Blame for San Francisco’s ‘MNF’ loss falls squarely on Singletary, Martz

By Jeff Dickinson  |   Wednesday, November 12, 2008  |  Comments( 1 )

San Francisco 49ers
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On Monday in Arizona, in Mike Singletary’s second game as coach of the San Francisco 49ers, there was no incident with him pulling his pants down in the locker room.

There was also no controversy involving tight end Vernon Davis, whom Singletary benched and sent to the showers early for insubordination in his first game as head coach. There was, however, plenty of shocking news involving the 49ers in a 29-24 loss that dropped their record to a dismal 2-7 on the season.

In their latest defeat, the 49ers exhibited some of the worst clock management seen the invention of the timepiece. Trailing 29-24, quarterback Shaun Hill led the 49ers down to the Arizona 1-yard line on a completion to Jason Hill with 46 seconds left in the game.

San Francisco had no timeouts left, but all the 49ers had to do was spike the ball and stop the clock. Instead of performing that basic task, the 49ers shuffled players on and off the field and were not able to stop the clock until it had just 20 ticks left. How in the world does a professional football team allow 26 precious seconds to melt off the clock in a crucial situation like that?

That wasn’t the end of the head-scratching for San Francisco fans, though.

Frank Gore is the best offensive player the 49ers have on their roster. Gore is leading the team with 723 rushing yards and is third on the team in receiving yards. He also leads San Francisco with five total touchdowns.

So, on the final play of the game with the ball just outside the Arizona 2, whom does offensive coordinator Mike Martz decide to give the football to? Michael Robinson.

This is the same Robinson who had previously rushed for a total of 21 yards on six carries this season. That makes perfect sense to take your best offensive player out of the equation and put the game’s outcome on the shoulders of a rusher who rarely plays.

After the game, Arizona safety Adrian Wilson went up to Gore and told him that he was the best player on the field and that he should have been the one to get that last carry. Gore’s response to Wilson wasn’t made public, but it was probably something along the lines of, "Ya think?”

In this latest of steps in a season of obscurity, the 49ers were far from perfect. Hill threw two interceptions and the defense allowed Kurt Warner to throw for 328 yards and three touchdowns. Nevertheless, the fault lies with Singletary and Martz.

Clock management is not something that is a new aspect of football games. Teams and coaches practice that part of the game at the lowest levels of the sport. Not giving your best offensive player the chance to have an impact on the outcome of the game is also something that is inexcusable. It should be “back to the coaching board” for the 49ers after this loss.
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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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