This is the live blog for the Niners week 3 game in Cincinnati. I will be updating this frequently from my living room before and throughout the game.
8:38 The 49ers inactive players today are Scott Tolzien, Braylon Edwards, Moran Norris, Daniel Kilgore, Mike Person, Ian Williams, and Demarcus Dobbs.
The Bengals inactives are WR Andrew Hawkins, S Taylor Mays, S Robert Sands, LB Dontay Moch, OL Otis Hudson, TE Colin Cochart, and DE Robert Geathers.
Bengals WR Jerome Simpson will play but WR Andre Caldwell will start in his place. Police found six pounds of marijuana in Simpson’s house on Wednesday, and he did not practice this week.
8:48 Dashon Goldson will start ahead of Madieu Williams at free safety. Goldson will play alongside starting strong safety Donte Whitner.
Bruce Miller will start in place of the injured Moran Norris.
9:57 Jim Mora Jr. just said Alex Smith’s career is “on an upward trajectory.” Is he a Smither?
10:03 Niners win the toss and defer for the third straight week.
1st Quarter
10:04 First play of the game, Andy Dalton hits an open Andre Caldwell on a ten-yard out for a first down.Tarell Brown played too Caldwell too soft.
10:06 Andy Dalton is slicing up the Niners secondary. He’s finding Caldwell repeatedly when the Niners play zone coverage, and he’s making accurate passes with pressure in his face.
10:08 Bengals run another perfect play action, and Dalton hits tight end Donald Lee over the middle for 11 yards. First and goal at the six.
10:10 On 3rd and goal Ahmad Brooks forces Dalton to scramble out of the pocket to his left, and he throws a pass towards the end zone incomplete. The Bengals have to settle for a field goal. 3-0 Bengals. Niners defense looked like a sieve until the Bengals got first and goal. Then the Niners dominated the line of scrimmage and flustered Dalton.
10:14 Opposing offenses continue to target Tarell Brown. Shawntae Spencer should get his shot soon.
10:15 First offensive play for the Niners, screen to Bruce Miller for 11 yards and a first down. Brilliant first play call.
10:16 Second play, designed pass. Alex Smith drops three steps, looks right, looks left, and he’s sacked, plus Rachal gets called for the hold. 2nd and 15.
10:18 Niners fail to complete a screen on 3rd and 15. This offense is not built to pick up long third downs, so no surprise on that play. This drive was dead when the second play failed. The Niners offense has almost zero margin for error.
10:21 Matt Maiocco tweets that Donte Whitner has run back to the locker room, and Madieu Williams has replaced him.
10:21 On 2nd and 7 the Bengals line up 3 wide receivers, and Dalton throws to Caldwell, who’s in single coverage with Carlos Rogers. Caldwell makes the catch, and breaks Rogers’ tackle to pick up the first down. If Rogers can’t lock down Caldwell, the Niners secondary is in trouble. The Niners need an A pass rush today.
10:24 Niners do bring their A pass rush, and they force the Bengals to punt. 1st down Niners at the Cincinnati 11 yard line. Dalton looks much less effective when he has to scramble to his left.
10:26 Maiocco points out that the Niners have changed their Nickel defense. Brock and Smith are out, and Spencer and Goldson are in.
10:27 On first down, the Niners bring in their sixth O lineman, Snyder, and rush Gore up the middle for a tough five yards. Next play, Smith throws a quick out to Joshua Morgan for five yards and a first down. Good back-to-back plays.
10:28 Alex Smith throws a beautiful pass to a wide open Vernon Davis on the left side line for a 22 yard gain.
10:30 3rd and 5, Joe Staley jumps for the false start. We’ll see if the Niners can recover on this drive.
10:31 Alex Smith escapes a sack and steps up well in the pocket. While he’s running towards the line of scrimmage he tries to throw to an open Michael Crabtree down the middle of the field, but he throws it at his red-bottomed shoes, and the pass is incomplete. Andy Lee then shanks a punt, and the Bengals take over at the Bengals’ 43.
10:36 Before the end of the quarter, A.J. Green flinches, and the Bengals get called for the false start. They will have a third and 12 when the second quarter starts, and the Niners will look to force their first three-and-out of the game.
2nd Quarter
10:39 Niners have good coverage, Dalton holds onto the ball forever, but Justin Smith gets in his face and forces him to throw to Caldwell well short of the first down. Bengals punt to Ginn Jr., who calls for a fair catch at his 11.
10:41 Niners try another wheel route to Vernon Davis, but this time Davis drops the pass. It looked like it bounced off his face.
10:42 Niners call their first timeout of the half. Adam Snyder has replaced Chilo Rachal at right guard.
10:45 On 3rd and 5, Alex Smith sails a pass over Joshua Morgan’s head on a five yard out. Jim Harbaugh makes Alex Smith explain himself on the sideline. Andy Lee boots a 60 yard punt, and the Bengals have a first down at their 38 yard line.
10:50 On 3rd an 3, the Bengals line up three wide receivers in a bunch to the right of their formation, Dalton throws a quick pass to an open Caldwell, but Carlos Rogers jumps in at he last second at bats the ball away. Rogers may have stone hands, but he can still put them to good use.
10:54 Frank Gore tries to run up the middle on first down, and he gets hit in the backfield before he can take one step forward. Loss of three.
10:54 On 2nd and 13, Alex Smith fakes a draw to Frank Gore, and runs off the left end on a designed run. He gets blasted by Nate Clements as he goes down for a slide, but the run is nullified because Chilo Rachal was holding. Jim Mora Jr. wonders if the Smith designed run was a mistake. It was no mistake. He says he has a problem with the play call.
10:57 Alex Smith finally hits Michael Crabtree. On third down, Crabtree beats Clements in single coverage and Smith hits him on a short out pattern. First down Niners at their own 25.
10:58 On 2nd and 9, Carlos Dunlap comes at Smith unblocked. Anthony Davis should have picked him up. Smith throws a low pass incomplete before he takes the hit. Jonathan Goodwin is down on the field with a right knee injury.
10:59 It is curious to call a designed Alex Smith run a week after he suffered a concussion.
11:00 On third and 9, Anthony Davis jumps early for the false start. This offensive line is turning in a pitiful performance so far.
11:01 And their performance just got worse. Joe Staley lets Jonathan Fanene run by him, and Alex Smith gets sacked. Niners punt. Bengals ball at their 35.
11:02 First play of the Bengals drive, Ahmad Brooks beats the right tackle Andre Smith, and annihilates Andy Dalton, popping his helmet as he sacks him. The Bengals go three and out. Neither offense looks good at all right now.
11:05 Goodwin is back in the game, and Gore runs up the middle for five yards on first down.
11:05 Apparently Donte Whitner won’t likely return to the game. He’s got a hip injury.
11:06 The Niners try to run Gore on back to to back plays, and that surprisingly gets just two yards.
11:05 On 3rd and 3, Alex Smith lines up in shotgun and hits Vernon Davis for a quick first down. Davis limps to the bench after the play.
11:07 I can’t keep up with all these false starts. Chilo Rachal just got called for one. First and 15 from their 22.
11:08 Alex Smith throws a quick two-hop check down to Delanie Walker. The Niners follow that up with a draw to Gore for 7 yards.
11:09 On 3rd an 8, Alex Smith completes a pass to Kendall Hunter two yards short of the first down, but Hunter puts his head down and powers through two Bengals defenders for a first down.
11:13 On 1st down Alex Smith sails a throw high to Crabtree, who leaps and makes the catch before going out of bounds. Gain of 8.
11:14 Next play, Niners go shotgun, three wide receivers. Alex Smith throws a tad late to Morgan, who was in tight Clements coverage. Still, the balls bounced off Morgans’ hands.
11:15 The Niners try a draw play and it doesn’t work. Gore loses a yard. The Bengals were clearly expecting a run, because the Niners haven’t passed on first, second, and third down in succession one time all season.
Halftime.
Alex Smith: 9-17 for 74 yards. 2 sacks. 64.3 rating.
Frank Gore: 9 attempts for 31 yards.
Alex Smith has not played well, but the offensive line has been a failure. They’re playing at the “somebody-has-to-get-fired-for-this” level.
3rd Quarter
11:31 First play of the second half, Alex Smith checks down to Bruce Miller over the middle, who breaks a tackle and picks up 8 yards. Jonathan Goodwin got pushed all the way into the pocket on the play.
11:32 On 3rd and inches, the Niners bring in the biggest player on the team, Isaac Sopoaga, to play fullback, and he clear the way for Frank Gore to pick up three yards and a first down.
11:34 On 1st and 10 from their 32, Alex Smith roles to the right to evade Fanene and completes a low pass to Delanie Walker for a 9-yard gain. If the pass had been higher, perhaps Walker could have turned and picked up the first down. But he had to bend over to grab the low pass, and he even bobbled it twice before being knocked backwards by Bengals defenders.
11:37 Bruce Miller fumbles on a fullback dive, but Delanie Walker recovers and the Niners pick up a first down.
11:38 On 1st and 10 Frank Gore runs up the middle into an eight-man Bengal front, and he loses a yard.
11:39 On 2nd and long, the 49ers run a play-action play even though the Bengals are showing an all-out blitz. Smith fakes the run, turns to look upfield, and immediately gets sacked by three Bengals. Luckily for the Niners, the Bengals were offside on the play.
11:41 On 3rd and 7 Alex Smith throws to Crabtree over the middle, who just drops the pass. Lee punts, and Tate calls a fair catch at the five. The Niners may not have any points, but they’ve got good field position now in the third quarter.
11:44 Cedric Benson powers for nine yards on second down. If the Bengals can run the ball here in the second half the Niners are in trouble.
11:46 The Bengals try to pass on first and second down and the Niners get pressure on Dalton to disrupt the plays.
11:47 The Bengals punt, and the Niners take over at their 47. It’s since neither team can score, it’s a battle for field position right now.
11:50 On first down the Niners have 7 on the line. They run a play action and Smith hits Crabtree running right across the line of scrimmage. Crabtree picks up 8 after the catch. Good play.
11:51 Next play, Alex Smith takes a five step drop, and with no hesitation he throws a deep pass to Vernon Davis down the right sideline. The pass is on the money and Davis makes the catch for a 39 yard gain. Smith got hit by two Bengals on the play. The Niners can’t make the proper substitutions between plays and Harbaugh has to burn their first timeout of the second half.
11:54 On first and goal from the six, the Niners line up six wide, Smith can’t figure out who to throw to, and he takes a sack from Rucker.
11:55 Next play, Alex Smith scrambles behind the line of scrimmage, throws and hits Crabtree in the back of the endzone. Crabtree lept high in the air and made a spectacular catch. However, Crabtree got called for an illegal touching penalty. He stepped out of bounds right before he caught the ball. Bad break for the Niners. 2nd and goal from the 16.
11:56 Now the Niners get a break. On 2nd and long, Smith checks down to Bruce Miller, and Maualuga hits him late. First and goal from the 5.
11:57 The Niners give the break right back though. The entire offensive line false starts, just to leave no mysteries.
11:59 Looking at replays, it doesn’t really look like Crabtree stepped out of bounds on that touchdown play.
11:59 On third and goal from the six, Alex Smith tries to run up the middle for the touchdown but he’s hit and stopped at the line of scrimmage. Akers comes in and hits a 23 yard field goal. 3-3 game. It’s a barn burner!
12:05 The Bengals run successfully a couple times, so they try to stick with the run plays, which is a mistake. Now they’ve got a 3rd and five.
12:06 Tarell Brown swats away Dalton’s pass to Caldwell. Good coverage. Bengals punt. Touchback Niners.
12:08 On 2nd and long, Crocker blitzes, beats Gore and sacks Smith. Loss of eight. The coaches note Gore for being a stud in blitz pickup, but he was a dud on that play. The Niners will have a 3rd and 18 from their own 12 yard line. They’re losing the field position battle at a critical time.
12:11 On 3rd and 18 Alex Smith throws a three-yard pass to Vernon Davis. They don’t pick up the first down. Andy Lee punts, the Bengals’ rucker gets a block-in-the-back penalty, and Cincinnati starts their drive at their own 25 yard line.
12:16 On 3rd and 3, Jermaine Gresham blocks out Patrick Willis, and Andy Dalton hits him for a first down.
12:18 Cedric Benson breaks his first big run of the day, but the play gets called back because of a Cincinnati holding penalty. 2nd and 11.
12:19 Ray McDonald completely discards Andre Smith and makes Andy Dalton throw the ball away.
12:22 The Niners force Dalton to throw the ball away again, and the Bengals punt. Anthony Dixon gets called for a hold on the return even though Ginn didn’t take the ball very far, and the Niners take over at their own 10 yard line.
12:25 Frank Gore runs up the middle on first down, picks up five yards, and Maualuga forces the fumble. Bengals ball at the Niners’ 16.
12:27 The Niners absolutely cannot allow the Bengals to score a touchdown right now. They can hang in this game if they hold Cincinnati to a field goal. But then again, the way the Niners are playing on offense, three more Bengal points could be the difference.
12:28 On 3rd and 5, Dalton throws a fade to A.J. Green in the end zone, but Shawntae Spencer had great bump-and-run coverage. The Bengals’ kicker Nugent hits a 23-yard field goal. 6-3 Cincinnati with 9:08 left in the 4th quarter.
12:32 With Frank Gore on the bench, Alex Smith completes a short pass to Joshua Morgan, who turns it upfield and picks up the first down. 12 yard gain.
12:33 Next play, Kendall Hunter breaks an 11 yard run. Hunter is making the case that Harbaugh should indeed bench Gore.
12:36 On first down, the Niners are in a spread formation, and Alex Smith completes a quick pass to Vernon Davis on the right sideline for an 8 yard gain.
12:37 On second and two, Kendall Hunter picks up three yards and a first down. And now Gore comes back in the game. Weird.
12:37 And right on cue, Frank Gore misses a pass in the flat. The ball hits him in the face mask. Kendall hunter needs to be in the game, not Gore.
12:38 On second down, the O line gives Alex Smith enough time to complete a pass to Vernon Davis for eight yards.
12:39 On third and two Gore partially redeems himself by running up the middle for four yards.
12:40 Smith fakes the run to Gore, roles right, throws back to his left and completes the pass to Vernon Davis. Gain of 20. First and goal from the seven.
12:41 On first down, Frank Gore runs up the middle for no gain. On second down, Kendall Hunter explodes threw the line for a touchdown run. 10-6 Niners, they have their first lead of the day. And there is officially a running back controversy on the Niners.
12:45 Carlos Rogers picks off Andy Dalton on the first play of the Bengals’ drive. He jumps the out route and catches the ball with his body.
12:46 After the interception, Greg Roman calls two straight Kendall Hunter runs, and neither gain a yard. 3rd and 11. Will they run?
12:48 Yes they will. Alex Smith hands the ball off to Vernon Davis on an end around, and he loses two yards. Nate Clements is down on the field. He walks off under his own power
12:49 David Akers walks on the field to attempt a 53-yard field goal. The Niners call a 30-second timeout to prevent a delay of game penalty. Harbaugh just iced his own kicker.
12:52 And Akers nails it. 13-6 Niners. Hey, he’s a heckuva kicker!
12:54 Dalton completes two long passes to Jermaine Gresham over the middle before the two minute warning. The Bengals have a first and ten and at the Niners 44 yard line. The Bengals waited until their very last opportunity to attack the Niners’ biggest weakness on D – covering tight ends.
12:57 Dalton completes a quick pass to Caldwell on a short out for a gain of 8. Dalton is 3 for 3 on this drive.
12:58 And now he’s 3 for 4. Dalton gets greedy and throws a long seam route behind his intended receiver, and Reggie Smith makes a diving interception. It’s under review, but it’s a clean catch. The Niners should win this game. They played poorly, but this was a game the Singletary Niners would have lost last year. After Gore lost that fumble, things looked bleak, but Harbaugh subbed in Hunter, went to the spread formation, and those decisions worked out big time.
1:01 Just when you thought this game was over, the Niners get penalized for having twelve men in the huddle. That was a Jimmy Raye mistake.
1:04 The Niners run Kendall Hunter up the middle three plays in a row, then takes a delay of game penalty with eight seconds left in the 4th quarter. It looks like they’re going to punt the ball. Now they call their last timeout.
1:07 The Niners don’t punt. They take the safety. It’s 13-8 Niners. Now there are two seconds left on the clock, and the Niners will punt to the Bengals.
1:08 Andy Lee squibs the punt, and the Bengals don’t return it for a touchdown, so the Niners win 13-8. The Niners needed to win this game and they did, so they get credit for that.
49ers beat the Bengals 13-8
The Niners gain 226 yards of total offense in the game, and the Bengals gain 228 yards.
Alex Smith was 20 for 30 passing for 201 yards. His qb rating was 85.6.
Frank Gore has 17 rushes for 42 yards and a fumble. Kendall Hunter had 9 rushed for 26 yards and a touchdown. Neither back rushed for 3 yards per carry.
Vernon Davis was the Niners’ leading receiver with 8 catches for 114 yards. Bruce Miller was their second leading receiver with 4 catches for 25 yards.
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