49ers vs. Redskins live blog: Fourth quarter

SANTA CLARA — This is the live blog for the fourth quarter of the 49ers’ Week 12 game against the Redskins. I will update this frequently with information and analysis from the press box.

3:34 Colin Kaepernick completes a 4-yard pass to Vernon Davis on third-and-6. Why throw a 4-yard pass when you need six yards?

3:35 Andy Lee punts. Desean Jackson makes a fair catch at the Redskins’ 20.

3:41 The Redskins are flagged for holding on third-and-5. The redskins punt. Niners’ ball at their 29.

3:43 Roman calls a counter run on first down. Gore runs through a hole, gains 7 and fumbles. The Redskins recover at the Niners’ 37.

3:46 Griffin runs a QB draw on third-and-9 from the 36 and gains 8. Kai Forbath makes the 46-yard field goal. 13-10 Redskins with 7:42 left in the fourth quarter.

3:48 The Niners are losing to a team that’s averaging 4.6 yards per play in this game. Whoa.

3:50 Carlos Hyde returns the kickoff to the Niners’ 25.

3:52 The Niners call their first timeout of the second half on third-and-6 from the 29. Jason Hatcher beat Mike Iupati and sacked Kaepernick on first down.

3:54 Watch the Redskins’ cornerback line up 8 yards off Boldin on this play. It boggles the mind.

3:54 Kaepernick completes a 6-yard pass to Davis on third-and-6. The Redskins are challenging the spot.

3:58 The officials rule Davis’ forward progressed stopped before the 35-yard line. Fourth-and-1. The Niners seem to be going for it.

3:58 Roman calls a Bob Trey O run to the right and Gore gains three yards and a first down.

4:00 Kaepernick completes a deep pass to Boldin. Ryan Clark knocks himself out committing a head-to-head hit against Boldin. First-and-10 at the Redskins’ 19.

4:02 Hyde cruises into the end zone for a 4-yard TD run on first and goal. 17-13 Niners with 2:59 left.

4:05 Touchback.

4:07 Griffin runs into a sack on second down and the Redskins go three-and-out. They’re punting. Cox returns the punt to the Niners’ 33. L.J. McCray is flagged for an illegal block in the back. First-and-10 at the 22.

4:12 The 49ers go three-and-out. Roman calls Bob Trey O to the left three times in a row. Hyde gains 6 yards on first down, 2 yards on second down and he loses 3 yards on third down. 1:41 left.

4:15 The Redskins are flagged for an illegal block in the back on the return. First-and-10 at the 8 with 1:29 left, no timeouts and RGIII is the quarterback. Good luck.

4:16 False start on first down.

4:19 Justin Smith sacks Griffin on third-and-8 from the 16. Griffin fumbles and Ahmad Brooks catches it out of the air. Game over. Great comeback win against the mighty Redskins. Stay tuned for grades.

This article has 239 Comments

  1. Quarterly scoring average since Panthers game 1-12-14 (12 games)
    First, 6.1, Second, 7.9, Third 4.3, Fourth 2.4

    1. More amazing since the Niners had a defensive TD and a junk time TD in the 4th this year.

  2. Roman is seriously the worst coach in the NFL, can’t score points with Crab, Boldin, Stevie, and Lloyd against a team that’s missing like 3 corners and still selling out to stop the run. Just pathetic. I was hesitant to jump on the fire Roman bandwagon but I’ll drive this $@!# if I have to. Get him out of the building

  3. 4 yard pass when you need 6.
    And another brilliant 3rd and one call from roman that’s short. Awesome!

    1. That’s the second third down route Davis has run short this half. Is he doing that to create more of a buffer between the defenders before they can hit him after he catches the ball?.

  4. As long as the Zebras have an agenda and the fans continue to accept the bs the NFL is selling, you can’t really complain about the play of the 49ers. The integrity of the game is suspect.

    1. Oh I can complain when they’re tied up with the R-slurs and can’t score on one of the worst defenses in the league who is missing 2-3 of their top 5 corners. Watch me.

  5. Scored tied in 4th Qtr; looking like a loss unless Defense scores… Please prove me wrong Offense!

  6. How About A Naked boot leg or a flea flicker? They’ve been running on first down so……it’s set up

  7. Despite the redskins record. they are a good team. Morris is no joke. But i really thought (especially after our first possession) that we would have a comfortable lead in the 4th quarter.

    1. They came sluggish after the punt. No excuses, if you don’t play like a winner and a champion, you don’t deserve to be there. Plain and simple. This year this team has acted like they are suppose to be gifted wins. They have no fight or gut. Shame.

    1. The 49ers are not good enough to call this a trap game. They have been in playoff mode since the loss to the Rams, so no this is not a trap came. It’s another home “crap” game!

  8. Fire Gore, fire Vernon, and Fire Roman…Frank your old and slow, Vernon your a waste of God given talent ….Roman….you are just terrible

  9. Ok, now its all up to our Offense. Can they do it? Can they orchestrate a 4th quarter comeback? Save the game! Save the season!

  10. I don’t blame Gore. If the team had played better during any of the previous three quarters, that FG means nothing. You have countless missed tackles and terrible play. Dropped passes, no YAC, and overall just bad play.

  11. Now that he used the timeout, if they run a 5 yard route and get tackled, you have to really question everything about this organization

      1. And there is the village idiot running 5 yards instead of 6. Pathetic. Act like you’ve been here before VD

  12. Granted

    You have the press pass, here is what you say: “Jim, Fangio’s defense is excellent. Roman’s offense is terrible. Explain.”

    1. That’s what he does best. Never has used his size and strength. Have you ever seen him deliver a hit, ever?

      1. I’ve said that on this site 4 years ago and a bunch of clowns tried to 2nd guess me. He’s never delivered a hit. As soft as cotton. The weights were for looks in VD’S case, not for strength and power! Lol.

        1. Seems he is running his routes short on third down this game to put more of a buffer between him and the defenders so he has more time to adjust before they hit him. Soft is right.

    1. There’s no yellow line on the field. Kaep has other choices with where to throw the ball, that crossing route is typically a check down.

  13. Who was the ginger in Street clothes yelling “f#$& you anquan”? TV mics picked that up well, as well as the cameras.

  14. That’s just a bad play again! He might get it from the refs but he was short. Why does he not just fall backwards?? Instead, he took a step toward the line of scrimmage!!!! WTF!!!!

  15. Hyde walks in for a niner TD. Niners have the lead. Saved the season. Oh wait…. still 3 minutes left. Now our Defense has to stand up and stop the Washington Controveries

      1. Dude, you gotta decide to grow up and start being a man one day. Being an azz hole has to be tiresome.

    1. yes. he has shown poor judgement all day in the punt return game. I thought it was just the left handed kicker… but that was just poor situational awareness

      1. You have to admit that their Offense is playing like they are 4-7. Surely you can understand the typed frustration. Thank goodness they are 7-4!

        1. I will take ugly wins over “pretty” losses everyday. Like Al Davis said, “Just win baby!”

  16. Very heady and very unselfish play by Brooks at the end just falling down and not trying to score.

  17. Well the offense scored a HUGE 17- that is a one point improvement. This is really ugly 49er offense.

    To waste this defense is a shame. Hopefully Roman was looking ahead to seattle because I dont think 18 is going to cut it to beat the seahawks.

  18. We win out we win the division….. Guaranteed. Lotta questions starting with, if it’s obvious that we are not winning the battle up the middle, why continue to pound the middle? Where are the runs wide?
    Why are Stevie and Lloyd not more involved in the offense?

    Why Does Vernon have a look on his face like he just yelled BOMB in an airport and is about to be suspended? Why?

    I said it before the game, integrate another TE. Challenge Vernon for his job. If he doesn’t respond, cut bait next year. Make him audition for his spot because he is terrible. He dropped a big gainer and tripped on his own on another big gainer. Both together cost us 50-60 yards.

    I love our defense….. Love our outside Linebacker rotation… Glad to see Brooks is up to the challenge.

      1. Ck has his typical game. Nothing really happened in the 2 and 3rd quarters. 4th quarter drive was a good one. Man RG3 really holds the ball way too long. He has no clue what to do with it. Thank God for Daniel Synder. The Niner D was solid but the run D was off today. Borland made some great tackles but got caught inside on some sweeps.

        Anything can happen in the Seattle game. Right now I don’t like that it’s at Santa Clara. It’s really not much of a home field advantage, and the Niner Offense needs work.

        But hey — a win’s a win!

  19. Another very impressive D performance and an embarrassing offensive performance. Every D coordinator has figured out our O . I sure hope the D can pitch a shutout or close to it against seattle because I cant imagine this group scoring more than 10.

  20. Hey, Grant i read a few weeks ago ur blog on howe the 49ers dont have senior offensive quality control coordinator can you even ask coach harb’s if they seriously think of hiring on cus i think thak will ultimately going to make ore brake them if they cant adjust after half time roman needs help

    1. Yep. I know WAS is not a good football team right now but giving your opponent 3 turnovers in this league will not win you many games.

    2. I agree. A difficult game to get up for knowing next week is the biggest game of the year. A lot of people answered the bell today and grinded out another win.
      People looking for style type wins can forget it. Playoffs started 3 weeks ago for SF. It’s gonna be ugly from here on out.

    3. Yes, yes, and yes.

      Washington has a very good running back that we couldn’t control complete, but we won with a finished with gritty drive to win.

      We gave up the ball three times , but we won with a finished with gritty drive to win.

      Our star tight end didn’t play a good game with bad patterns and a drop on third down, but we won with a finished with gritty drive to win.

      More grit for Thanksgiving dinner coming up.

  21. A Fourth Quarter TD! Well that’s a start! Man this offense needs a serious overhaul.
    Bring on the Seahawks. The score is going to be 6-3. Take the under!

  22. I’ll take “just enough to win,” over what could have been an ugly loss any day of the week.

    Very vanilla offensive game plan today, maybe not exerting to much with sights set on the Thursday game against c-hawks.
    Was glad to see Gore get some rest in the 4th Qtr, and Hyde making some noise.

    Still very ‘choppy’ offense with no real continuity and flow. A performance like today will not work against Seattle unless they equal our sub-performance on offense.
    I was hoping for some offensive fireworks from the offense against Wash., but I said earlier that at this stage of the season any win is much better than style point wins.

    7-4 and two games behind the Cards with 5 games left ain’t all that bad.

  23. That was a coyote ugly win but we’ll take it…..Sort of like when you were 16 and you got your first car. It was a pile of crap but it beat walking so you accepted it.
    My first car was a purple gremlin that had an AM radio (no FM) and I still drove it. I sat real low and wore a hat and shades though…….Niners offense should not go in public without a disguise after that piss poor performance.

    1. Crab15,
      Lol, good call. Yup my first car had a hole in the floor-board causing me and my friends nausea after riding, but none of my friends ever said they would rather walk.
      That old clunker got me where I needed to go – and I hope the 49ers can ride their offensive clunker right into the Superbowl.

        1. Crab15,
          Lol, not too far off. Driving that car in the winter while it was raining was miserable – had to keep the windows down because of the fumes.
          But thankfully only kept it a couple of months before selling it. Actually got some nice cash for the old 4 door 3 tone (blue, white, and rust) chevy bel-air.
          The old adage “one man’s junk is another man’s treasure” was certainly the case in that deal.

          Crab, UCLA brought it against USC. A little bit of a sports shift in LA with the Clippers outplaying the Lakers and the Bruins holding down the college football spot.
          Hundley looks pretty darn good.

  24. Seattle isn’t that good, they’re offense is not much better than ours! We has horrible starting field postion today, we lack a good returner and have been since Ginn left. I think that plays a little into the offensive woes too! But I’ll take any win at this point no matter how ugly it is!

  25. I am glad I don’t have to watch another 3rd down pass come up one yard short. We really have some dumb receivers. Also glad to not watch the line not block anyone on running plays. Boldin was the only offensive player that brought his A game. The defense was terrible against the run, that does not bold well with Beast Mode coming in on turkey day. The win is certainly better than a loss, but I can’t help but think this team is going nowhere even if they can get into the playoffs. The offense is starting to have that Nolan/Singletary stink to it.

    1. Millenium, I think we really miss Ian Williams and Willis in the run game up the middle. Morris is a good runner. Defense isn’t our issue. Gosh if Gore and Hyde barely run for 60yds against the Hawks that will be a bad day. Kap kept us in the game today without the run. Glad we won and scored a 4th Q TD. I’ll take it. Hawks only scored 19 at home today. Could be really close next week.

  26. Great win! Nice methodically tempo’d game called by roman & great execution by kaep! Never grew restless nor frustrated and took his shots when they came. Bring on the Seahawks!!!

  27. A number of good plays made. A number of good performances, but Justin Smith at the head of the class.

    1. Crabs,

      If Hyde keeps coming out of that end zone like that, he’s gonna break one or he’s gonna get knocked out. He is very agressive. I like he nd cox more than Ellington. Ellington is indecisive and has no quickness. The 1st thing he does on punts is runs sideways instead of picking up yardage 1st then running laterally. We just have NO speed at the wideout or running back position. Our fastest player may have been Bowman. I don’t think we have a super fast player on our team.

      1. 23J – We need a burner to return kicks….Someone like Hester.
        I love Hyde but he’s no home run threat bro.

  28. Seattles offense looked terrible today but that defense is pretty good. We need a huge performance from them Thursday. Like someone said, it could be a 6-3 game. I’d take that!

    1. Their defense is coming back into shape. The Offense was going against a stout Defense. Russell Wilson made a couple of dynamic plays. That guy is Houdini. Niners should be able to contain Lynch since they really don’t have any good wrs. if they can stop Wilson from his bail out plays, it should be a close game.

      The offense is just so inconsistent. Before the TD they only had 4 plays in Redskins territory.

    2. Arizona without Fitz are horrendous. Seattle’ got a break today. They weren’t that impressive in that win today. Wilson was on the run and was sacked all day.

      1. Can’t wait to see him running from A Smith and Lynch. When you add Brooks to that rotation our OLB’s are great. Man what a difference A Smith makes.

  29. Couple thoughts after this fortunate win…

    -McCoy did a great job of tipping the ‘Skins defense on what to expect. Shame on Roman & Harbaugh for not making more adjustments.

    -Roman is very predictable and too many drops/mental mistakes by our pass catchers… 3 times VD ran a yard short of a first down on 3rd down. Lame.

    -Quinton Dial is not a NT and was embarrassing to watch today… I’d rather Jerrod-Eddie play NT until Dorsey returns…. Dial got knocked down twice by one-arm blocks, lol. Ouch.

    That said, this defense deserves much of the credit to be at 7-4… Bring on the Hawks.

  30. Wow. Brooks just called out the offense bigtime. Said they weren’t very good and you can’t win turning the ball over.

    1. Somebody needs to speak the truth in the locker room. I thought it was 2008 again with Nolan’s offense on the field.

    2. Yeah so? He’s right in every which way. You don’t think the defensive guys are tired of carrying this team. It’s about time someone called them out publicly. Maybe now they will finally wake up!

    3. Bay,
      Not sure that Brooks has accumulated enough credibility since last week to be a vocal spark-plug at the moment ;>)

      1. AES at this point of the season and the way the offense is relying on the defense, every defensive player has the license to be upset at the offenses performance lately. Publicy or not.

        1. Bay,
          I know, it was an attempt at a little sarcasm after Brooks’ actions last week on the bench.

          Prime,
          You’re right about perhaps defensive players being upset at the way the offense is performing, but they have to accept the fact that a win is a win – just like we do.

          I can only hope that we can equal what the Ravens did when they won the Superbowl with a bangin’ defense and Dilfer at QB.

            1. Crab:

              Actually, I have. I’ve been celebrating the victory enthusiastically.

              That doesn’t mean that bay didn’t make a valid point.

              1. C Balls – Chug some water before bed bro unless you have tmrw off work…..The college punks drink Pedialyte for hangover relief. I tried it and it really helps…….By the way Bay makes a lot of valid points very frequently IMO…..Go Niners, beat Pete!!! Lets eat two birds on Thursday ;)

              2. Crab:

                Don’t worry, I’m hydrating like a mʘtherfu¢ker.

                We’ll have to agree to disagree on the frequency with which bay makes valid points.

                I am looking forward to Thursday. Being the home team is a big advantage.

  31. Griffin 3 got beat to death today. He takes the worst licking game-by-game than any other QB in the league. Absolutely brutal…

  32. Vernon was asked why he ran his routes short of the first down marker. His respnse, ” my job is to just get open “.
    Newberry said that even high school receivers know you have to get to the first down marker.
    Observation. Vernon doesn’t look right. Not even during interviews. He looks panicked. Uneasy. Uncomfortable.

      1. He said, ” My job for THIS team is to get open”. That’s what he said. He’s unplugged and now everyone knows it as opposed to just me. If you thought he’s been bad this year, just watch him disappear against Kam Chancelor!! He got knocked silly by him and he’s petrified of him and Seattle.

    1. VD may likely be playing his last season for the 49ers.
      Hate to say it, because I’ve always been a VD fan, but his regression is going to hurt the team at the worse possible time unless there is an immediate turn for the better in his game.
      But even if he plays marginally better going forward, the Org may have already decided his future after this year.

      My only concern IF we lose VD is that I don’t see anyone player on the team that would help defray his loss.
      There are no sure-fire TE’ coming out of college next year and IF VD walks we likely will sign a F/A TE and hope VMac can take the next step by becoming a better receiver.

      1. AES,

        The weak link in the Seattle defense is their inability to stop the tight end. Look at their losses against San Diego, K.C., Dallas, and even the Denver game. Too bad we no longer have one.

        1. 23J,
          Hopefully VD can have a redemptive performance against Seattle.
          Kam has owned VD over the last couple of seasons and this would be the perfect game for VD to get his swag back and exact some revenge on Chanceller.

        1. KY,
          Haven’t seen much of Pharaoh, but the other guys you mentioned are medial to barely above average speed that make the occasional 15 – 20 yrd reception.

          I like D. Funchess from Michigan, but he may be a little light for the TE position at 240. If he could add about 15 lbs of muscle without affecting his speed he could be keeper.

  33. Man oh man. Our offense is a disaster. I don’t know who said it but every game it’s a different group who screws up. Gore and Hyde fumbled. Kaep threw a pic. Multiple drop passes.

    Kaep would call kill, then run the ball straight into the blitzing men. I don’t understand the kill call. I saw the box stacked, Kaep would yell kill and Id think he was going to pass. Wrong, he ran the ball into the stacked box. Something is really wrong.

    Kaep had touch on some passes. That was a plus I noticed. I pray he stretches his legs out for Thursday. There will be running lanes for him.

    Hats off to our defense. My biggest disappointment with them is their failure to wrap up. These guys will lay the boom but will not wrap up. No tackle is complete without wrapping up. But they won the game for us. Once again, hats off to them.

    I ramble a lot. Lol

      1. I loved that guy in the run-up to the draft; as did many others on this blog. But he’s really amazing. Sick.

  34. Our offense is not going to take us to the promise land. Our defense is pretty darn good, Roman is clueless in San Francisco, he seems to have ADD, with lack of running game, yes both backs fumbled but it was the run that got us in the end zone, Congrats to Kaep for his first ever 4th quarter TD.

    1. The Giants sold out to stop the run. As a result, the 49ers averaged < 2.6 yards/carry. Calling some passing plays was not a bad strategy.

      You really don't pay attention to facts, do you?

    2. Neal (real deal) – Niners have no home run threat on offense or kick returns….Baalke has been a good talent evaluator but he needs to add more speed at RB/WR to this offense asap…..Agree Roman has no clue.

      1. Correct, field position seemed terrible to start drives. Maybe LMJ is better than I gave him credit for.

          1. Oh, I would trade Crabtree straight up for Beckham. I know that’s not what you meant, but I would do it in a heartbeat.

          2. lol… Scooter, I think after nailing the Beckham pick, the Niners should consult with you in next year’s draft to find us that outside receiver that can play :)

        1. Landry has quietly been playing well all year. But Beckham is just lighting it up the past 4 weeks, averaging about 125 yards per game. If he keeps that pace up he’ll go over 1,000 yards on the season – which would be an amazing achievement for a rookie that missed all of training camp and the first 5 weeks of the season.

          1. Hate to burst your bubble Scooter but individual play has nothing to do with talent or execution. Beckham is playing well because of the plays that their OC calls, period. Execution has nothing to do with what happens on the field, it’s all play calling.

            1. Interesting. I’ve not been paying much attention, but it seems hard to believe after so many good ones coming out this past year that there would be a bunch of good players at the position again this coming draft. I have a feeling scouts and teams will over value WRs in 2015 due to the success this 2014 crop has had.

              From what I have seen though, Amari Cooper does looks pretty good.

              1. Yeah, remains to be seen; it could be just a few good guys and then thin below that. Last year was good and deep.

  35. Instead of crying about the offense, maybe it’s time to give some credit to the defense.

    I have zero problems with the defense carrying the team.

    1. Brilliant strategy if dont want to make the playoffs. 10, 16 and 17 points in 3 of our last 4 games is definitely worthy of criticism.

  36. the Niners win 17 to 13.
    Almost the entire NFL scored more
    points than San Francisco did. Hmm.
    Minus their “biggest” runs (big is a relative term, ok?)
    Gore averages 1.9 and
    Hyde averages 1.5 yards per carry.
    Yo mama can put up more than that.
    3 fumbles…. 2 of them lost…
    And not until inside of three minutes is a win
    secured against the Redskins. Seriously…???!!!

  37. How does RG3 get out of bed tomorrow after the beating he took today. The defense carried the day once again.

    1. Dyseggy,
      I would also add Ryan Clark to the list. He got blasted by Boldin and just when he got his marbles back he got run over by Hyde – ouch!

  38. 8-8 yup… Since you obviously hate the 49ers so much, why do you post on a niner blog?

    A win is a win is a win. If they keep wining anything is possible.

    1. Dyseggy,
      You’ll learn that the best thing to do around here is to simply ignore that one. When I see 8-8, I just scroll and bypass the nonsense.

    1. The reports this week said a couple of weeks for Dorsey. I think it’d be unlikely to see him on Thursday.

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