O’Sullivan moves closer to starting QB role for 49ers

By Jeff Dickinson  |   Friday, August 22, 2008  |  Comments( 9 )

San Francisco 49ers
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Thursday night’s NFL preseason game between the San Francisco 49ers and Chicago Bears featured two young quarterbacks with a lot of responsibility on their shoulders.

For the 49ers, J.T. O’Sullivan was trying to continue to distance himself from former starter Alex Smith. For the Bears, Kyle Orton was attempting to break away even more from Rex Grossman.

The main difference was that Chicago head coach Lovie Smith had already named Orton as the team’s starter for the season. San Francisco head man Mike Nolan has yet to do the same with O’Sullivan.

That might have changed after the game against the Bears.

O’Sullivan started in Chicago and led the 49ers to three scores on his first three drives. When it was all said and done, O’Sullivan was 7-for-8 for 126 yards and a touchdown, leading the 49ers to a 37-30 victory over the Bears.

If Nolan was still looking for evidence as to why he should officially name O’Sullivan the team’s starter, he definitely found it against Chicago. O’Sullivan’s performance helped him to achieve a rare feat – a perfect quarterback rating of 158.3 for the evening.

Smith did get his chance to make Nolan’s decision more difficult by following O’Sullivan against the Bears. However, Smith didn’t do much to help his cause. While he did throw for a touchdown, Smith struggled overall and was 6-for-17 for 83 yards.

O’Sullivan led the 49ers to field goals on his first two drives of the game. He followed that up by orchestrating a 77-yard scoring drive that culminated with a 59-yard touchdown pass to Jason Hill. Overall, the 49ers had 425 yards of total offense against the Bears.

After O’Sullivan’s solid performance and Smith’s shaky one, Nolan should go ahead and name him as San Francisco’s starter, right? Not according to one of San Francisco’s quarterbacks from last season.

Former 49ers passer and current ESPN analyst Trent Dilfer believes Smith is the club's best option.

“I know J.T. had a great game against the Bears last night, but I have been in camp and on the field with Alex and I still think that he gives the 49ers the best chance to win," Dilfer said. "I think Alex is the best quarterback option for the 49ers now and long-term.”

In addition to O’Sullivan’s solid showing, there were some other highlights from Thursday’s win over the Bears:

-Return man Allen Rossum excelled, running back five kickoffs for 150 yards (a 30-yard average) and one punt for 19 yards.

-Thomas Clayton led the 49ers in rushing with 81 yards on 18 carries. Clayton, who also ran for a touchdown, was a sixth-round pick for the 49ers in the 2007 draft. He spent all of last season on the practice squad, but he was the leading rusher in the NFL during the 2007 preseason with 200 yards on the ground.

-The 49ers won the possession game for the second straight week. San Francisco held the ball for 37:35, while the Bears' offense was on the field for just 22:25. Coincidentally, the 49ers have won their last two games.

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About Jeff Dickinson

I have been writing and editing professionally for 18 years. I spent the first three years of my career as a sportswriter for a daily newspaper in Alabama and got to cover sports and get paid for it! It was great until I got married and then it wasn't too much fun being away from my wife every...
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