Bloggin’ live from the 49ers-Dolphins game

Niners win the toss and elect to receive.

FIRST QUARTER

–Touchback. Niners take over at the 20.

–Unbalanced line to the right, and that’s where the play goes to Foster for 2 yards on first down.

–Third-down completion to Isaac Bruce for a first down at the 35.

–Roth with the sack, coming unblocked off the right side.

–That makes it third and 12 . . . call goes to Robinson for a 4-yard gain. Andy Lee will punt.

–Dolphins will go on offense at the 27-yard line with 11:14 remaining in the quarter.

–Dolphins go with no-huddle. Two quick completions to the tight ends put a first down for the Dolphins.

–Tight end David Martin takes the ball away from Mark Roman, keeps his feet and takes it all the way – 61 yards – for a touchdown. And the Roman Fan Club is mobilizing. Just like that, it’s 49ERS 7, DOLPHINS 0 with 9:46 remaining in the quarter.

–Another touchback. Niners take over at the 20 again. In watching the replay of that long touchdown, Roman had good coverage on the tight end, but he just didn’t make the play. Martin wins the tale of the tape. He’s 6-4, 255, while Roman is 5-11, 205.

–Hill dumps it off to Foster for a 17-yard gain on first down.

–Vernon Davis with a 17-yard catch and run, he tried to hurdle Will Allen, but was upended.

–Foster with the direct snap, gets 3 yards up the middle. That’s a quasi-Wildcat.

–Hill to Johnson, quickly, for a gain of 7 and a first down.

–Right tackle Adam Snyder is injured on a run play, so Barry Sims comes in at right tackle with 6:50 remaining in the quarter.

–Delanie Walker gains 10 with a powerful run after a catch. Niners with the ball at the 25.

–The 49ers have a third-and-6 situation from the 21 . . . pass to Robinson is short of the first down. Here comes the field-goal unit.

–Joe Nedney with a 38-yard attempt. It’s good. That makes it DOLPHINS 7, 49ERS 3 with 3:57 remaining in the quarter. It was a 10-play, 60-yard drive that lasted 5:49.

INJURY UPDATE: Snyder has a left ankle sprain. His return is questionable.

–Dolphins with a third-and-1 from the 44 . . . Lousaka Polite with the carry up the middle for a first down around midfield.

–Pennington hits his first six pass attempts of the game. That was an 8-yard gain to Devone Bess. Pennington has completed 17 straight, dating back to last game.

—Franklin gets the sack of Pennington. Willis gets a lot of credit for his coverage of Ricky Williams on that plan. Pennington wanted to get the ball to Williams. That’s a loss a loss of 6 yards. The Dolphins will face a second-and-21 on the first play of the second quarter.

SECOND QUARTER

–Pennington’s string if broken at 17 straight completions because of a Ronnie Brown drop.

–Third and 21 for the Dolphins . . . good coverage downfield. Pennington with nowhere to go, so he scrambles for a few yards.

–Zeigler back to return to punt. He’s stationed at the 10-yard line. He takes a step forward to catch the put at the 11. That’s where the 49ers will take over with 14:12 remaining in the half.

–Third and 8 . . . Hill’s throw to Bruce comes up short. He was throwing into the wind. Now, Lee will punt into the wind.

–Lee’s punt is 51 yards, and Bess with a 14-yard return. The Dolphins take over around midfield.

–The Dolphins try to go deep. Clements and Roman both could have intercepted it, but they crash into each other and the ball drops. Clements is going to have a tough time catching anything with a cast on his thumb.

–Pennington has misfired on three straight. It’s third and 15 after a false-start penalty. The 49ers have not been penalized, yet. Might the Dolphins run the ball? Nope. Pennington dumps it off to Williams for an 11-yard gain. Dan Carpenter will punt.

–Zeigler makes the fair catch . . . at the 4-yard line. Yikes. The rule is, you stand at the 10-yard line. If the ball is over your head, you let it go. If you have to move up, you catch it. Zeigler’s inexperience showed there.

—Davis motions to Porter’s side, but Billy Bajema is called for a false start. (It was also a false start on Foster, but that one’s declined.) Now, it’s first and 12 from the 2. Foster with a 5-yard gain.

—Davis with a dropped pass on the left sideline. He was wide open, and it would’ve been a first down.

–On third down, Hill doesn’t find anyone open and has to dive forward toward the line of scrimmage. Lee will punt again.

–A whole bunch of missed tackles on the 49ers punt-coverage unit. Michael Robinson, Brian Jennings and Keith Lewis missed tackles on the 27-yard return.

–Dolphins at the 49ers’ 34 . . . Brown with a gain of 1.

–Brown goes in motion and gets the handoff for a first down to the 22.

–Blown coverage for the 49ers, and Pennington finds tight end Joe Haynos for his first career reception and his first career TD reception. It goes for 19 yards. That might have been Tully Banta-Cain’s man. He and Walt Harris were talking it over. Patrick Willis was the closest man, but I’m not sure it was his guy. That makes it DOLPHINS 14, 49ERS 3 with 8:27 left in the half.

–The Dolphins got good field position because of Zeigler, Davis and poor punt coverage.

–Foster with three straight carries, gaining 6 yards a pop. The 49ers need to put a drive together or this thing could get out of control.

–Hill with a keeper for 3 yards on a third-and-1. That’s a new one.

–On second and 11, Hill attempts his first pass on this drive after six straight run plays. It goes to Bruce for 11 yards. Niners at their own 44.

–Incomplete to Davis, covered by Porter. The ball was high, and Davis did not make an attempt to go up and get it. Maybe he thought the pass was intended for the man behind him.

–Hill picks up a nice block from umpire Scott Dawson, who picked off two Dolphins players. Hill runs for the first down. And Dawson is taken off the field for some medical assistance. Looks like he might have a bloody nose. The game continues.

–Foster with a nice catch out of the backfield for a 5-yard gain to the Dolphins’ 34.

–It’s third and 8 after another pass to Foster loses 3 yards. That play will happen after the two-minute warning.

—Davis with a catch and an aggressive run to pick up 9 yards and a first down.

–Hill with a lot of time to throw, but nobody’s open and Hill is sacked for a 1-yard loss. Hill held onto the ball for six seconds.

–Hill flicks it out to Bryant Johnson for a first down at the 16. However, there’s a flag. It’s illegal formation on Bruce, covering up the tight end. That’s a bad mistake.

–It’s second and 16 from the 34 . . . blitz from the slot. Nathan Jones gets to Hill untouched. Robinson was the only back and he looked to the left for protection help.

–Incomplete deep left to Josh Morgan is incomplete. It’s a seven-minute drive, but the 49ers will get no points. Andy Lee punts. Tarell Brown had a chance to catch it at the 1-yard line, but he dropped it and it went into the end zone.

–Dolphins have the ball at the 20 with :36 remaining in the half.

And that’s how the half will end.

THIRD QUARTER

–By the way, halftime stats: Foster 12 rushes for 45 yards; Hill is 10 of 15 for 81 yards (rating 80.1); Ronnie Brown is three for 16, while Pennington is 8 of 11 for 131 yards and two TDs (rating of 151.9).

Niners held the ball 20 minutes in the first half, and they’re losing by 11 points. That shouldn’t happen.

By the way, neither Thomas Clayton nor Ahmad Brooks played in the first half.

–Niners kick off . . . it’s through the end zone for a touchback.

–Ricky Williams gets around the left side for 7 yards and a first down to the 33-yard line.

–Bess makes an 11-yard catch on Clements.

–The Dolphins are moving down the field, and threatening to really take control of this game. They have a third-and-1 at the SF 45.

—Franklin stacks it up, as Williams is stopped a yard short. The Dolphins send in their punter. That was a big, big stop for the 49ers’ defense.

–Zeigler with the fair catch at the 13-yard line. That’s where the 49ers take over with 10:15 left in the quarter.

–Hill hits Johnson with an 18-yard reception.

–Bruce gets the handoff on a reverse, then he tries to throw it. It’s incomplete to Johnson on a crossing route. There’s a reason he catches passes and does not throw them.

–Third and 10 . . . Hill tires to get it to Jason Hill. It’s going to be interference on defensive back Tyrone Culver. On the backside, Davis absolutely locked up Joey Porter. Porter did not get off the line of scrimmage. Of course, after the play the guys do some barking at each other, prompting ref Scott Green to step between them.

–Robinson with a 9-yard catch and a first down at the Miami 47.

–The 49ers are on the move. Aydele with an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty.

–On the 12^th play of the drive, Foster is close to the sticks on the right sideline.

–Vernon Davis is out of the game with something in his eye.

—Davis is back after missing eight plays or so.

–It’s third and 3 from the 5-yard line . . . Hill’s pass to Foster is broken up. The 49ers will call on the field-goal unit after a 15-play drive.

–Nedney on for a 23-yard FG attempt. It’s good. That makes it DOLPHINS 14, 49ERS 6. They are one TD and a two-point conversion from tying it. That was a 16-play, 82-yard drive that lasted 7:29. But they can’t be settling for field goals after that much effort.

—Miami takes over after its called for a holding penalty on the kickoff. They have the ball at the 10-yard line.

–Toss to the left side to Ronnie Brown. Clements does a very good job of turning the play back inside. Still, the play goes for 8 yards.

–It’s third and 2 . . . Strickland with a great job to stop Ginn short of the first down. The Niners will get the ball back. Let’s see if Zeigler will return a punt.

–He returns it, but does not take it far, as he’s tackled rudely by linebacker Charlie Anderson. Plus, there’s a penalty on Jeff Ulbrich for holding. The 49ers will start this series at their own 21.

–Hill to Hill on a quick slant for 11 yards to the 32-yard line.

–Hill incomplete to Walker. On the blind side, Davis locks up Porter. That’s the NFL leader in sacks that Davis is handling.

–Foster with a draw play on second down. He gets good yardage, and is close to a first down. It is a first down on a 10-yard run to the SF 42. And that’s the end of the third quarter.

FOURTH QUARTER

–How ’bout that? A handoff to Vernon Davis for 11 yards and a first down. Who knew Davis was a running back?

–Hill to Bruce down the field to the 26-yard line.

–Play set up nicely for Davis, but Renaldo Hill is able to make the quick tackle of Davis to save some big, big yardage.

–Hill to Bruce to the 15-yard line for another first down. Hill had a lot of time to throw on that one – great pass protection.

–Empty backfield. Hill is sacked by Nathan Jones back to the 20-yard line. It’s second and 15.

–Incomplete to Bruce. Here’s another big third-down play.

–It’s third and 15 . . . shovel pass to Robinson picks up 10 yards to the 10. They’ll send on Nedney for a 28-yard field-goal attempt.

–It’s good. That makes it DOLPHINS 14, 49ERS 9 with 9:21 remaining. That was another long, long drive. It went 13 plays, 69 yards in 6:44.

–Ginn nowhere to go on the return. He gets only 13 yards to the 17. That’s where the Dolphins will take over with 9:16 remaining.

–Offensive pass interference on Brandon London vs. Walt Harris. The crowd here is non-too pleased. That’ll move it back to the 9-yard line. It’s first and 18.

–Incomplete. It’s second and 18.

–Brown stopped after a 5-yard gain.

–Big play. It’s third and long . . . Williams drops it. The 49ers will get the ball back, as long as Zeigler can handle the punt.

–Keith Lewis almost gets the blocked punt, but a flag is down. Is it running into the kicker or roughing? It’s running into the kicker on Lewis. It’s a 5-yard penalty, and the Dolphins will re-punt.

–Zeigler handles the punt and is tackled quickly. That penalty on the 49ers cost them 15 to 20 yards from where they would’ve had it before Lewis’ penalty. Niners have the ball at their own 34.

INJURY UPDATE: Delanie Walker has a cramp and his return is probable.

–Incomplete, short completion to Foster. It’s third and 8. Why have the 49ers abandoned the run?

–Hill to Bruce for a first down. Like clockwork.

–The 49ers have attempted 13 straight passes, including on a third-down incompletion to Davis, who didn’t turn around for a hot-read pass.

–Lee punts into the end zone. Dolphins take over at the 20 with 5:29 left.

–Dolphins finally show their “Wildcat,” and Brown gains 16 yards around the right side.

–Another first down on a 7-yard pass to tight end Anthony Fasono.

–Roman does not hold is outside containment on the right side. Brown gets to the edge for 18 yards to the SF 35.

–Niners have all three timeouts remaining. They might want to start using them. And they use No. 1 after Brown’s 5-yard gain with 2:50 remaining.

–Lawson with a stop on third down for a 2-yard loss.

–And that tackle was HUGE. Fields’ FG attempt from 49 yards was off the cross bar. It’s no good – no good!

–Niners take over at the 39 with 2:36 remaining.

–Quick out to Johnson for 5 yards. Niners have now run the ball on 14 straight plays.

–Make it 14. Hill to Hill for 3 yards.

–It’s third and 2 . . . Hill to Bruce. What did I say about clockwork?

–And that’s the two-minute warning. The 49ers have the ball at the Dolphins’ 42.

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–Johnson with an 8-yard catch.

–Michael Robinson, nice catch and holds onto it after a major hit.

–Hill spikes it. I don’t like that play. It’s more about downs than it is about time at this point.

–Some idiot ran onto the field just as the 49ers were snapping the ball.

–It’s second and 10 at the 21 with 1:18 remaining. . . Hill incomplete after escaping the pass rush.

–Now, it’s third and 10 . . . incomplete.

–And, now it’s fourth and 10 . . . here’s the game . . . empty backfield . . . Sims beaten for the sack on Hill by Porter. That’s the ballgame.

–Why the 49ers spiked that ball is beyond me. There’s 1:02 remaining in this game. They did not need to stop the clock when they did. Bad clock management.

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