49ERS OUTLAST NEW ENGLAND 41-34

By

Scary

Barry Rodriguez  

December 17, 2012

FOXBOROUGH,Mass - The San Francisco 49ers did their level best in the second half of this game to snatch defeat from the jaws of what  seemed for three quarters to be a certain victory over the New England Patriots and Tom Brady. The rain was coming down by the bucket load for the entire game. It was a stumbling, fumbling, rumbling , epic struggle of a game. It was a tale of two completely different half's !                            Colin Kaepernick in his fourth start as the Niner's quarterback stumbled and fumbled between slinging four touch down passes.

The first half was totally dominated by the 49er defense. San Francisco scored first on 24 yard pass from Kaepernick to Randy Moss for a touchdown , ten minutes into the first quarter. Patriot fans were stunned as they witnessed Tom Brady going three and out series after series. His receivers were dropping easy catches and getting hammered by                     Donte Whitner and Dashon Goldson. They had no running game at this point in the game.

The second quarter was not much better for New England as the NFL's number one offense could only put up three points on a 32 yard Gostkowski field goal. Kaepernick hit                 Delanie Walker in the right corner of the end zone from 34 yards out to put the score at 14-3 in favor of the 49ers. Later in the quarter           David Akers booted a field goal from 20 yards out to cap all the first half scoring at 17-3. The San Francisco defense had completely frustrated the Patriot offense by playing man to man coverage and putting a big pass rush on Tom Brady.

On New England's first series of the second half their running back Stevan Ridley took a big hit from Whitner and fumbled. Goldson recovered the fumble and rumbled 66 yards to set up a Niner touchdown. Kaepernick muffed the snap from center on the 9 yard line but Frank Gore picked the ball up and ran it for a touchdown before the Patriot defense knew just what happened. The wet weather caused Kaepernick to have trouble with the snap all game long ! At 24-3 in favor of San Francisco , it appeared that a wipe out was in progress. In the Patriot's next offensive series their TE Hernandez bobbled a screen pass and Aldon Smith intercepted. One play later the Niners scored again when Kaepernick split two defenders 27 yards down field to hit Michael Crabtree with the Niners third touchdown pass of the game. The score was now 31-3 and some New England fans were already heading for the exits.

For some inexplicable reason the Niner defensive coordinator had a brain lock and forgot San Francisco was playing against        Tom Brady and a no huddle offense ! The 49er defense went to zone coverage and Brady directed touchdown drives of 73,86,66 and 92 yards in the span of eighteen minutes.  The Niners were unable to score when they had the ball. The 49er defense wore down as they couldn't substitute against the Patriot's no huddle offense. The Niner coaching staff had managed to turn a blow into a nail biter by their poor coaching ! 

New England tied the game at 31-31 with 3:13 on the game clock RB Woodhead scored on a 1 yard run. Then on the ensuing kick off rookie running back LaMichael James turned in a clutch 62 yard run back for the Niners. Rising to the occasion Kaepernick hit Michael Crabtree , who ran the ball in from 38 yards to put the score at 38-31. It was Kaepernick's fourth touchdown pass of the game. New England came back with a fieldgoal but the Niners iced the game with 1:56 on the game clock when David Akers booted a 28 yard field goal making the score 41-34, the final points of the game.

Fortunately for the San Francisco 49ers , asking                Tom Brady to overcome a 28 point deficit was a bit much even for him ! The Niner talent won out despite many mistakes. Kaepernick managed to do enough things right to win the game , given his lack of game experience. Throw out the statistics for this game. On paper              Tom Brady had a great game and ex Niner Brandon Lloyd had 190 receiving yards. Once again the 49er defense deserved the game ball. Brady had to make 65 pass attempts and still came up short. Michael Crabtree continues to shine and Frank Gore manages to get the tough yards at the right time. One can only conclude that even as the 49ers clinch the playoffs for the second year in a row they are still a work in progress on the offensive side. The New England Patriots surely didn't have this on their minds as they headed back to the locker room in defeat !

Note : This article is dedicated to the grieving parents and relatives of the victims of the Newton, Connecticut school massacre . Hopefully the children that survived can heal from this traumatic event so early in their lives. Peace and Love from Scary Barry .