Saints 11 49ers 7 summary ....... The Saints overcame missed scoring opportunities to hold on and beat a 49er team hit hard by injuries. play-by-play ............ The Saints kicked off to the 49ers and sent a defense onto the field that (for once) was not sprinkled with backups. The LBs were those the coaches intended to start on opening day before injuries hit (Winfred Tubbs, Rufus Porter, and Richard Harvey). Only Joe Johnson was missing from the unit (Willie Broughton filled in for him). Forty Niner QB Elvis Grbac patiently led the San Franciscans downfield with that West Coast offense we've been hearing so much....about......lately- Loville 3 run, Rice 10 catch, Floyd 4 catch, Floyd 5 run, Floyd 2 run on 3rd & 1. The D stuffed a Rice end-around on the next play, but Grbac scrambled for 11 to move the sticks. Good deep coverage of Rice by Jimmy Spencer created an incompletion, but a run and a catch by Loville gave SF a 1st at the NO 38. A dump pass to Floyd gave the Niners a 1st at the 24, but San Fran failed to move the chains again. The nine minute drive went for naught when Renaldo Turnbull blocked Zendejas' 37 yd FG attempt. The O got off to a rocky start with an incompletion, a holding penalty, a Mario Bates run that saw him lose 3 yds while recovering his own fumble, and a 3rd down throw that hit Torrance Small in the hands and fell to earth. San Francisco took over at their own 42. The Niners took note of Spencer's cushion and threw short to Rice twice in a row to move the ball to the NO 28. On 3rd & 6 Grbac dumped it to Rice on a crossing pattern to give SF a 1st at the 10. On the next play Brent Jones caught a 4 yd pass but sprained a medial collateral knee ligament and had to leave the game. A Loville run on the next play put the ball at the 1, but the D denied Floyd on 3rd down. On 4th & goal from less than a yard away, the Niners fooled the D by coming to the line in a tight formation, splitting out some receivers, then using a QB sneak to score the TD. With 5 seconds gone in the second quarter, the 49ers were up 7-0. Bates gained 8 & 7 yds on the first two plays of the ensuing drive, but Quinn Early's failure to get both feet in bounds on a fairly deep pass helped stop the visitors' momentum. The possession ended with a 2 yd Bates run, a false start on Chris Port (who had moved over to tackle to take injured Richard Cooper's spot, with Andy McCollum playing guard), and an incompletion. The Niners picked up the required yardage on a Loville 3rd & 1 run, but two plays later Rice dropped a 3rd & 2 pass that would've moved the sticks. Tyrone Hughes more than doubled the Saints' 1995 punt return yardage by taking the ensuing kick up the middle from the NO 21 to the SF 5. Unfortunately, two Bates runs netted 3 yds, and Jim Everett's 3rd down throw fell incomplete. Chip Lohmiller kicked a 20 yarder. The D prevented San Fran's huge time of possession advantage from growing by stopping Floyd short of the 1st down marker on 3rd & 2 from the SF 40, thus producing a 3 & punt Frisco series. Starting from their own 27, the Saints moved quickly downfield in four plays- Early caught a pass and took it for 13, Bates ran for 5, Irv Smith got behind the LBs and caught one for 26, Bates ran for 7. After a ball intended for a well-covered Early fell incomplete in the endzone, Derek Brown gained 8 on a 3rd & 3 pass. One play later, however, Small wisely ate the ball on an end-around (he was going to pass but nobody was open). That was followed by a Rickey Jackson sack. Lohmiller's 43 yd FG attempt was short. The Niners took over with 1:51 remaining in the half and tried to move for a quick score. They got close to midfield, but then Hughes made a good break on a Grbac throw and picked it off at the NO 47. On 3rd & 7 from the 50, Everett found Michael Haynes for a 14 yd gain. After two incompletions, Brown gained just less than 10 yds on a screen pass when he tried to pick up extra yards instead of diving for the 1st. Instead of letting Lohmiller try another 43 yarder, the Saints went for it on 4th & inches. The pass was incomplete, and the Saints went into the half with only 3 points to show for three drives inside the 49er 30. Hughes provided yet another spark by returning the second half kickoff 36 yds to the NO 45. The Saints got the ball into the endzone before the home crowd found its way back from the concession stands- Haynes 18 catch, Bates 3 run, Early 18 catch, Bates 5 run, Bates 11 run for TD. The extra point snap went over holder Tom Hodson's head, but the backup QB alertly scooped up the ball and found Wesley Walls open to convert the impromptu 2-point play. The Saints were now up by 4. Loville was held for a 2 yd gain on the first play of the ensuing possession, but Grbac hit Taylor for 14 and Rice for 11 on the next two plays. The D stiffened, however, by sandwiching a 2 yd Loville run between two Grbac rollouts that saw the QB threw the ball away. The Niner special teamers almost put the Saints in a hole, but accidentally knocked the punt into the endzone for a touchback. Bates ground out back-to-back 6 yd runs to start the next series, but (in an all-too-common sight) limped off the field with one of his patented ankle injuries. A 9 yd Early catch, a 2 yd Brown run, and a defensive holding penalty put the ball near midfield, but the Saints couldn't pick up another first. Klaus Wilmsmeyer's punt was fair caught at the 10. The Niners got out of the hole thanks to a 2 yd Floyd run on 3rd & 1. A catch by Rice put the ball at the SF 40. The Saints appeared to have missed a big opportunity one play later when Sean Lumpkin failed to catch a fluttering pass caused by Porter's QB pressure. However, on the very next play some more QB pressure caused Grbac to throw the ball to Spencer at the NO 39. Bates re-entered the game and tore off an 11 yd run, but managed to gain only 1 on the next play. On the first play of the fourth quarter Everett found Haynes for 16 on 3rd & 6 from the SF 40. Bates then ran for 8 & 9 yds on consecutive carries. On 3rd & goal from the 10 Haynes caught an Everett pass past the goal line but came down out of bounds. Lohmiller finally got himself fired by missing a 28 yd FG. The Niners picked up a big first down by inches thanks to Floyd's second effort on 3rd & 5 from the 25, but on the next play a crisp hit by Lumpkin knocked the ball loose from Popson's grasp and straight into the hands of Porter, who returned the ball to the SF 24. On 3rd & 1 from the 15, Bates was held for no gain. Having lost all confidence in Lohmiller (who isn't officially fired yet), the coaches decided to go for the 1st. Bates was hit in the backfield for a 2 yd loss. The Niners took over at their own 17 with 7:36 left in the game. Their drive started with a 9 yd Popson catch, a 4 yd Loville catch, and a 2 yd Loville run. Wayne Martin batted the ball incomplete on the next play, but on 3rd & 8 Loville made some moves after a catch to pick up 9. A 5 yd Loville catch and a 13 yd Popson grab gave San Fran a 1st at the NO 41. On the next snap, a blitzing Tubbs made a big play by sacking Grbac all the way back at the SF 47. On 3rd & 19 from midfield the Niners tried to get it all with a long ball to Rice, but Spencer was there to prevent the completion. With a little over 2 minutes remaining and still in possession of all of their timeouts, San Francisco decided to punt and try to force a quick Saints series. Bates' first run lost a yard, but his second one gained 7. On 3rd down, Everett hit Early for a huge 10 yd pickup. On the next play Bates gained 10 more, thus allowing the Saints to run out the clock. drive chart & stats ................... (P)unt, (M)issed FG, (E)nd of period, (F)umble, (I)nterception, out of (D)owns 1 2 3 4 5 4 3 2 1 G 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 G S P<<<<<<< 1:06 A >>>>>>P 2:58 I >3 1:20 Lohmiller N >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>M 4:06 T >>>>>>>>>>>>>D 1:06 S ....................................................halftime | >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>8 2:48 Bates/Walls | >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>P 3:39 | >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>M 5:57 | >>>>D 2:10 | >>>>>>>>>>>>E 2:20 | ....................................................gameover | 27:30 1 2 3 4 5 4 3 2 1 G 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 G 4 >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>M 9:02 9 >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>7 4:57 Grbac E >>>>>>>>>P 2:51 R >>>>>P 1:48 S >>>>>I :38 | E :08 | ....................................................halftime | >>>>>>>>>>>>>>P 3:12 | >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>I 2:49 | >>>>>F 1:49 | >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>P 5:16 | ....................................................gameover | 32:30 1 2 3 4 5 4 3 2 1 G 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 G .......throwin' & catchin'...../...runnin'.... Everett Bates 26-106-1 Brown 2- 17 3- 5 Walls 2- 14 Smith 1- 26 Haynes 3- 49 Early 4- 50 incomplete 14 intercepted 0 12-26-156-0-0 29-111-1 49ers: Rice 8-108 notes ..... * though I don't think we would've won if the Niners had had all their guys, today's effort was still a fine one * of the 16 times the Saints have lined up intending to kick an extra point this season, the ball has gone through the uprights only 11 times * this game makes last week's loss all the more painful- with a win over Carolina we'd be only 2 games out of first place in the NFC West * those Saints fans wanting to see personnel changes in the right side of the offensive line got their wish (due to injuries)- McCollum & Craig Novitsky did a pretty good job ******************************************************************************* Frank Serpas III serpas@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu