There were a couple of instances from Monday’s game that got people talking about Mike Singletary’s rapport with offensive coordinator Mike Martz.
When Singletary elected to kick a field goal midway through the third quarter, passing up a fourth-and-1 situation, it appeared as if he did it against Martz’s wishes. Singletary and Martz appeared to have some words for each other. (One person with the organization said Singletary and Martz both upset with the spot on that third-down run and whether they might want to throw the challenge flag.)
Then, many thought Singletary hung Martz out to dry for that final-play call of a Michael Robinson fullback dive with his post-game comments.
Today, I asked Singletary about his relationship with Martz.
“I’m going to be very honest with you,” Singletary said. “It is amazing, I guess they can read lips or something like that. I don’t know what they saw. The only thing I said to Mike Martz . . . well, I said a few things. But it was never an issue about a call. There was only one time I said, ‘Mike.’ He said, ‘I know it. We’re going to run. We’re going to run.’ That was it. He knew it. He read my mind. But that’s it.”
That play, I’m told, was after the first Cardinals interception return for a TD was nullified by a penalty. Singletary wanted a run play on the next play. That play didn’t work, either, as Shaun Hill fumbled the ball when pulling guard David Baas bumped into him.
“I’m very, very thankful to be working with Mike Martz and I have a great relationship with him,” Singletary said. “And I don’t want to make it seem like we’re best of friends. It’s a professional relationship. But even so, I’ve had the opportunity to sit down with him many nights and just talk. Just talk about our guys; talk about where we are; talk about the possibilities; kind of dream together. We we’ve got a great relationship, as well as Greg (Manusky).”
Q: After the game, people started dissecting your words when you talked about ‘That was Coach Martz’s call’ on the final play. How should your words be interpreted?
Singletary: In all honesty, it’s amazing to me how people . . . I don’t know if there is a dialect or a particular language that’s out there where you can say something and not have people interpret it a different way.”
* * *
This note comes courtesy of ESPN’s Kim Jessup:
The 49ers’ game Monday night against the Cardinals earned a 8.9 rating, representing 8,683,000 homes (11,870,000 P2+), making ESPN the No. 1 network for the night (broadcast or cable) among all key male and adult demos.
The game ranks as the fourth highest-rated MNF game this season and the sixth most-viewed household cable audience of 2008.
All 10 weeks, ESPN has won the night among Adults 18-49 and in the key male demos among all networks, broadcast or cable. For the NFL season to date, ESPN’s Monday Night Football is averaging a 9.1 rating and 8,914,000 households (12,345,000 P2+), up 7 percent, 9 percent and 13 percent, respectively, from last season through 11 games (8.5; 8,184,000; 10,970,000). For 2008, the 11 MNF telecasts represent eight of cable’s 10 biggest audiences of the year. ESPN.com is averaging 76.2 million page views each week, up 39 percent from 2007.
