Singletary Pleased With Offensive Balance
Posted by on December 15, 2009 – 3:06 PM
There was no locker room talk the day after the 49ers 24-9 victory over the Arizona Cardinals, only podium talk.
Players normally have Tuesdays off, and that meant an empty locker room following Singletary’s day after the game press conference.
But the 49ers head coach had plenty of quality notes and quotes to share with the gathered Bay Area media, including praise for his pass rush and his offense’s performance against Arizona.
Singletary began his presser by announcing the injuries suffered against the Cardinals. Running back Michael Robinson suffered a shoulder stinger in the game and is listed as day-to-day. Rookie wide receiver Michael Crabtree suffered a hip contusion. Tackle Barry Sims will undergo an MRI after he complained of knee pain. Lastly, tackle Joe Staley remains day-to-day with a knee injury.
Staley worked out on Sunday, but Singletary said it was a “good idea to give him a little rest time.” Staley remains a day-to-day situation.
Singletary revealed that a point of the 49ers defensive game plan versus Arizona was to get Kurt Warner to move in the pocket. After sacking Warner four times, Singletary said the reason was due to the get-offs of the 49ers defensive line.
In particular, Singletary highlighted the performance of outside linebacker Ahmad Brooks who had a career-high 3.0 sacks and two forced fumbles against Warner.
“It was nice to see Ahmad step into his own on a national stage,” Singletary said. “All the guys really got after the quarterback and made him move.”
Asked if Brooks could push for playing time as a starter at the outside linebacker position, Singletary responded, “Don’t know. That’s a next offseason question.”
Offensively, Singletary pointed to the balance established by the 49ers offense. Alex Smith threw two touchdown passes and Frank Gore rushed 25 times for 167 yards, including a 2-yard touchdown run.
“I was happy to see our offense strike a balance,” Singletary said. “For the first time, we struck a nice balance with the run and the pass.”
Singletary was even happier to see a big smile on the face of his star running back.
“I thought Frank did a nice job running the ball. It was nice to see him smiling last night after the game.”
It was a perfect 50-50 split, with the 49ers running 36 times out of their 72 offensive snaps.
The only downside to the offense’s performance was two interceptions thrown by Smith. However, the first was not placed on Smith’s shoulders. Singletary credited Cardinals defensive end Darnell Dockett with making a great play at the line to tip the ball up in the air to himself. Smith’s second interception could be chalked up to “miscommunication,” Singletary said.
Smith thought tight end Delanie Walker would cut across the face of Cardinals strong safety Adrian Wilson, but instead ran up the field.
The 49ers hope to have those issues ironed out before they travel out to Philadelphia to take on the Eagles in an important mid-December meeting this Sunday. The 49ers need help in order to pass the Cardinals in the division race, but also remain alive in the Wild Card race too.
Knowing that, the 49ers will give their best performance against the Eagles and let everything else play out.
“All I know is if we win out we have a chance. It’s a small chance, but we have a chance,” Singletary said. “I don’t really care about the other stuff, the tiebreakers. I don’t get into that. Let’s just see what happens.”
Tags: Ahmad Brooks, Alex Smith, Barry Sims, Delanie Walker, Frank Gore, Joe Staley, Michael Crabtree, Michael Robinson
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16 Responses
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By Chris (EPT) on Dec 15, 2009 | Reply
Last night’s game was one of the best performances by our 49er Defense. They knew exactly that they had to do pressure Kurt Warner all night and play physical all around the end result; 7 turnovers. Great Job Defense!!. It was also good to see that the 49ers managed the game very successfull on offense and FINISHED the game with my favorite formation; the VICTORY formation.
By J. on Dec 15, 2009 | Reply
The niners played an amazing game. They really made us proud to be niner fans last night (unlike last week!).The defense did awesome causing all of those turnovers, putting pressure on warner and injuring fitz! P. Willis rocked them all as usual. The offense did great striking a balance between running and passing. Gore went out there and really handled business. What can I say, it was a great game! 4-9-4 life!
By DA Booko on Dec 15, 2009 | Reply
You know what I hate when the 49ers straight spank another team and the Haters “T.V.Analyst” make it same like the other team laid down and we lucked it out but we spanked them good last night. 49era from the Womb to the Tomb
By jo on Dec 15, 2009 | Reply
I JUST NOTICED SOMETHING ABOUT ALEX SMITH THIS LAST GAME, DOES HE EVER USE THA PUMP FAKE?????
By acidsnke on Dec 15, 2009 | Reply
imagine if we can get the offense to gel and defense already is playing lights out,
we can blow people up better than the saints and colts.thats something to be craving for and i know it will happen one of these days.
By kenny on Dec 15, 2009 | Reply
WE SEE 49ERS WIN SUNDAY 49ERS CAN DO IT PLAY GOOD D
By pete on Dec 16, 2009 | Reply
what a game this reminds me of games of old,we used to play like this all the time,keep it up guys
By 8Niner16 on Dec 16, 2009 | Reply
Funny how AZ coach did not credit the 49ers play for the 7 turnovers…He made it look like AZ gave away the game. Nice job Wizz. I like it when the niners do not get any credit from opposing teams cause that keeps the niners off any radars…lol. Great job BTW the entire niner team and coaching staff. This is looking like a precursor to a great 2010 season.
By will on Dec 16, 2009 | Reply
you know a lot of you are right when the niners win its always that its something the other team did to loose but when i watched this M N F game every turn over was from the niners striping the ball az didnt drop it was takin over and over and by the 3rd q the look on all the cards faces said it all they were so pissed off i loved it did anybody see it when the whole az offense was in a circle holding hands praying together in the first quarter lol they thought god would help them lol i loved ittttttt and this short comment is for the guy who said he is now proud to be a niners fan not like last week but let me say this 100 to 0 or 0 to 100 what ever the score is if you are a fan then you should be a fan all the time years ago when the niners only won 2 or 3 games all year i said f it we will get them next year im a true fan unlike some who just ride the party wagon
By shawn on Dec 16, 2009 | Reply
The defense dominated but I cannot say the same for the offense. Frank had some nice runs but he cannot be the entire offense. Aside from one nice pass to crabtree for the TD, Smith was inconsistent all night. The offense didn’t really put together a complete drive at all. The defense kept setting them up and the offense was frustrating to watch with the exception of 2 or 3 good runs by Gore. The offense nearly blew the game. The 49ers would not have won that game without at least 5 of the turnovers. The offense couldn’t have scored enough without the turnovers. Anyway, offensively there wasn’t much to be proud of. The majority of the problem seemed to be Smith’s bad throws but hopefully he is still learning and will improve.
By shawn on Dec 16, 2009 | Reply
I have to admit that I am impressed with Crabtree. It’s especially amazing given that he missed training camp and held out. It is impressive for someone to start in the middle of the season and make such an immediate impact. He does stand out and stepped up to make some nice runs after the catch. Now if Alex can just improve and stop throwing to the wrong receivers and stop throwing behind, over, and too far in front of them we’ll see the 49ers scoring some more points. What I have noticed is that if they win it is mostly because the defense stepped up. Rarely if ever do they win when the defense has a poor or mediocre game. The O-Line actually protected very well this game. It seems to me that the team is almost completely in place for a playoff run. the missing ingredient seems to be an experienced QB.
By J. on Dec 16, 2009 | Reply
Will – you misunderstood what I meant. I have been a niner faithful since I was 7 yrs old. Even in years when our stats and standings looked like a recurring nightmare I remained a niners fan! When people talk crap about “how much they suck” I defend my team! Last weeks game was embarrassing! I still loved my team but their performance was terrible. I’m not gonna sugar coat the Sh.. and say “you guys did great” because they didn’t! And this week they played great which made us all proud! that’s all i meant! I didn’t mean I’m only a fan because they beat the cards! 4-9-4 Life!
By Joe on Dec 16, 2009 | Reply
Great game this last Monday. I was impressed with Gore’s touchdown and what looked like Moran Noris pushing Gore across the line for the score. For the upcoming game I hope to see tough hard hitting relentless defense, the full power “Raye Gun” offense and jaw dropping play from special teams.This is another playoff game for the niners.
By jo on Dec 16, 2009 | Reply
BUT WHY DOES’NT ALEX SMITH PUMP FAKE THE BALL THOUGH?
By buddster on Dec 16, 2009 | Reply
The hole team stepped up big time MN and I loved every minute of it . Are Off finally put together a balanced game and what did they get for it ((the big W)). Man I couldn’t set still I bouncing of the walls. We got a glimpse of the future gentlemen and it locks BRIGHT. However one thing still worries me and that’s are return game a total lack of return yards and shake ball control must get corrected. 9er 4 life
By cjshmi on Dec 18, 2009 | Reply
Monday night was a great win for the team they showed that there a team to be taken seriously, the offense is looking pretty good with Alex playing well and gore running as usual with greatness, the defense playing light’s out we have a good chance of making the play offs if not the future is bright for the teams in 2010.
so please leave Alex Smith alone. after all his been injured for the last 2 years, and to step right in and play as well as any QB in the NFL that’s pretty good. I think his going to be a great QB just watch and see. i have faith in Alex.
49ers 4 life.