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Niners turn to fall short on offense against Ravens
By Pearl Allison Lo October 7, 2007 |
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SAN FRANCISCO-As opposed to opponents falling short to the San Francisco 49ers, it was the 49ers’ turn to lose in a close game, in a 9-7 Baltimore Ravens victory this afternoon at Monster Park. Kicker Matt Stover of the Ravens had all of Baltimore’s scoring in the game, with three field goals to his credit. San Francisco’s quarterback Trent Dilfer threw only on touchdown pass at 6:19 in the third quarter. Dilfer did not have the ideal game, but he could have done a lot worse. While he was sacked 3 times, Dilfer went 12 of 19 for 126 yards with the TD and an interception. It was lackluster but better than last week. Baltimore showed strong quarterback protection. There were several missed tackles by the 49ers. The SF offense was inept, missing for most of the game. They had 163 net yards compared to the Ravens’ 315. Both teams started out with good defense. Shawntae Spencer of the 49ers downed the ball at the 1-yard line at 12:14 in the first quarter. There were two tipped balls. The Ravens’ Antwan Barnes tipped the ball off a punt giving SF’s Andy Lee only a 39-yard punt. The Ravens’ Tully Banta-Cain then tipped the ball off Baltimore quarterback Steve McNair. McNair was 29 of 43 for 214 yards. Other mentionable were that the 49ers’ Maurice Hicks got practically steamrolled by the Baltimore defense. Lee had a 74-yard punt. After that, SF kept the Ravens’ defense within the 49ers’ 5-yard line, but a questionable call on Spencer for pass interference gave Baltimore a 1st down on third and eight. In the 1st quarter, the 49ers barely passed as they rushed for 22 yards and passed for negative 2 yards. The Ravens spread it out more evenly with 38 yards rushing to 32 yards passing. Stover connected for another FG, 32 yards, with 10 seconds left in the half. After halftime, at 11:37 in the 3rd Quarter, Dilfer was intercepted by Baltimore’s Ed Reed. The Ravens were able to capitalize with another Stover FG, his longest yet at 49 yards, at 8:17. Then from seemingly out of nowhere, in 1:58 and 4 plays, the 49ers scored the first TD of the game. The two highlights and major contributions were a 42-yard pass to Rory Gilmore and a 23-yard pass to Arnaz Battle in the end zone. SF’s best chance to go ahead in the game came at 6:22 left in the game which started out well with a 13-yard completion to Moran Norris and a 19-yard pass to Frank Gore. They weren’t able to do much more after that however so Joe Nedney had to try a 52-yard FG and he missed. In the end, both teams passed more than they rushed by double. Nate Clements was the leading defender for the 49ers with eight tackles. Kelly Gregg was the leading defender for Baltimore with five tackles and one assist. The 49ers are now below .500 for the first time this season at 2-3. Game Notes: Dilfer was sacked twice on scrambles and once sacked with a fumble but he recovered it himself, after a 1st down 10-yard play by Gore in the second. Banta-Cain suffered a right ankle sprain. Walt Harris hurt his left shoulder. Michael Lewis got hurt or seemed to with 11:12 in the game but no official report was given. |
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