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Rare blowout victory for Niners
By Scary Barry Rodriguez December 12, 2010 |
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San Francisco, Candlestick park- Alex Smith returned to starting duties for the San Francisco 49ers with a bang ! He had three touchdown passes in the first half alone. From the very start of the game Seattle quarterback Matt Hasselbeck seemed off rhythm and had two interceptions in the first half. The Seahawk's rushers averaged only 3.5 yards a carry. The Niners scored three touchdowns and two field goals before going into the locker room at the half leading 30-7. Alex Smith didn't turn the ball over and the 49ers had over 200 yards total offense even at this point in the game. On very first series of the second half Hasselbeck was intercepted by Niner safety Dashon Goldson who ran 39 yards for a touchdown. This put the score at 37-7 at the start of the third quarter. From this point on offense Smith played caretaker and ran time off the clock without taking any risks. Seattle scored a touchdown in the quarter when Leon Washington returned a kickoff 92 yards for a touchdown. This continues the trend of poor play of the 49er's special team unit. Despite having decent field position most of time due to the subpar punting of Andy Lee and just adequate kickoffs of Jeff Reed, the Seahawks couldn't sustain any long drives until the game was out of reach in the fourth quarter. Alex Smith , after sitting out the last 4 games came off the bench , threw mostly short passes and utilized the receiving talents of Brian Westbrook and the recently neglected Vernon Davis. Both scored on passes from Smith. Hasselbeck threw two more interceptions in the second half . Seattle had 5 turnovers to none for the Niners. Whatever mojo the Seahawks had from their season opening blowout of the 49ers it wasn't present in today's game, which for all intents and purposes over in the first half. The final score of the game was 40-21. The long suffering fans loudly voiced their approval , letting go of season long frustrations. In the post game interview Alex Smith was cautious in his comments. It has been a very difficult season for him. Recently former Baltimore Raven's coach Brian Billick voiced his support for the Niner's quarterback change in a well publicized interview. Takeo Spikes, who this reporter interviewed ,. expressed the thought that the 49er player's approached all the remaining games the same as if it was the playoffs. The statistics don't tell the whole story. Actually the Seahawk stats were slightly better than the Niners and the time of possession was almost the same. Next its the disappointing San Diego Chargers on the their turf. Its a battle to salvage something from this season for San Francisco. The ticket buying fans could use some more moments to cheer about ! |
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