49ers continue their winning ways
San Francisco, CA – Nothing changed in week five, the San Francisco 49ers offense continues to get stronger and the defense keeps getting better. It didn’t take long for Alex Smith to connect with a few of his receivers early as they completely dominated the Tampa Bay Buccaneers throughout the entire game.
The 48-3 victory over the Buccaneers gave the 49ers their largest margin since they beat the Los Angeles Rams 48-0 on December 27, 1987. That also was Tampa Bay’s worst loss ever. Smith and the offense looked much like days of the Joe Montana era, multiple options and great blocking.
“I’ll say this, this has been the first time we are looking good since I’ve been here,” Frank Gore said. “We are going to keep working, taking care of the ball, trust in our coaching staff and take it one game at a time. That’s all we can do, just keep getting better.”
Alex’s 26-yard pass to Delanie Walker gave them a 7-0 lead in the first quarter. The Buccaneers responded quickly with a field goal to get on the board. San Francisco then got a good flow on offense to move the ball to Tampa’s goal line but Frank Gore fumbled the ball right before the quarter ended.
Josh Freeman began the second quarter with enough time in the pocket to locate an open receiver but instead threw into the hands of Carlos Rogers who intercepted the ball for 31-yards and scored a touchdown. Rogers recorded his third consecutive interception of the season. He’s the first 49er to record three interceptions since Takeo Spikes Sept 28, 2008 to Oct 12, 2008.
“We were in the cover two zone man under,” said Carlos. “Once I saw my man go toward the safety I gave it a little comeback. It’s something we practiced all week, we got in the right coverage and I made the pick.”
Everything looked so easy, they’ve practiced it before or the Buccaneers just decided not to show up mentally today. San Francisco clicked on all cylinders, Smith threw two touchdown passes to Vernon Davis and Frank Gore rushed 100-yards for the second consecutive game.
The defense was unstoppable, they forced another turnover, this time Chris Culliver’s 21-yard interception led to Gore’s 2-yard touchdown and a 21-3 lead. This was the second interception of the game and both were in the first half. Now 4-1 the 49ers hold first place in the NFC West.
“I thought we played well, I thought our guys really prepared well, I thought they were ready to play this game,” 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh said. “From an emotional standpoint I thought they were prepared; physically and mentally for the ball game.”
“Just playing together,” said Davis. “Expecting to win with confidence. That will take you a long way, confidence and that’s what this team has right now. Everyone is hungry, everyone wants to win and we are putting it all together.”
His first touchdown came when San Francisco started the second half with an 80-yard, seven play scoring drive for 23-yards to Davis. Tampa’s penalties were outrageous. The biggest came right before David Akers kicked a 46-yard field goal which was good but got over turned when Dekoda Watson was called on a penalty. 14-yards later, Vernon scored his second touchdown.
After that the 49ers led by 41-3. Alex finished with 11-for-19 for 170 yards with no sacks or interceptions. He was replaced by backup Colin Kaepernick late in the fourth. In 11 plays Kaepernick moved the offense down field for Anthony Dixon’s 1-yard touchdown. The 49ers are 4-1 for the first time since 2002.
“Obviously it was a disappointing loss. Flat start, flat finish, flat middle-everything,” Buccaneers coach Raheem Morris said. “We didn’t even get off the plane this time, I guess we were a little bit punch drunk and didn’t play as hard as we normally do.”
Written by: Malaika Bobino
