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Niners give fans early Christmas present
By Pearl Allison Lo December 23, 2007 |
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San Francisco 49ers Frank Gore had the scoring run that put them ahead for good in the game in the fourth quarter in a 21-19 victory over the visiting Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday afternoon at Monster Park. Gore had his second consecutive 1,000 yard season as he had 21 carries for 89 yards and 4 receptions for 43 yards and a score. The Niners are now 11-1 when Gore has 20+ carries. The Niners had 4 sacks, 1 interception, 1 forced fumbles, and several near fumble recoveries along with a near interception. They had 213 net yards but gave up 434 net yards including 367 through the air. Hill was quietly successful as he led the 49ers going 11 of 24 for 123 yards, 3 touchdowns, and 1 INT. SF got their second straight win and finished 2-1 at home in the month of December. The Buccaneers had 2 sacks, 1 INT and 1 forced fumble as they fell to 2-15 against the 49ers. In what seemed to be defensive tackle Bryant Young’s last home game with the San Francisco 49ers, he pointed to the crowd as he was honored with a pre-game tribute and was carried on his teammate’s shoulders after the game. San Francisco quarterback Shaun Hill didn’t start out as crisp as he did his previous game as on the Niners’ first 2 drives, Hill was sacked, and there were overthrown balls and incomplete passes. The Buccaneers almost had a sack themselves on their first drive, but Jeff Garcia passed the ball off complete right before he got tackled. Garcia found open recipients including Ike Hilliard with a 26-yard reception, but SF stopped TB from scoring a touchdown. Instead, a 34-yard field goal by Matt Bryant at 8:54 in the first quarter, gave the Buccaneers a 3-0 lead. The 49ers’ Patrick Willis sacked Garcia the second time around. However, a 25 yard completion to TB’s Michael Clayton and 32-yarder to Alex Smith helped them score another FG. The Niners did prevent the Buccaneers from scoring a TD again, but the end result was a 6-0 Buccaneer lead at 2:39 with the 22-yarder. Shaun Hill did better on the Niners’ third drive, and it showed with a 21-yard strike to Darrell Jackson in the end zone right after the teams switched to the other end of the field for the second quarter at 15:00. The reception tied the score at 6 and then gave the 49ers a 7-6 lead with the extra point by Joe Nedney. Gore had 2 carries of 20 and 11 yards. SF played great defense right after, but weren’t as successful their next offensive possession The Niners did get the ball back, although temporarily, as an initial ruling off the Buccaneers’ punt return had TB fumbling with the ball recovered by the 49ers. After a Buccaneer challenge however, it was changed to the player, TB Michael Spurlock, being down by contact. Buccaneer Jermaine Phillips forced SF Vernon Davis to fumble at 5:44, which eventually resulted in a 24-yard TD to TB Jeremy Stevens. This gave the Buccaneers the lead, 13-7. Buccaneer Brian Kelly had an interception with 32 seconds left in the first half at the Niners’ 33 but weren’t able to score again. Niners recovered their own onside kick when the second half started up. When TB got the ball back, Willis forced the fumble and sacked Garcia on third down. SF Mark Roman recovered. Buccaneer Gaines Adams delivered a shocking late hit to Hill so backup QB Chris Weinke had to come in for one play. However when Hill came back in, he threw a 5-yard TD to Vernon Davis at 9:43 to tie the game at 13 apiece. The 49ers got the lead back, 14-13 with the extra point. Then SF had a 1 play, 23 yard, and 6 second scoring possession as Nate Clements had a 62-yard interception return and Gore had a 23-yard run into the end zone to give the Niners a 2 TD lead at 14:17 in the fourth quarter, 20-13. Stevens scored his second 24-yard TD at 1:31 to bring the game to within 2 points, 19-21, but TB failed to convert the attempt for 2 extra points narrowly. Garcia was 12 of 20 with 196 yards and 1 TD before he was taken out near the end of the first half. He was never put back in and Luke McCown played the rest of the game. Game notes: TB’s Maurice Stovall injured his right arm and had to be carted off the field…The whole Buccaneers’ team gathered on the field and was watching during the process... Joey Galloway became the first TB player to have three straight 1000-yard seasons and three 1000-yard seasons period with his 29-yard reception during the game…Earnest Graham’s 6-game rushing TD streak was ended…Greg White was injured. Andy Lee and Willis were selected to the Pro Bowl…Gore, Larry Allen, Clements, and Young were named alternates…Willis had 12 tackles, 8 assists, 2 sacks and a forced fumble…Aubrayo Franklin suffered a left cap strain. |
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