Another costly fumble by Gore hurts the 49ers chances.
Mike Patterson finished his stunning 98-yard fumble return at a walk, easing his 292 pounds into the end zone.
After an outstanding effort in San Francisco, the Philadelphia Eagles deserved a little rest – especially the big guy.
Brian Westbrook rushed for 117 yards and two touchdowns, also catching a scoring pass from Donovan McNabb in the Eagles’ 38-24 victory over the 49ers on Sunday.
McNabb passed for 296 yards and Reggie Brown caught five passes for 106 yards as the Eagles (2-1) shook off last week’s embarrassing collapse against the Giants, emphatically protecting a huge lead this time with 416 yards of sharp offense.
And one kooky fumble return that will live for years on highlight reels.
Patterson, Philadelphia’s genial run-stopping defensive tackle, seized an unlikely moment when Frank Gore fumbled while trying to stretch over a goal-line pile of players in the third quarter.
Patterson scooped the ball out of the pile and lumbered away, getting to midfield before most of the Niners realized it. He eventually walked over the line for the longest scoring fumble return in Eagles history, surpassing a 32-year-old record.
The Niners also lost Gore, who fumbled at the goal line last week as well, and tight end Vernon Davis to injuries on the play.
Alex Smith passed for 293 yards and rookie Michael Robinson scored two touchdowns for the 49ers (1-2), but their good vibe from last week’s victory over St. Louis evaporated in a cloud of offensive mistakes and missed tackles.
MJ said:
That first play of the game was something I expected us to do to the Eagles. Watching the rest of the game was extremely painful; like rolling around on barbwire. Mike Nolan did a horrible job preparing the 49ers for this game. We started off trying to establish the run instead of trying to establish the passing game; which anyone could have told Nolan was a mistake against the Eagles. Not only that, but the Eagles cornerbacks were backups! We abused them at the end of the game, but why not the beginning?
Then the 49ers defense; what the hell was that on the field? We SUCKED. I did not believe there were 11 players on the field, it looked like 6! What film was the defensive line watching when preparing for this game?? Stopping Westbrook should not be so difficult. He runs to the right or up the gut. Our cornerbacks should have had a field day with an absent Donte Stallworth, but Reggie Brown could not be stopped? Then the pressure on the QB came so late in the game it was too late.
The biggest disappointment in the game was the play calling by Nolan. I felt like I was watching a game from last year. Why did we not go for it at the end of the 2nd half??? Why did we punt it???! Why did we not try to get back and win the game, punting at every 3 and out regardless? The offense did great at the end of the game, but they were playing knowing Nolan will not play a 4th down if his life depended on it. And anyone see when McNabb threw to Greg Lewis, it bounced off his hand, and Sammy Davis caught it? (The second time, not the fumble.) They ruled it incomplete, and Nolan should have challenged it, but did not. All in all, the game was painful to watch. I know I said I would not criticize Nolan during the season and give him a chance, and maybe I am being hard on him, but he should have prepared the defense (him having been a defensive coordinator) and he should have managed the clock a lot better.
Last but not least, VD and Frank Gore. I sure hope they are not injured. Maybe we should consider Michael Robinson taking over end zone duty for Gore. That’s 2 in 2 weeks on the 1-2 yard line. As for VD, someone put some tape on his hands. He should have caught that pass that he tried grabbing with one hand. VD, you wear No. 85 but please no Brandon Lloyd. That should have been a touchdown. I like EJ so much more than VD it is not funny.
Bad game, but we will get the next one. Chiefs, revenge will be taken upon you.
7 mins after the fact.D said:
38-24 may be better on the scoreboard than the 42-3 of last year, but it felt the same watching it.
16 mins after the fact.Robert said:
This was the first time they show a 49ers where I’m at.It was frustrating and encouranging at the same time. The first half was horrible… Everyone expected the Eagles to come out with a lot to prove. They did that. Our defense did not show up at all… Adams got punked by Wesbrook, and who was it that got flake by the TE in the fourth quarter. I agree with MJ on why in world Nolan did not make the challange seing the Eagles hurring to the next play its a big clue. Even if we had lost it, it would at least stop the momentum the eagles had. I like Gore and what he is doing and I hope he is not hurt along with VD but 3 fumbles in 3 games and in scoring territory I think Robinson prove today that he should handle short yardage situations and goal line and Gore should be the work horse. VD does not seem ready to be the starter he is the future I know but EJ is the proven vet and has played better a lot better than VD. VD needs to learn how to look back for the ball and at the QB, use both hand to make catch. and speakinng of EJ I really think we need to resign him I would hate to see him gone with nothing in return. Alex took a beating today but I saw a lot of heart and fighting in him once we get our O-line straigth he’ll be a pro bowler. He needs to look over to bryant because he was wide open in a lot of plays. The play that hurt us the most was the fumble, we would’ve put alot of pressure if we had score. Everyone that went to the game and cheered in favor of the 49ers that was awsome even though the game was never that closed I think our players were encorage that we are behind them. This was a measuring stick and Our team is still young but we will be contenders shortly….
1 hour after the fact.El Presidenta Smith said:
The score was 24-3 as i recall when Gore fumbled and if we would have scored it would have been 24-10, a much easier defict to handel then 31-3. but i liked the way we fought back and tried to get back into the game, last years team would have let it get to 42-3 so we are a lot better then last year, it is sad to hear that VD will be out a month with a broken leg.
1 hour after the fact.Nick said:
The Good
Alex Smith played well after the first couple of failed drives. Threw very accurately, often under pressure. Didn’t take sacks. Had one fumble in a 3rd and very long in a forced situation.
Eric Johnson re-establishing himself as a good receiving tight end. Should be the target over VD still. VD out for 4 weeks will give him a good chance to get reaclimated.
Michael Robinson emerging as a good 2nd back. And probably the only back to be trusted on short yardage.
The Bad
The defense was.. awful. McNabb all day to throw when he wanted, several times on 3rd and longs easily completed to wide open receivers.
Only Alex Smith was seen on the chase down of the fumble return when it took like 15 seconds.
Arm tackles galore.
The Ugly
Frank Gore, again. Give me a break man. Comparison right now, people over at philli want to believe stallworth is great so they can forget about TO, people here want to believe gore has no issues to forget about barlow. Lets face it, barlow had these same problems and people weren’t so forgiving. Who cares if you call Nolan every day if you continue to drop your 2nd arm off the ball on short yardage or the end of plays?
Blown cover on first play of the game. C’mon guys. You can’t come out expecting to make a huge play defensively in the first play. Just play regular D.
With all the pieces lining up for the 49ers ( stallworth out, eagles secondary really thing, kearse out, westbrook “hurt”, game in SF, Phili coming off devestating loss, 49ers coming off win ), the 49ers came out flat and got smacked around. They bounced back to make it less embarrassing, but people saying that this was better than last year… yes it was but not by as much as the score and stats lead to believe. They had everything going their way pre-game and got crushed.
So, yea it was a depressing game. But, like many level headed fans, many of us saw the potential for something like this happening. The 49ers do not match up well against the Eagles. Nor do they match up well against the Seahawks, the Falcons, the Patriots, the Chargers ( if Rivers is ok ), the Bengals, and the Colts. Against these teams in their current state, there will be a good chance of getting blown out.
That said, I loved the way that after the Sucker punch/knife to the chest play that injured gore, davis and put a 14 point swing on the board the 49ers came back out and put up 2 tds realtively quickly. Now that’s a team that isn’t ready to stop at any point. I wish they had this from the gate, but here in the 2nd year of rebuilding I’ll take what I can get.
Alex Smith, major props, even down he never forced bad passes, made good decisions, avoided sacks, had one fumble, which you can expect at least one turnover from a qb in his situation for that long of a time.
There are two very winnable games coming up. Even after this blowout the 49ers matchup well against the Chiefs and the Raiders are the worst team in football, bar none, right below the Texans.
There is a great chance they will win at least 1 of those games, and a good chance they could be 3-2. So fans, no need to be as depressed as last year where the victory clearly showed it was time to start getting rid of players, bringing in the youth and becoming worse in the short term. This year it will only be getting better!
1 hour after the fact.El Presidenta Smith said:
And a second not look at this
Passing
Philadelphia Comp Att Yds Pct Y/A Sack YdsL TD Int
D. McNabb 18 33 296 54.5 9.0 3 30 2 0
San Francisco Comp Att Yds Pct Y/A Sack YdsL TD Int
A. Smith 27 46 293 58.7 6.4 3 24 1 0
Except for Smiths fumble they played pretty close and Smith hasnt thrown an interception, i know we made some mistakes (ok maybe a ton) but if we fix those we could be pretty good. About Nolans call to end the have, it reminds me alot like Mooch, we were getting our butts kicked and decided to punt it was a good idea. We were on our 40 and it was 4-10 if we would have not made it the Eagles could have scored on us again and Akers has a leg so i thought it was a good call.
1 hour after the fact.mdg said:
well we played better then last time we facedthem but i did not like they way we played today to many turnovers the one that pissed me off was theone at the goalline i was so pissed gore 3 fumbles in 3 games that is disgraceful i know he has great potential but we are not going to win with fumbles like that 3 fumbles today to many long plays aloud we could have easly won this game an now vernon davis an frank gore are hurt shit how long are they out 4 ? this is not going to be good a good performance by johnson an alex smith 293 yrds today 814 an 3 tds in the season an no pics he almost tied his last year total for yrds bryant didnt get the ball enough niether did davis i know he dropped the ball but he needs the ball like 5 times a day maybe more well KC next an then the raiders we can easly be 3-2 by then heading in to san diego so we can have momenum heading into our next tough apponent ok well just as long as gore doesnt fumble any more an vd has a speedy recovery we can have a good offense 49ers4life
2 hours after the fact.