It's hard to believe that game 9 could be a "must-win" matchup, but that's how the San Francisco 49ers described today's contest in New Orleans. After a two game skid, and growing controversy surrounding Coach Jim Harbaugh, the Niners showed signs of brilliance early, jumping to a comfortable 14-0 lead. The Red and Gold scored two rushing touchdowns in the first half, returning to the good old days behind power running back Frank Gore and rookie Carlos Hyde. They carried an 11 point advantage going into the half. But in an all too familiar pattern, San Francisco's offense sputtered in the second half allowing Drew Brees a chance to erase the deficit and hope to keep the Saints' 11 straight winning streak in the Superdome alive going in front 24-21 with 1:52 left.
That's when Colin Kaepernick found Michael Crabtree for a 51 yard play on 4th and 10 that helped the faithful believe and forget all the dropped passes. After a Phil Dawson 45 yard field goal the scored was tied at 24. With time clicking away, I watched in horror as New Orleans almost won the game with a Hail Mary pass in the end zone. A pass interference penalty negated the play as time expired. Once again it was the Niners defense coming up big and one player redeemed himself. In overtime, Ahmad Brooks who last year committed a costly penalty that allowed the Saints to win, sacked Brees and stripped the ball giving the 49ers possession. Dawson kicked the winning 35 yard field goal to punctuated the 27-24 road win.
"It was paramount for us to come out with a win," said Joe Staley after the game. "You don't like to say must-win, but it was a must -win game. We looked at this game as a playoff game."
The Niners are now 5-4 and hopes of restoring the season are alive and well.
"Great win," Harbaugh Said. "An exciting win. It was a heck of a football game."
Meanwhile across the bay, the Raiders remain win-less after falling to the Broncos 41-17. Future Hall of Famers Payton Manning put on a clinic tossing 5 touchdowns. Oakland is now 0-9.
Traveling to Phoenix, the last undefeated team in the NBA, our Golden State Warriors suffered their first loss, dropping a heartbreaker to the Suns 107-95. The Dubs were without half their dynamic splash brothers, Klay Thompson was forced to sit out after spraining his right hand last night in Houston. Like the 49ers, Golden State jumped to an early lead behind the brilliant play of Stephen Curry who scored 22 points in the first half. But things changed quickly at the end of the third quarter. Up by 10 with just 15 seconds to play Curry was called for two quick fouls and turned the ball and the momentum over to the Suns. Costly turnovers have been plaguing the Warriors who lead the league in giveaways with 21.6 per game. Tonight that number climbed to 27.
"It came back to haunt us," explained rookie coach Steve Kerr." You're not going to win in this league giving the ball away. We committed careless turnovers again. We were our own worst enemy and we got what we deserved."
Curry who finished with 28 points and 10 assists to go with 10 turnovers took much of the blame.
"They were just bone head plays," said Curry. "We did play well enough for the first 36 minutes to win the game. Then we made a lot of stupid plays that gave them life instead of putting the nail in the coffin."
Three other Warriors scored in double figures, with Draymond Green connecting for 22 points and Harrison Barnes and Leandro Barbosa adding 12 points each.
The 5-1 Dubs come back to Oakland to host the Spurs Tuesday night.
No comments:
Post a Comment