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Falcons fly past the 49ers, 45-10
By Morris Phillips October 11, 2009 |
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What the 49ers are seeking in the newly signed Michael Crabtree, along with their find in Shaun Hill, the Falcons already have in Roddy White and Matt Ryan. With White and Ryan displaying their remarkable chemistry, and posting career bests, the Falcons ran it up on the 49ers, winning 45-10, in a performance that will serve as a reality check for the leader in the NFC West. White scored twice, including a 90-yard catch and run, while compiling 210 yards in receiving, and Ryan threw for 329 yards in a game that was effectively over at halftime, after the Falcons scored three quick strike touchdowns to break it open late in the second quarter. Meanwhile, Hill struggled, throwing an interception in the first three minutes of the game, and completing just 15 of his 38 pass attempts. The Atlanta pass rush was a factor in Hill’s first loss at Candlestick as a starter (he came in 6-0) with three sacks and constant pressure, but Hill was his own worst enemy. From the first high ball that was tipped and intercepted to the misfires and overthrows when the 49ers fell behind and had to throw, Hill appeared ordinary. “I thought that our defense really applied the pressure from the very beginning, and did a nice job,” coach Mike Smith said of his Falcons’ pass rush. Meanwhile, Crabtree, dressed and hidden in a 49ers hooded sweat suit, watched his first game as a professional from the sidelines. If Crabtree displays a comfort level with the offensive scheme, he is expected to make his debut after the bye week at Houston. With White’s explosive performance dominating the storyline, the 49ers inability to make big plays with their receivers was written in the subtext. Through five games, Hill has connected just once for a touchdown with his receivers. If that number isn’t improved upon, look for Crabtree to become a factor sooner. White, a tall, rangy receiver who rarely posted big games when Michael Vick was the Falcons quarterback, has found his stride with the second-year, strong armed Ryan. In 20 games together, White has posted 1,700 yards in receiving and 10 touchdowns, a key factor in the Falcons surprise playoff appearance last year. Against the 49ers, while matched up with top corner Nate Clements, White amassed 185 yards of his career-best performance before halftime. With White’s leaping ability and Ryan’s ability to throw out routes with NFL-caliber fastballs, Clements got caught going for the ball, while White made the catch behind him and broke free for the 90-yarder, 80 yards of it with Clements eating his dust. Just as impressive was a 24-yard catch White made at the goal line on a post route that Ryan threw slightly behind him, to avoid safety Dashon Goldson. White made a nice adjustment, turning and catching, to set the Falcons up, first and goal at the one. Michael Turner busted in on the next play, with his third rushing touchdown of the half, putting the Falcons up 35-10. “I just wanted to go out and play well. I felt like I hadn’t been playing well up to this point in the season and me and Coach (Paul) Smith had a talk,” said White after the game. “He said that I just had to go back to being myself and be the old Roddy.” Meanwhile, the 49ers struggled from the start. In just eight minutes, they fell behind 14-0, intercepted on the first possession and three and out on the second. On the other side of the ball, the Falcons moved smoothly with Ryan’s accurate throws and Turner’s no-nonsense running. Down two touchdowns early, the 49ers did mount a response. Josh Morgan broke a tackle on an out route and set the 49ers up on the three-yard line after a 61-yard gain. That led to Glen Coffee’s first NFL touchdown. Then the 49ers defense forced a punt, and nine-play drive led to a Joe Nedney field goal to draw the 49ers to within 14-10. But as soon as they were back in it, they were out of it, courtesy of White’s big catch and run. POST GAME SAYS IT ALL: If, based on your allegiances, the game is too sickening too watch, you always know the outcome by the post-game press conferences. This time Mike Singletary had to answer a lot of questions about timeouts, while Atlanta Falcons coach Mike Smith got to talk about having fun and landing frontflips like Olga Korbut. “We all had fun today. I talk to the guys all the time about having fun. To me having fun is playing football the way it’s supposed to be played. And for the most part I thought it was today,” Smith said while also pointing out, as NFL coaches tend to do, that his Falcons weren’t perfect. Without many Atlanta journalists traveling with the team, his comments lasted less than three minutes and his remarks went unchallenged, which gave him time to address a celebration penalty Roddy White incurred after his 90-yard touchdown catch. “He didn’t hit the landing,” Smith said of White’s flip. “If he hits the landing, it’s not a penalty. I told him, if you’re going to do it, be Olga Korbut, but he (White) doesn’t know who Olga Korbut is. It went right over his head.” For the ultra-serious Smith, big wins provide him with an opportunity to develop his stand-up comedy routine, and with Falcons owner Arthur Blank finally present and laughing following the Vick crisis, he might just have something. Meanwhile, Singletary had the usual horde of dead-serious Bay Area journalists questioning each of his moves, giving his conference a different tone. A sideline confrontation with Falcons’ guard Harvey Dahl drew several questions, along with Singletary’s usual frankness. “You know what I’m not going to go into it. I won’t even go there because, it was just… Number one, I should not have done that. Even though the player was talking to me, I should not have said what I said. And it wasn’t anything bad, it was just something that shouldn’t have happened. As a coach, I just needed to overlook that and move on, but you get caught up in the heat of the moment.” When Singletary burned his timeouts early in the first half trying to get his team, first, to gain composure, and then get the proper personnel on the field, the 49ers couldn’t challenge a fumble call that gave the Falcons the ball when Delanie Walker fumbled on a kickoff return. Several more questions resulted, first on how the timeouts were used, and then if the Walker fumble deserved a review. “I’ll just say this: sometimes your eyes can play tricks on you. I thought I saw him go down and the ground caught the fumble, but it’s all about game managing and if you don’t have a timeout to challenge it, you just have to let it go.” And that didn’t end the timeout discussion. With the spectators departing, and his team growing antsy on the sidelines, Singletary burned his three timeouts after the two minute warning in the second half. Each time, the remaining fans groaned their displeasure. Santa Ross Press-Democrat reporter Matt Maiocco asked Singletary if was okay to broach the subject of the late timeouts. “Yeah, I’ll tell you. To me, we may lose the game, but if I got three timeouts, I’m going to take every hit I can get—every one of them. Even though we didn’t hit the way I would like for us to hit during the game, I’m going to finish the game. That was basically the mindset. Whether it’s right or wrong, I don’t know about that, but I had them up there and if I could take one more time to hit somebody, I’m going to take that.” What can we conclude? If Singletary’s 49ers lose by five touchdowns, expect the press conference to be more intriguing than the game. |
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