Problems just never stopped for the Niners
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SAN FRANCISCO - This one could be distilled into the simplest of explanations. When the Patriots had the ball, the 49ers didn't stop them. When the 49ers had the ball, the Patriots did stop them. Who said football was that hard to understand?
Sometimes too much is made of statistics, of yardage, of time of possession. But not yesterday at Candlestick Park, where the sun was bright, the jersey of Hall of Famer Steve Young was retired, and the Patriots proved they are a world away from the Niners.
New England, running what it wanted and passing when it needed, defeated San Francisco, 30-21. Enter here the eternal cliché: It wasn't that close.
Proof is found in the numbers. Through three quarters the 49ers were in control of the ball a mere 12 minutes 46 seconds out of 45 minutes. And while San Francisco played marginally better the final period, the final totals were Patriots 39:52, Niners 20:08.
"They were able to run the ball, and any time you're able to run the ball, they keep your offense off the field, and they did what they wanted to do," said 49ers defensive end Justin Smith.
What the Niners wanted to do was use the supposedly complex system of offensive coordinator Mike Martz to keep the Patriots off balance. But after a first quarter in which San Francisco had a brief 14-7 lead, the 49ers defense virtually couldn't get on the field.
"It gets down to staying on the field offensively, on third down, and getting off on defense," said 49ers coach Mike Nolan. "To win it's all about having more points than the other team."
That's not exactly newsworthy, but, of late, the Niners haven't been either. This is Nolan's fourth year, without a winning season in his first three. With Martz having been hired to get a few touchdowns, there is a considerable amount of speculation about the future.
"I thought we were going to execute better than we did," said Nolan, implying it wasn't his defensive schemes at fault it but the people who didn't play his defensive schemes.
The Niners had a 2-1 record until eight days ago. Then they were overwhelmed by New Orleans and now, yes, overwhelmed by the Patriots. The unfounded optimism built around quarterback J.T. O'Sullivan, a career backup, seems to be dissipating.
O'Sullivan completed 14 of 29 passes for 130 yards, with three touchdowns and three interceptions. Two of the touchdowns went to Isaac Bruce, who long ago and far away (January 2002) as a member of Martz's St. Louis Rams faced the Patriots in the Super Bowl.
"The defense is playing great football right now," Bruce said, a remark that was quite debatable. "The offense needs to work on winning and finishing plays."
O'Sullivan said the Niners "had too many three and outs." The Niners were 1 for 9 on third down and 0 for 2 on fourth down.
"They are a veteran team," O'Sullivan said. "They give a lot of [defensive] looks like a lot of teams in this league. At the same time that's what we expected."
What's happened the last two games isn't what linebacker Takeo Spikes, who signed in August, expected.
Spikes had an interception for the third straight game, picking Matt Cassel in the opening two minutes, but he was dissatisfied.
"Interceptions are good, but I can't get a win," said Spikes. "I came here to win. We are expected not to give up the big plays. It's just disappointing, disappointing as hell."
Whether it was the defense that couldn't get the ball for the offense, or the offense that couldn't move the ball, it became moot.
"The point is we didn't capitalize on our opportunities," said O'Sullivan. Which in the end is why the Patriots had more points.
