Dissappointment

I just finished watching the Niners and Cardinals on Monday Night Football.

There isn't much to say about the game. The Niners found themselves in a very, very fortunate position to win a game that they had already allowed to slip through their hands. The Niners started off the game with an Allen Rossum kickoff return TD, Vernon Davis' first TD grab of the season, and go into the half with a 21-13 lead and all the momentum on their side. In the first half, the Niners looked great. However, in the second half, they looked lost- they allowed Kurt Warner to do what he does best; destroy secondaries. The Niners were fortunate to find themselves in a position to win the game still as they drove down the field with 4 minutes left only to have Shaun Hill throw a interception at the Arizona 18 yard line. After getting a clutch defensive stop, the Niners were lucky enough to get the ball back with 1:06 on the clock, driving all the way to the 1 yard line. At the 1, Frank Gore was unable to get into the end zone as he stumbled towards the end zone after making slight contact with a defender only to have the ball called back to the 2 yard line. Then, the Niners predictably ran the ball down the middle only to be completely stuffed, an thus losing the game.

While the game seemed competitive, it really wasn't as close as you may think. The Niners were outscored 16-3 in the second half and were fortunate to find themselves in two positions to win the game. Normally when teams are gifted with the chance to win games that they didn't deserve to, they win them. Not the Niners. Instead, the Niners spoiled their opportunities and were dealt a spirit crushing loss to a division rival. While an upset win tonight would have definitely been a huge step in the development of such a young team and a new coach, hopefully there can be some good taken away from this horrible loss. After the controversy of last weekend when Vernon Davis and Mike Singletary got into an argument, it could have easily created a horrible locker room divide and a rookie coach starting with a bad foundation with one of the players who the franchise hope will become a big part of their future. Instead, after Davis' spectacular TD grab tonight, you could see Singletary and Davis hugging and reconciling a very important relationship between a young potential building block of the franchise and his new coach. Another thing that can be taken away from the game was that despite the turmoil over the QB situation in San Francisco, it seemed to me that the team rallied around Shaun Hill, especially after a QB scramble in which his helmet was ripped off, only to have him continue to run and successfully fight for the first down. You could see everyone on the sidelines getting pumped up and rallying around their quarterback, no matter how many games he has started for the team. This young team definitely can use plays like that for all the players to see. To see that the team is above all of them and establishing a mentality based on hard work, sacrifice and the idea that if they keep fighting, the results will come.

This is actually why I think that tonight's loss was so disappointing. I can only imagine how much good would have come out of a win tonight; on the national stage, against the division leaders. Had the Niners won tonight, how could the players ignore the results of hard work? How could the players not be motivated to work hard? In a game where every single analyst sided against the Niners, and to come out on top after fighting for every inch and yard against all expectations. And while every single player on the Niners is definitely demoralized and disappointed after probably feeling like tonight was when their hard work would pay off, we can all only hope that Mike Singletary can use his passion for the game and his emotion to get through to his young team that if they continue to fight and grow that the results will come eventually.