lelie and he would fit well in the Martz System. He would also give the 49ers a great return man. They of course did not listen to me. I guess Mike Nolan and company don’t read my blog, damn you! Anyway, it was so hard to watch Jackson, drafted by the Eagles, yesterday have six catches for 106 yards and a punt returned for 60 yards. Needless to say the 49ers could have used Jackson yesterday and for the rest of the season. Oh, well.

Alex Smith: Smith maybe done for the season and done with the 49ers as he injured his surgically repaired shoulder. The team is awaiting MRI results.

Next Week: @ Seattle Seahawks