Costly mistakes kill 49ers

By Jeff Dickinson  |   Tuesday, September 30, 2008  |  Comments( 2 )

San Francisco 49ers
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Although the New Orleans Saints vanquished the San Francisco 49ers, 31-17, in New Orleans last Sunday, the final score was deceiving. The reality is that the Saints really didn't beat the visiting 49ers; rather, it was the Niners' errors led to their second defeat of the season.

New Orleans obviously capitalized on San Francisco’s mistakes, which is what a good football team should do. But the 49ers shot themselves in the foot too many times to expect to win on the road in one of the toughest places to play in the NFL – the Superdome.

The first example of San Francisco’s generosity toward the Saints came when the 49ers were up 3-0 in the second quarter. The Saints sacked quarterback J.T. O’Sullivan, who fumbled the ball. New Orleans took over at the San Francisco 32 and ended up scoring its first touchdown of the game on a 5-yard pass from Drew Brees to Lance Moore.

The 49ers had another breakdown when the game was still very much within reach. Down 14-6 late in the second quarter after a 49-yard field goal by Joe Nedney, the 49ers could have gone to the locker room with some momentum and a renewed spirit. Instead, their defensive lapse allowed the Saints to score on a 47-yard pass from Brees to Robert Meachem with only 52 seconds left until halftime. That broke the 49ers' will.

Yet another gift from the Niners put the game out of reach in the third quarter. San Francisco was down, 21-9, but had a first down at the New Orleans 15. A touchdown there would have pulled the 49ers within 6 points or fewer. Instead, O’Sullivan threw an interception and the Saints scored another touchdown 11 plays later to grab a 28-9 advantage. San Francisco's chances essentially went kaput at that point.

It’s difficult to win an NFL game when you surrender six sacks, have three turnovers (leading to 14 points) and allow a quarterback to throw for 363 yards. Someone should've told that to the 49ers before Sunday.

The good news for San Francisco is that it's still tied atop the NFC West with a 2-2 mark. Rival Arizona, which is even with the 49ers, surrendered 56 points in a blowout loss to the Jets on Sunday.

Both the 49ers and Cardinals face big challenges over the next two weeks. The 49ers host New England and Philadelphia, while the Cardinals are home to undefeated Buffalo and 3-1 Dallas.

If the 49ers don’t protect the ball and O’Sullivan better than they did against the Saints, the first-place talk will soon be replaced by pondering the 2009 draft and its various prospects.
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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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