San Francisco rallies but can’t overcome four-touchdown
deficit
San Francisco – The euphoria that existed one week earlier for the San Francisco 49ers disappeared in the final minute of the first half Sunday.
Trailing by three touchdowns and facing a fourth-and-1 at the Philadelphia Eagles 40-yard line, Mike Nolan opted to let the clock run down rather than trying for a first down and some points.
To which the Monster Park faithful let Nolan and the 49ers have it with a cascade of boos.
Nolan would later explain, “As bad as 24-3 is, it beats 27-3 or 31-3. It was time to regroup.”
It was hard to decide whether Nolan was showing less confidence in his offense or defense with that statement, and the crowd let him know how it felt.
It got worse before it got better for San Francisco in its 38-24 loss to Philadelphia. The ‘Niners drove to the Eagles 1. The first two rushes netted nothing. On the third attempt, Frank Gore fumbled and 292-pound Mike Patterson came out of the pile with the ball. The second-year defensive tackle from Southern Cal lumbered 98 yards for a touchdown.
“It was pretty funny,” said Philadelphia quarterback Donovan McNabb, trying to suppress a laugh, of the sight of Patterson rambling downfield. “You look and see Mike running. He was pretty quick for 40, 50 yards. Then reality set in.”
Reality set in for the 49ers as well. A SF score would have cut the Eagles lead to 24-10. Patterson’s TD made it 31-3 and, for all intents and purposes, sealed the outcome.
It was the third big play that went against the 49ers and put them in the four-touchdown hole. The first came on a 50-yard fleaflicker pass from McNabb to Reggie Brown on the game’s first play that set up the first touchdown. The second came on a career-long 71-yard TD run by Brian Westbrook, who had 118 yards on nine rushes, to make it 21-3 in the second quarter. Patterson’s TD was the back-breaker.
At least it wasn’t like last year when the 49ers were blown out by the Eagles 42-3. Whereas second-year quarterback Alex Smith continued to experience growing pains, he looked much better in the second half when he completed 18 of 28 passes for 202 yards.
“They’re starting to believe in the system of coach Nolan and trust in Alex Smith,” McNabb said. They’re going to be a good team.”
And yet the 49ers weren’t able to hold homefield advantage against a team that had to travel cross country three time zones away, and was without its best receiver (Donte Stallworth).
A bright spot for the ‘Niners was rookie Michael Robinson, who quarterbacked Penn State to the No. 3 national ranking last year, scoring his first two touchdowns as a running back after replacing the injured Gore.
