In the crunch, Spikes stayed put vs. Denver

The game was on the line and Niners linebacker Takeo Spikes wasn’t on the sideline during the fourth quarter of San Francisco’s 24-16 win over the Broncos.

It was a bit of a contrast from the previous week when Spikes wasn’t on the field — and rookie NaVorro Bowman struggled — on Carolina’s game-tying, fourth-quarter drive in the Panthers’ 23-20 win.

Prior to the game against Denver, Spikes had mentioned, not too subtly, that he wasn’t thrilled with sitting with the game hanging in the balance.


“I think at the end of the day when a man has his mind made up, there’s
nothing that another person (can do to) change it,” he said in London.
“Until he sees, you know what, that ain’t right.”

Spikes was asked this week if he thought his words influenced the coaching staff.

“Nothing was said about it, but the result was I did have the
opportunity to play more, especially in the crunch-time situation at the
end of the game,” Spikes said. “That’s what I like.”

Mike Singletary shot down the notion that Spikes
stayed on the field due to his experience. He said it wasn’t necessarily
a blueprint for how the Niners would handle similar situations with the Spikes-Bowman rotation in the
future.

“Bowman continues to make progress,” Singletary said. “There were some
defenses that I think Takeo had a better grip on and I thought it was
better to leave him in there to do that.”

• Barring the unforeseen, Sunday’s game will mark the first time
Heisman-winning quarterbacks have started against each other in the NFL
since Cincinnati’s Carson Palmer and Dallas’ Vinny Testaverde met on
Nov. 7, 2004.

Troy Smith won the Heisman Trophy at Ohio State in 2006 and St. Louis
rookie Sam Bradford won the award in 2008 at Oklahoma. As former
winners, they also have a Heisman vote. On a conference call with St.
Louis reporters this week, Smith was asked who topped his Heisman ballot
two years ago.

“In 2008? I guess that’s a trick question,” Smith said. “That must be Sam’s year. Sam Bradford is who I voted for.”

By the way, Palmer, then 24, and the Bengals beat Testaverde, then 40,
and the Cowboys, 26-3, in 2004. Palmer completed 21 of 32 passes for 212
yards with a touchdown and no interceptions. Testaverde completed 18 of
30 passes for 207 yards with no touchdowns and three interceptions.

• I’m always a bit dubious when physical running backs such as Frank
Gore claim they deliver more punishment than they receive. But Rams
defensive end James Hall can attest that his body remembers tackling
Gore on Monday mornings.

“When you hit him, you feel him,” Hall told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
“He’s a one-cut guy, and he’s downhill. He can hurt you.”

The Rams, of course, have their own non-nonsense runner in Steven
Jackson, who ranks second in the NFL with 7,611 yards from scrimmage
since 2006. First on the list: Gore with 7,692 yards.

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