San Francisco Takes Bite out of the Big Apple, Beats Giants

The San Francisco 49ers continue to make believers out of many National Football League skeptics.

As if their 7-1 record wasn’t enough to stamp them as a serious contender in the NFC, maybe Sunday’s 27-20 win over the New York Giants will help.

The 49ers overcame the loss of running back Frank Gore (6 rushes, o yards before leaving with an ankle injury) and used a strong second half performance to win for the eighth time in nine games.

San Francisco trailed 13-12 after three quarters, riding the leg of David Akers to four field goals (36, 52, 39 and 28 yards).

The only touchdown of the game to that point was a 13-yard pass from Eli Manning to Mario Manningham with 2:25 left in the third quarter.

But just like they did in wins at Detroit and Cincinnati, the 49ers would dominate the fourth quarter.

Alex Smith (19-30, 242 yards) gave the 49ers the lead for good with a 31-yard touchdown pass to Vernon Davis just 1:29 into the fourth quarter. The two-point conversion gave San Francisco a 20-13 lead.

Manning, who had been very good in the fourth quarters this season, tried to bring his Giants back on the next drive, but after a short run by Brandon Jacobs, he tried to hit Manningham over the middle but was intercepted by Carlos Rogers, his second pick of Manning in the game.

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It took San Francisco one play to extend the lead as Kendall Hunter went 17-yards over the left guard for a touchdown. Hunter had 40 yards on just six carries replacing Gore.

Manning did lead the Giants on a touchdown drive later in the quarter, to close the gap to 27-20 but on the final drive of the day, Manning over-threw Jake Ballard on fourth-and-two at the 49ers 10-yard line, to end the game with: 34 seconds left.

The San Francisco defense was again the difference. They held Jacobs to 55 yards rushing, and the tight end combination of Bear Pascoe and Ballard, to five catches. Manning was limited to an average of seven yards per completion.

Again the 49ers offense sputtered off and on for most of the game but Smith had perhaps his best game, especially in the second half. The fact that he didn’t have the running game of Gore that he has had in the last five weeks (all 100 + yard games by Gore) put the pressure on the arm of Smith and he responded by competing passes to eight different receivers. He also gained 11 first downs via the passing game.

By Don August
ProFootball-fans.com San Francisco 49ers Correspondent