The Saints unsurprisingly lost to the best team in football, thus clinching
the NFC West title for San Francisco (again).  Though they came up with some
big plays, the defense really couldn't stop the 49ers at all (all but one of
San Fran's drives reached at least the NO 30).  Mario Bates played well, but
a lackluster performance by Jim Everett (and a possession time of only 21:31)
led to a so-so offensive performance.  Rickey Jackson surely enjoyed winning
against his former team, but didn't make any standout individual plays (the
same as in the first meeting between the two clubs).

A near disaster occurred on the opening kickoff when Tyrone Hughes lost the
ball after colliding with teammate Scott Adams.  Adams was lucky to recover
the loose ball at the 27.  Bates started things off with three straight runs
(for 5, 4, & 3).  One more short gain by Bates was sandwiched between a pair
of incompletions, and the Saints had to punt.

Watters ran for 8 on first down.  Following an incompletion, the Niners went
back to Watters, who picked up 3 more on the ground to move the sticks.  A
slant to Taylor was good for 17 to the NO 40.  A 49er holding penalty brought
up 2nd & 11, but passes to Rice (who lined up in the backfield) and Carter
gave SF a 1st at the 27.  The defense stiffened, and San Francisco settled for
a 40 yard FG.

Bates ran for exactly 10 on the first play of the Saints' next possession, but
the team failed to pick up another 1st.  Tommy Barnhardt's punt was fair caught
at the 17.  A dump over the middle to Floyd was good for 13.  After an
incompletion, Watters ran up the middle for 19 more.  The Niners were forced to
punt when Jones dropped a pass on 3rd & 8, but Hughes (who makes nothing but
big plays, good & bad) fumbled the punt at the Saints' 7.  One play later,
Young hit Jones for a 4 yard TD with ten seconds remaining before the end of
the first quarter.

Hughes took the ensuing kickoff to midfield, but a holding call against Derrick
Ned put the ball back at the 14.  The Saints went 3 & punt.  SF started with a
3 yard swing pass to Floyd to the NO 44, but a holding penalty on the next play
backed them up.  Young responded with an 8 yard pass to Jones and a 3rd down
scramble for 12 to pick up the 1st.  Watters gained 7 to move SF to the 22, but
on the next play Sean Lumpkin ripped the ball free from Young during a bootleg.
Jimmy Spencer recovered at the eleven.

Everett threw his 5th incomplete pass of the game (in 5 attempts) on the first
play of the Saints' next drive, but followed that with a successful deep post
to Michael Haynes (who almost dropped the ball) down to the SF 36.  Bates ran
for 13, then for 2 more.  Wesley Walls caught a pass at the 10.  Lorenzo Neal
took a fake pitchout 7 yards, and Bates scored from there.  With 6:21 before
halftime, it was 10-7 San Francisco.

Carter returned the ensuing kickoff to midfield when newly-acquired Saint
Vinnie Clark failed to contain on his side.  San Francisco continued their
quick march downfield with a 30 yard swing pass to Watters on 1st down.
Facing 3rd & 7 from the 17, a scrambling Young put a move on James Williams
to pick up the 1st.  On 3rd & goal from the 4, Taylor caught a TD pass over
Clark (the WR was close to not having possession of the ball before stepping
out of bounds- a tough call).

On the third play of the Saints' next possession, Everett threw an ill-advised
pass which was easily intercepted and returned to the NO 47.  With just under
2 minutes remaining before the half, the 49ers tried to move for a quick score.
Following a penalty against Joe Johnson for illegal use of the hands, Young
hit Jones for 14 and Rice for 6.  Watters then ran for 9 to give Frisco a 1st
at the 13.  However, Sam Mills poked the ball free from Watters during a run
on the next play.  Hughes picked up the ball and took off for the endzone.
He avoided Young at midfield, got by Singleton at the 30, and scored the TD
for the home team with :34 to go before the half.

J.J. McCleskey provided good coverage to tackle the kick returner at the 32.
On the next play, Rice caught a slant-in and ran across the field to the NO 48
(with the aid of 2 against-the-grain blocks to wipe out pursuing Saints).  A
late hit out of bounds by Vince Buck on the play moved the ball 15 more yards.
A Renaldo Turnbull sack backed up SF temporarily, but catches by Watters &
Rice allowed Brien to kick a 48 yard FG just before the end of the half.

San Francisco began the second half with a nine minute, 71 yard drive for a TD.
Taylor began things with an 11 yard catch.  Watters picked up the necessary
yardage on 3rd & 1 from the SF 49.  Carter caught a 19 yard pass on 3rd & 6
from the NO 46.  A run by Watters and two by Floyd moved San Fran to the 12,
and Young picked up 10 from there on a bootleg (but Hughes brought him down
with a hard tackle).  Two runs by Watters couldn't get into the endzone.
The defense forced another big fumble on 3rd & goal, but the ball bounced to
Rice.  The Saints suffered a tough break when Wayne Martin was called for a
facemask penalty while tackling Rice at the 10.  The 49ers got to replay the
down from the original line of scrimmage.  Following a Niner offsides penalty,
Jones caught a 6 yard TD.  Rice caught a pass to make the 2-point attempt
successful & give SF a 14 point lead.

Bates began the Saints' next possession with a 10 yard run.  Neal took a fake
pitch 3 yards to the 31, and Everett beat Rickey Jackson's pressure with a 4
yard throw to Torrance Small.  An offsides penalty against Deion Sanders
negated a Bates no-gainer, and Bates (who did a much better job of protecting
the ball) picked up 5 on the next play.  A play-action dump to the Master was
good for 5, and he ran for 2 more on the next play.  Everett picked up the 1st
with a 12 yard 3rd down pass to Small to the SF 36.  A holding call against
Chris Port helped kill the momentum, and on 3rd down Deion intercepted an
overthrown pass in the endzone.  He returned the ball to the SF 34, where
Everett hit him (the announcers chided Everett for a revenge late-hit, but in
actuality Deion had never been touched- it looked like the play was blown dead
prematurely).

A run by Floyd and three by Watters moved the ball to the NO 48.  Heavy 3rd
down pressure seemed to force a drive-ending incompletion, but a questionable
call against Darrion Conner (for illegal contact past the 5 yard zone) gave
SF new life.  On the next play Young hit Singleton on a quick slant for a 43
yard TD.

Everett used a series of passes to move the Saints to the SF 11, but a 4th
down throw fell incomplete.  San Francisco moved the ball to the NO 12 to run
the final 8:19 off the clock and beat us on Monday night for the 4th time in
4 tries over the last six years.

A 21-point loss was pretty much what I expected.  Hopefully the revenge factor
will lead Everett to a great performance next week on the road against the
Rams.  After that, I'd love to deliver a serious blow to the Falcons' playoff
hopes.  A win versus the Cowboys is a tough order, but we might be able to
play the role of spoilers against Denver on the last weekend of the regular
season.  A 7-9 record would be respectable, considering the difficult schedule
we've had this year.


stats- Everett: 13-25-147, 2 INT

       Bates: 14-69, TD rushing; 2-16 receiving
       Brown: 1-3 rushing; 1-14 receiving 
       Neal: 2-11 rushing
       Haynes: 4-66
       Small: 4-34
       Walls: 2-17


San Francisco: 42-191 rushing, 270 yards passing


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Frank Serpas III    serpas@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu