49ers: Player-by-player recap

49ers: Player-by-player recap

 

Here’s the all-80 man review from the 49ers’ 17-16 victory over the Denver Broncos in the exhibition opener Friday night at Candlestick Park.

 

Quarterbacks

7-Nate Davis: Entered with 4:40 remaining and the 49ers up by 7 . . . He took the final eight snaps of the game, and they were all running plays.

11-Alex Smith: Held ball too long on 7-yard sack. . . . Took a gamble, but saw CB Champ Bailey with his back turned and fired a 14-yard completion to Josh Morgan on third and 15 . . . Let a potential big play slip away when his jump-pass to Glen Coffee to beat a blitz was errant. . . . Final stat line: 5 of 7 for 22 yards and a TD.

13-Shaun Hill: Started game. Delivered two passes to Vernon Davis that went for 41 yards, including pass between three defenders that traveled 17 yards downfield on third-and-15. . . .  Against a five-man rush, he scrambled up middle for 9 yards. . . . Held ball too long while taking a sack on first-and-10 from Denver 26. Team ended up settling for field goal. Hill played 10 snaps and completed 2 of 2 for 41 yards with two sacks.

14-Damon Huard: Entered as No. 3 quarterback at start of third quarter. . . . He threw the ball well, completing 7 of 9 passes for 98 yards and a TD.

 

Running backs

21-Frank Gore: Did not play, coaches’ decision.

24-Michael Robinson: Did not play (groin).

29-Glen Coffee: Started game. He showed why the 49ers like him. He’s a no-nonsense runner. One cut, and up the field. One of his 14 carries went for negative yards. Had success with draw plays in long-yardage situations. He was 2 for 3 on third-down runs. . . . Finished with 67 yards on 14 carries.

30-Kory Sheets: Entered in the fourth quarter. . . . Got low to upend blitzing safety David Bruton, preventing him from disrupting the dump-off to Brit Mille that went for a touchdown. . . . He rushed for 51 yards on 10 carries, showing good burst of speed. . . . But on a 25-yard carry inside of two minutes, he allowed himself to be forced out of bounds, instead of making sure the clock continued to run by going down inbounds.

33-Thomas Clayton: A very disheartening evening for player who came so close to making it the past two years. He entered in the second half and went down with a right knee injury in the fourth quarter. He was experiencing obvious pain and disappointment as he was carted off the field. A source close to Clayton said the initial diagnosis is serious ligament damage to the ACL and more. The 49ers are expected to update the extent of the injury at midday Saturday.

44-Moran Norris: Did not play, coaches’ decision.

45-Zak Keasey: Started at fullback. . . . Was mismatched against OLB Elvis Dumervil in pass protection, as he allowed the sack. . . . His man, Mario Haggan, also picked up a sack, but Hill should’ve gotten rid of the ball sooner. . . . Made tackle on first-quarter kickoff but sustained a broken right forearm in the process. It’s yet to be determined if he’ll be back this season.

47-Brit Miller: Entered at fullback late in first quarter after Keasey sustained broken arm. . . . He looked like he’s been playing the position his entire life. (He was a linebacker at Illinois.) His blocking was good, and he caught two TDs passes. . . . Caught 3-yard scoring pass from Smith, and a 40-yarder from Huard, which included a nifty cutback inside the 5-yard line to reach the end zone.

 

Wide receivers

9-Chris Francies: Did not see action on offense. Was on the field for the onside kick as part of the “hands” team.

10-Maurice Price: Only action was on special teams.

15-Michael Crabtree: Did not play, and is still not under contract.

17-Dominique Zeigler: Played split end in the second half. . . . Did not have any passes thrown his way. . . . He fielded a tricky hop on the onside kick to preserve the victory.

18-Micheal Spurlock: Saw action in the first series of the game as the 49ers’ slot receiver. . .  Caught two passes for 24 yards, including a 10-yard gain after a nice move to pick up a first down. . . . Had a step on CB Alphonso Smith but did not make the adjustment on underthrown pass from Huard.

19-Mark Bradford: Did not play, coaches’ decision.

81-Brandon Jones: Did not play, fractured right shoulder.

82-Dobson Collins: He did not play on offense. The official gamebook says he played, but I did not see him on the field. If he played, it must’ve been on special teams.

83-Arnaz Battle: Started at flanker with Isaac Bruce given the night off. . . .Had one pass thrown his way, and he caught it for 7 yards against coverage of rookie Alphonso Smith. . . . Was called for false start late in the first half, which apparently convinced offensive coordinator Jimmy Raye to run out the clock. . . Continued to see action on offense into the fourth quarter.

84-Josh Morgan: Stayed with his downfield block nicely against CB Andre Goodman to help Coffee gain 15 yards. . . . Came back for the ball to make catch vs. Champ Bailey, but came back 1 yard too many for a 14-yard catch on third and 15.

88-Isaac Bruce: Did not play, coaches’ decision.

89-Jason Hill: Did not see much action on offense, but did catch a 13-yard pass from Huard.. That was the only throw intended for him.

 

Tight ends

46-Delanie Walker: Did not play (concussion).

48-Bear Pascoe: Muffed short opening kickoff, but quickly fell on it at the 22 . . . Was solid as a blocker . . . Went up over third-string FS Vernon Fox to haul in 2-point conversion pass from Huard.

49-J.J. Finley: Had a couple nice blocks in running game on Haggan. . . . Failed to catch a pass that might have been tipped 5-yard before reaching him. . . . Later, caught two passes for 10 yards.

85-Vernon Davis: He caught an underneath pass that he turned upfield for a 23-yard gain, then he made a leaping 18-yard reception between three defenders. . . . He played through the first half, and was solid in run-blocking.

 

Offensive line

59-Cody Wallace: Started second half at center. Fared well against rookie NT Chris Baker, and he teamed with Matt Spanos on some good double-team blocks.

61-Joe Toledo: Started second half at left guard. Was too upright in pass protection vs. Baker and got driven backward to yield third-quarter sack. . . . Did not pull quickly enough on third-and-1 run that got stuffed for 1-yard loss when 49ers were trying to run out the clock.

62-Chilo Rachal: Did all right at making the initial strike and then getting to the second level. Not bad, but not perfect.

64-David Baas: Did not play (foot strain).

65-Barry Sims: Started second half at left tackle. He did all right for the pass plays that were called. He gave Huard just enough time from the blind side to allow him to get rid of the ball.

66-Eric Heitmann: Started game at center. He played very well against former teammate Ronald Fields. From his back, Fields was credited with a tackle of Coffee on a third-and-1. He got the tackle because Coffee landed on Fields 4 yards down field.

68-Adam Snyder: Started game at right tackle. Had a very good game in pass protection and in the run game. He completely rode DE Ryan McBean out of the play to help Coffee on a 15-yard run. . . . His man ended up getting sack on Smith, but don’t blame Snyder for that one. The QB ran into his path. . . .Destroyed McBean on third-and-1 run in which Coffee gained 4. . .

69-Tony Wragge: Started game at left guard in place of injured Baas. . . . It was a mixed bag. There were times when he was not as stout as the 49ers would like to see. Other times, he got decent push.

71-Marvel Smith: Started second half at right tackle. . . .He was dominant, but he should’ve been. The former All-Pro was going against second- and third-stringers for the Broncos.

74-Joe Staley: Started game at left tackle. His man, DE Kenny Peterson, got past him to stop Coffee for 1-yard loss on a third-and-3 play. . . . Very solid in one-on-one pass protection vs. Dumervil on 14-yard pass. . . .Overall, he played well.

75-Alex Boone: Entered late in game at right tackle. . . . All running plays, and he showed that part of his game is his strength.

76-Kyle Howard: Entered late in game at right guard. .  . . Had a difficult time with speed and strength of Baker.

77-Jacob Bender: Entered late in game at left tackle. . . . Did a nice job to seal the outside, paving the way for Sheets’ 25-yard run late in the game.

78-Matt Spanos: Started second half at right guard. . . . Played really well in pass protection and run-blocking. . . . Then, he showed the versatility that the team likes to see when he slid to center to finish the game.

 

Defensive line

60-Khalif Mitchell: Started second half at nose tackle . . . Had nice back-to-back plays in the run game. On second-and-8, he did a nice job of overpowering C Kory Lichtensteiger to get into backfield to disrupt the play. . . . Showed good quickness to apply a little pressure to QB Chris Sims on incomplete pass deep in 49ers territory.

67-Pannel Egboh: Started second half at left defensive end. . . . Wasn’t always sturdy against the run. At times played to upright. But he did make a nice play against the pass when he diagnosed a screen early and tackled RB Darius Walker for 3-yard loss in fourth quarter.  He finished with two tackles.

90-Isaac Sopoaga: Started at left defensive end, and moved to nose tackle in the second quarter. . . . Recorded one tackle during his time.

91-Ray McDonald: Did not play (PUP list, knee).

92-Aubrayo Franklin: Started at nose tackle. Was not credited with any tackles. . . A so-so performance, as there were times when he held his ground well and other times when he was driven out of plays.

93-Demetric Evans: Entered in the second quarter at right defensive end. . . Moved inside to take to rush passer on nickel downs. . . . Delivered a monster block on G Seth Olson at the 20-yard line to enable Reggie Smith to return interception to the 6. . . Credited with one tackle.

94-Justin Smith: Played the first quarter. . .  Got strong push up middle but not enough to force an incomplete pass. . . . Battled from ground to trip up LaMont Jordan inside the 5-yard line.

95-Ricky Jean-Francois: Started second half at right defensive end. . . He was very active. He made a tackle for a 1-yard loss. . . . Definitely something to build on.

96-Kentwan Balmer: The motor seemed good, but he was steered out of several run plays and he did not get much cooking in the pass rush, either.

 

Linebacker

47-Diyral Briggs: Entered at outside linebacker at start of the fourth quarter . . . Took a swipe at QB Chris Sims, just narrowly missing, after beating LT Tyler Polumbus around the edge..

50-Justin Roland: Played a lot in the second half. . . Had good coverage of RB Darius Walker, limiting him to 1 yard on fourth-quarter reception. . . . Made three tackles on defense and one on special teams.

51-Takeo Spikes: Was on an island, playing in essence left cornerback vs. LaMont Jordan, who caught a 9-yard pass. . . . Came back to break up pass to Jabar Gaffney. . . . Recorded three tackles in limited time.

52-Patrick Willis: Did not play (ankle strain).

53-Jeff Ulbrich: Started and played the first two series, which consisted of 20 plays. . . . Credited with one tackle.

54-Marques Harris: Got off a block against TE Richard Quinn to throw RB Correll Buckhalter for a 3-yard loss. . . Had a clear path to Orton late in the second quarter, forcing an incomplete pass before receiver had chance to turn around.

55-Ahmad Brooks: Entered in place of Parys Haralson in the second quarter. . . . Got to Orton just a bit late on a pass Dre’ Bly intercepted. He beat LT Ryan Clady with an inside move. . . .Later, got absolutely stonewalled by Clady, as Orton had all kinds of time to throw and managed only a short gain. . . Got nowhere on third-and-7 pass rush vs. Tyler Polumbus for first down inside 10. . . . Credited with five tackles, but the pass rush wasn’t much.

56-Scott McKillop: Mismatched against WR Eddie Royal underneath for 19-yard pass completion. . . . Led team with seven tackles on defense, and added one on special teams. . . . Showed he can immediately become core special-teams player.

57-Mark Washington: Allowed too much separation in coverage against Putzier on 6-yard touchdown in left front corner of end zone. . . . Had one assisted tackle.

58-Jay Moore: Entered late in third quarter, taking over for Brooks. . . Immediately got off block of fourth TE Richard Quinn, a rookie, to help stop run play for 1-yard loss.  . . . Came tantalizingly close to sack working against Quinn, but Sims side-stepped him before dumping it off.

98-Parys Haralson: Need a split-second longer to get to Orton after running through Jordan‘s block on Orton’s first interception. . .  He saw less than about any of the defensive starters.

99-Manny Lawson: Did a good job to ward off TE Tony Scheffler’s block to make tackle of Correll Buckhalter for no gain. . . Called for offside, lined up in neutral zone. . . .Twice taken to the ground with cut blocks passing situations. . . . Like a lot of the 49ers’ defenders, he did not show much pass rush.

 

Defensive backs

20-Allen Rossum: Saw action in the second quarter as a cornerback. . . . Was back deep on first kickoff but did not touch the ball.

22-Nate Clements: Gave Broncos receivers a big cushion on the first drive, resulting in three easy completions in front of him. . . . Showed great instincts and awareness to reverse direction and step in front of TE Daniel Graham to pick off Kyle Orton in the end zone. Also, good decision to down the ball in the end zone.

23-Marcus Hudson: He had a strong game with three tackles. . . . Also, broke up a second-quarter pass intended for Brandon Stokley.

25-Tarell Brown: Did not play (toe sprain).

26-Mark Roman: He lost his starting job, but he was on the field when the defense took the field because 49ers opened with six defensive backs. He made a tackle on the first play, and finished with two stops in the game.

28-Curtis Taylor: Started second half at strong safety. . . . Showed nice closing speed to bring down TE Jeb Putzier after 9-yard gain. . . . Did good job of using the back of the end zone to help him blanket Gaffney, forcing Sims to throw the ball away on third down. . . . He also added a special-teams tackle, which might be his ticket to contribute as a rookie.

30-Reggie Smith: He played three-quarters of the game. . . . Made fingertip interception of pass intended for Gaffney. He then returned it 24 yards to set up 49ers’ first TD. . . Good open-field tackle on special teams late in game. . . . Preserved 49ers victory when he intercepted Sims’ attempted two-point conversion pass for McKinley in the end zone.

31-Dre’ Bly: Excellent coverage of Stokley on pass he intercepted in the second quarter. . . . Made aggressive move in run game to duck underneath Gaffney’s attempted block and stop Jordan for no gain.

32-Michael Lewis: Started at strong safety was involved in a tackle before calling it a night.

35-Jahi Word-Daniels: It was a rough game for the undrafted rookie. . . . Was called for illegal contact while covering WR Nate Swift on deep pass. . . . On third-and-6, surrendered 17-yard pass to WR Brandon Lloyd when he failed to secure tackle while trying to break up pass with the wrong hand. . . . Missed another tackle after completion that resulted in 18-yard gain. . . . Allowed McKinley to get 5 yards behind him with 1:52 remaining for 52-yard TD.

36-Shawntae Spencer: Saw action for the first time since sustaining torn ACL early last season. He did not play a lot, and there was no action in which he was involved.

38-Dashon Goldson: He started and had a short night of work. He came up in run support to assist on a tackle. Had no chances in the passing game. . .

40-Carlos Thomas: Reacted quickly to help blow up a WR screen to McKinley late in game.

41-Terrail Lambert: Entered at right cornerback in the third quarter. . . .Had great inside position to break up deep pass to WR Chad Jackson late in the third quarter.

 

Special teams

3-Alex Romero: Drilled his first attempt of the game, a 38-yard FG. . . . Pushed a PAT attempt wide right. . . . He handled kickoff duties, too, and the Broncos’ average starting point after Romero’s four kickoffs was the 30.

4-Andy Lee: Outkicked is coverage with a 61-yarder that did not have a lot of hangtime, leading to 27-yard return. . . Landed a 46-yard punt out of bounds at the 10 . . . Averaged 48.5 yards (37.8 net) on four punts.

6-Joe Nedney: Did not play (coaches’ decision).

86-Brian Jennings: His snaps were just fine, and he was always among the first down the field in coverage. He did not make a tackle, though.

 

* * *