Why did the 49ers raise their umbrella of caution in the second half of last night's game? It was as we suspected. The 49ers saw a mistake-prone quarterback on the other team, saw that their defense was playing well and decided not to make any mistakes. "Because I thought our defense would do a good job with their offense - that's the reason I chose to run the ball and not take risks," Singletary said.
To me that's the equivalent of staying put with a six and four in blackjack and hoping the dealer goes bust. Singletary indeed watched the dealer (Jay Culter) go bust last night, but he was oh-so-close to hitting 21 with his final card.
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Singletary said that when Isaac Bruce returns from his ankle injury, he'll play but that Josh Morgan will continue to be the starter. Of the five players injured last night, Takeo Spikes' hamstring injury appears to be the most serious. Michael Lewis has a shoulder stinger, Arnaz Battle - who gave the team a bit of a lift on kickoff returns - has a quad contusion, Adam Snyder has a sprained ac (shoulder) joint and Mark Roman has a knee contusuion.
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Singletary said that Alex Smith did a "a good job," especially at managing the game in the second half. Smithy threw an interception in the second quarter on a deep pass to Crabtree in which the receiver and quarterback didn't appear to be on the same page. "If your going to get (an interception), hopefully it's like a punt," Singletary said. "But on that particular play, I can certainly understand it. I just think Alex threw it more outside and it should have been more inside. ... When the safety it coming over like he was, it was a tough throw to make. It has to be right on the money to make that throw, and maybe his (Crabtree's) body position wasn't just right."
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Singletary said he wasn't happy about the penalties his team incurred. Vernon Davis was flagged for two false start penalties while Tarell Brown had an unnecessary roughness call late in the third quarter. Singletary said that Davis' midweek remarks about the Bears defense, coupled with his jawing session with Adewale Ogunleye before the game, may have put too much pressure on Davis . "I think he (Ogunleye) got in his head a little early on," Singletary said. "He wanted to make sure he got the best of the guy. That's the kind of stuff you don't want to get into. Because it makes it about you." Singletary said he intended to have a talk with Brown about his penalty.
This marks the second straight season, Davis has been baited during pre-game warm-ups. You'll recall that Joey Porter did the same thing last season. Asked if he was concerned that opposing teams feel they can get in Davis' head, Singletary said, "He just has to remember that the Vernon that got him to this point (i.e. as a possible Pro Bowler) is the Vernon who goes out there and just gets it done."
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Singletary said he elected to punt the ball from the Chicago 34 late in the game for several reasons. He believed in his defense. He believed that Andy Lee could pin the Bears deep in their own territory and he remembered that Joe Nedney had missed a 39-yard field goal in the first quarter. Singletary also said it was very windy on the south end of the stadium and he didn't want a situation where a 52-yard Nedney field goal was caught and returned 100-plus yards for a touchdown. Did he have visions of Nathan Vasher dancing in his head? "Absolutely," Singletary said. "From time to time."
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Singletary called nose tackle Aubrayo Franklin "probably the most consistent player this year." That assessment was heartily seconded by linebacker Jeff Ulbrich who later in the locker room stated that Franklin was one of the league's top 3 nose tackles. Franklin, of course, had his first career interception last night, his first since high school. The ball was in his locker. He said he planned to send it to his mom, Chantini Carter, in Tennessee.
-- Matt Barrows
