Saints 21 49ers 28 The Saints coulda, woulda, shoulda won, but yet again came up short in a "let's make a statement by beating San Francisco" game. Early on, action was strongly influenced by the San Francisco ground crew's ill-conceived idea to soften up the dirt infield by wetting it down. The third play from scrimmage featured what looked like a 49er catch-and-fumble, but an incomplete pass was ruled, thus bringing up 4th down (in any event, San Francisco recovered the non-fumble). The punt snap (from the muck) was off-target, thus allowing the Saints to take over at the SF 25. On the Saints' first play, Ricky Williams failed to control a pitchout and fumbled the ball back to San Fran. A half-throw in which the ball slipped out of Young's hand was ruled an incompletion; the ball came loose when Garner was tackled after a run, but he was ruled down by contact. The Niners ended up punting; the ball barely bounced upon landing, thus sticking the Saints back at the 5. The Saints failed to gain a 1st, and Tommy Barnhardt's short punt set up the Niners at the NO 39. Frisco picked up 17 on 3rd & 9 with a dump over the middle to Phillips, then moved to the 10 on the next play when Young handed to Garner from the ground after having his foot stepped on by an offensive lineman. One play later, Young threw a quick one to Owens, who powered his way in for a 5 yd TD catch. The Saints marched back on the strength of a pair of 4th down conversions- on 4th & 1 from the SF 47 Billy Joe Hobert sneaked for the 1st; on 4th & 2 from the 27 the team came out in FG formation, but Barnhardt moved under center and haned to Lamar Smith for 1st down yardage. A pass to Eddie Kennison put the ball at the 1; Hobert went back to Kennison for a score. Doug Brien's kick tied the game at 7. The Niners managed a single 1st before punting. On 3rd & 7 from the NO 42, Keith Poole added to his catalog of long TD receptions by taking in a short Hobert throw and running for a score. With 9:54 left in the half, the Saints were up 14-7. San Fran fought back- Owens 9 catch, Saints offside, Phillips 14 catch, Owens 22 catch, Garner 8 run, Garner 10 run, Rice 2 catch, Vardell 1 run for TD. The successful PAT was a bad omen for the team- since 1988 the 49ers have won every game vs. the Saints in which they've scored more than 13 points. The Saints gained a single 1st before Barnhardt made another appearance; what may have been Kendall Gammon's first bad snap as a Saint prevented a punt from taking place- SF took over at the NO 37. Ashley Ambrose negated the mistake by intercepting a pass at the 14 with 30 seconds left before halftime. A Hobert rainbow on the last play of the period was picked off. The Saints started the third quarter by picking up 1sts via a 15 yd Williams run, a 26 yd Cam Cleeland catch, an 11 yd Poole catch, and a 12 yd Williams run. On 3rd & 11 from the SF 12, Hobert hit Lawrence Dawsey for a score. Brien's kick restored the 7-point Saints lead. After failing to convert 3rd & 6 from the NO 36, the Niners punted into the endzone. In the next possession, the Saints failed to reach Frisco territory, but ate up 6 minutes before punting; a penalty stuck SF back at their 7. Neither team mounted a threat in the subsequent pair of possessions. The 49ers broke into Saints territory with a Hearst-esque screen pass to Garner that gained 53. Young scrambled for 14, threw to Owens for 9, then handed to Vardell for 4 to give San Fran a 1st at the NO 3. The Saint D held- on 4th down from the 2, Vardell was stuffed by Chris Bordano for a 2 yd loss. The Saints failed to get out of the hole (they went 3 & punt), so the Niners took over at their own 38 with 6:53 left. The ensuing drive was extraordinarily frustrating for the Saint D. On 3rd & 3, a sack was negated by defensive holding on Tyronne Drakeford. On 4th & 5, an incompletion was cancelled because Chris Hewitt struck Young's helmet with his own while supplying pressure. On 4th & 12 from the NO 32, a pass to Rice was ruled incomplete on the field, but a review revealed that the play was indeed a completion, good for a 1st. On the following play, Drakeford was flagged for pass interference, thus setting up Frisco at the NO 4. A play later, Owens caught a fade pass for a TD. The extra point tied the score with 2:03 to go in the game. On the second play of the following possession, Hobert tried to go deep for Kennison, but Schulters was waiting for the throw back at the SF 36. The Niner intercepted the pass and ran it back all the way for the go-ahead score. The Saints' last chance ended when, on 4th & 15 from the NO 49, Ricky caught a short throw for 8 yds, spraining his right elbow in the process. One kneel sent the Saints home with a very tough loss. stats (view with a fixed-width font, like Courier) ^^^^^ runnin'........../..........passin' & catchin' 2- 2 B.J. Hobert 22- 80 Ricky Williams 3- 5 2- 11 Lamar Smith 3- 4 Aaron Craver 3- 14 Keith Poole 2- 69-1 Eddie Kennison 5- 46-1 Andre Hastings 2- 23 Lawrence Dawsey 3- 34-1 Cameron Cleeland 2- 32 1- 4 Tommy Barnhardt 30-101 TOTAL 20-223-3 inc 15 INT 2 runnin'........../..........passin' & catchin' 2- 14 S. Young 12- 72 Charlie Garner 5- 88 2- 2 Lawrence Phillips 5- 61 5- 1-1 Tommy Vardell 1- 1 Terrell Owens 5- 49-2 Jerry Rice 5- 47 J.J. Stokes 2- 12 1- 0 Chad Stanley 22- 89-1 TOTAL 23-258-2 inc 11 INT 1 notes ^^^^^ * Ricky's ankle didn't seem to give him any trouble * Hobert played the first two series with his chinstrap unbuckled * the game was on local TV here in Austin; any new Saints fans tuning in have now earned their first battle scar ******************************************************************************* Frank Serpas III serpas@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu