49ers lose Singletary's debut to Seattle, 34-13
Singletary shows intense coaching style in loss
Last Monday, the 49ers traded one Mike for another, substituting Singletary for Nolan. Though San Francisco’s sideline boss changed, the same story persisted—too many turnovers, poor pass protection and bad defense. But, even in familiar defeat, a 34-13 loss to Seattle, Singletary separated himself from Nolan by benching his starting quarterback and telling his highly drafted tight end to hit the showers. While the moves failed sway the scoreboard in the 49ers’ favor, maybe they’re the first steps towards breaking out of their five-game losing streak.
It seems as though the same game repeats itself each Sunday. Against Seattle, much of the same continued, but instead of staying with J.T. O’Sullivan, Singletary benched him for Shaun Hill. The O’Sullivan experiment has turned into a disaster and after his interception got returned for a touchdown, Singletary planted him on the bench. At long last, O’Sullivan’s time as starting quarterback appears to be over. Hill has already been named San Francisco’s starter for its Nov. 10 game at Arizona.
O’Sullivan fumbled twice against Seattle, threw one interception and was sacked three times. He continues to force passes to receivers, ignore the defensive pressure around him and turn the ball over at the worst of times. The interception, his 11 th this year, occurred in Seattle territory and pushed the Seahawks’ lead to 20-3. Not all the blame should fall upon O’Sullivan’s shoulders because his offensive line is poor at best, his receivers are average and his offensive coordinator doesn’t understand that running back Frank Gore is his best option. Even so, O’Sullivan needs a break in the worst way because he’s clearly lost.
But, Hill isn’t the answer either; just another quarterback to plug in for the time being and hopefully his play will be more palatable than O’Sullivan’s was. On Sunday, Hill went 15-of-23 for 173 yards, one touchdown and more importantly, not one interception. He’ll spread the ball around, throw quickly and not gamble as much in the pocket. He’s not your strong-arm, creative quarterback, but what the 49ers need right now is someone who can drop back, read the defense and get the ball out before the offensive line crumbles. Undoubtedly, O’Sullivan will emerge again, but maybe Hill discovers a bit of his magic from last season.
Singletary’s second statement came when he sent tight end Vernon Davis to the locker room. Davis drew an unnecessary-roughness penalty for tipping up the facemask of Seattle safety Brian Russell. The overly emotional Davis has a reputation for losing his cool often, which doesn’t look good for a player who’s underachieved so far in his career. Valuable and rugged as a blocking tight end, Davis has yet to become a consistent pass catcher or route runner. And for a top draft pick, Davis should aspire for more, which might be the message behind Singletary’s madness.
Defensively, San Francisco gave up thirty points for the third time in the last five games. The 49ers gave up 116 receiving yards to Seattle fullback Leonard Weaver and only collected a single sack. The team’s pass rush is weak and its secondary is soft.> Find San Francisco 49ers jerseys & hats online through Pro Football Fans and check the 2008 NFL scoreboard as well!
Oftentimes, the 49ers get caught in the wrong defensive positions, which points to poor coaching or player mistakes. Linebacker Manny Lawson had his best game of the season with nine total tackles.
At this point, at 2-6, and with a schedule offering more road than home games, the real potential exists that the 49ers won’t win another game this year. San Francisco’s two games against the Rams might be its best opportunities. The bye week couldn’t have arrived at a better time.
By Jim Bucci
ProFootball-fans.com San Francisco 49ers Correspondent