SAN FRANCISCO — This is the live blog for the Niners first regular season game of 2011. I will update this frequently before and throughout the game.
The Niners have not updated their depth chart since Monday. They still list the injured Dashon Goldson as their starting free safety.
Players playing catch together: Colin Kaepernick and Kyle Williams. Scott Tolzien and Vernon Davis.
Kyle Williams is inactive for today’s game. So is Scott Tolzien, Dashon Goldson, Daniel Kilgore, Mike Person, Demarcus Dobbs.
I saw John York just now on the field. He was passing out pins to 49er fans, as he likes to do before home game. I introduced myself and shook his hand, but he did not offer me a pin.
I also saw Jack Harbaugh on the field before the game. He didn’t seem nervous for his son at all. He was smiling and laughing, and he couldn’t stop talking about Michigan’s victory over Notre Dame last night. He called it the greatest football game he’s ever seen.
Jim Harbaugh is on the field playing quarterback. He’s taking snaps from under center and giving hand offs to Kendall Hunter and Anthony Dixon.
Crabtree catching passes from Smith and Kaepernick. I’m sticking with my prediction from earlier this week: Crabtree will start.
1st QUARTER
1:24 49ers defense forces Seattle into a 3 & out, but new special teams player Tavares Gooden runs into the punter for a 15 yard penalty.
1:30 Ray McDonald stops Marshawn Lynch in the backfield on 2nd & 8, and then sacks Tarvaris Jackson on the next play. The Niners new D-line looks strong so far.
1:34 Niners start their first drive of the season at their own 6. Morgan starts ahead of Crabtree. Delanie Walker starts at tight end in place of a full back.
1:35 Crabtree into the game on the second play.
1:37 On 2nd & 10, Harbaugh runs Gore up the middle. On 3rd & 7, Harbaugh runs him up the middle again. Punt. Harbaugh, Coach as Poker Player, has not yet shown any cards. How long can he keep them revealed?
1:40 Harbaugh’s first challenge: Says ball popped up and hit punt returner Leon Washington on the shoulder, but the ruling on the field stands. Timeout charged to the Niners.
1:42 Seattle’s first play of their second drive, TE Zach Miller lines up out wide and Whitner covers him one-on-one. Jackson wastes no time, throws immediately to Miller, who catches it on a quick slant and picks up six yards.
1:44 On 3rd & 3, Justin Smith bull rushes Carpenter and then spins away to sack Tarvaris Jackson. I’ve seen Smith use the chop-to-bull, but the bull-to-spin is new.
1:47 Harbaugh pulls his first trick out of his hat. Multiple shifts, both running backs run out wide, Smith drops into a shotgun and hits Braylon Edwards on a quick throw.
1:49 Niners have run on both of their two third downs. Unsurprisingly they’ve failed to convert either one. Andy Lee punts again and this one is a beauty, dying right at Seattle’s 2-yard line.
1:53 49ers force the Seahawks into a 3-and-out. Ray McDonald had a big tackle stopping Marshawn Lynch on 1st down. The defensive line looks better than last year.
1:54 Ted Ginn Jr. returns a punt 31 yards. He needs to do more of that to solidify his spot on the team.
1:55 Beautiful running play – misdirection pitch to Gore. Play starts to the left, Gore cuts back right, has Alex Smith in front of him lead blocking. Gore picks up 12 yards.
2nd QUARTER
1:59 David Akers makes a 27-yard fild goal. 3-0 Niners. The Niners have yet to convert a third down, and they haven’t been close.
2:02 “Co-starter” Ted Ginn has not seen action on the field at wide receiver so far.
2:05 Neither team can run the ball effectively right now. Good D-lines and poor O-lines.
2:08 Parys Haralson blindsides Jackson, who fumbles the ball straight up into the air. Will Tukuafu plucks the ball out of the air and returns it 11 yards to the Seattle 9. Good play for Haralson, who seems to be splitting plays with Aldon Smith.
2:10 On 3rd & goal from the 9, Alex Smith tries to check down to Frank Gore but he drops the pass. Smith needs to take a shot at the end zone there. Crabtree was open in the back of the end zone, and he was visibly frustrated Smith didn’t throw him the ball.
2:11 David Akers hits a 23-yard field goal. 6-0 Niners.
2:12 Officials are calling Jackson’s fumble a pass, and Tukuafu’s fumble recovery an interception, for what it’s worth.
2:17 The Seahawks start their next drive with two runs that go for no gain. They should probably try something else.
2:19 Ginn loses ten yards on his second punt return attempt. Running backwards was a bad strategy.
2:22 Alex Smith play fakes, has Crabtree open deep down the field but doesn’t throw it to him. Seemed unsure he could throw it that long. So he floats a pass over two defenders to Vernon Davis, who picks up 27 yards.
2:25 On 3rd and 2, Alex Smith pitches to Gore, who runs left and picks up 1.5 yards. The Niners should go for it on 4th down here.
2:27 Niners draw Seahawks offside, not with a hard count, but with a “hard shift.” Adam Snyder, lined up at tight end, stepped back to shift and the Seattle defense thought he false started.
2:29 On 3rd and 1, the Niners hand the ball to Kendall Hunter. He runs up the middle and gets no gain. That was the worst play call of the game for Harbaugh and Roman.
2:30 David Akers makes a 31-yard field goal. 9-0 Niners.
2:38 On 3rd and 12, Jackson steps up the pocket and gets absolutely decked by Patrick Willis as he throws. Niners have had pressure on Jackson all day.
2:40 Smith scrambled effectively for the second time of the day, this time for 11 yards.
2:41 Pass of the day for Smith. Rolling to his left, he throws across his body to Vernon Davis’ back shoulder. Davis catches it for a 19-yard gain. The Niner offense looks better when it goes no huddle hurry-up.
2:42 Crabtree catches his first pass of the game for a 4-yard gain. He’s lined up primarily in the slot so far.
2:44 On 3rd & goal, Alex Smith throws to Braylon Edwards who has one-on-one coverage in the end zone. The cornerback completely face guards Edwards, and the ref calls defensive pass interference. 1st and goal from the 1.
2:45 Next play, Smith rolls right and dives into the end zone for a touchdown. 16-0 Niners. Smith got hit by two Seahawks at the goal line, and he got spun as he scored. The play looked a little like John Elway’s famous Super Bowl run from 14 years ago. Smith has had a very gutsy game so far – three big scrambles and lead block.
2:49 Tramaine Brock picks off a Hail Mary as the half ends. Alex Smith is pumped up on the sideline.
THIRD QUARTER
3:05 On 3rd & 12 from the their own 5, the Niners line up in I-formation and hand the ball off to Gore, who rushes around the left tackle for 7 yards. Lee punt. The Niners’ 3rd down play calls have been more conservative than they were last year.
3:12 Marshawn Lynch stiff arms NaVorro Bowman into the ground to pick up a 12-yard gain and a first down.
3:14 On 1st and goal, Carlos Rogers blindly bats away a Tarvaris Jackson pass in the end zone.
3:15 Next play, Jackson connects with Golden Tate on a quick slant pick play for a touchdown. 16-7 Niners. Seattle had no problem driving down the field. Less runs up the middle. They also threw Tarell Brown’s way frequently. Good strategy.
3:21 Alex Smith throws deep to Vernon Davis on 2nd & 10, and Davis doesn’t even put his arms up to attempt to catch the ball. What was that?
3:27 Good coverage by the Niners cornerbacks on that 3 and out. On the third down play Tarell Brown had the primary target covered, and Tramaine Brock had the secondary receiver covered tightly as well.
3:31 On this 3 and out, Smith does not throw a pass beyond the line of scrimmage. Two passes to the flat followed by a scramble. Andy Lee punt. Do the Niners think 16 points is enough to win? Seems like it.
3:37 Ricky Jean-Francois with two bad plays in a row. First he picks up a personal foul penalty, then he gets completely pushed off the line as Marshawn Lynch picks up 7 on a run.
3:39 On a perfectly executed screen, Whitner makes a beautiful tackle down field to limit Seattle to an 8-yard gain. Tom Cable throws his arms up in disgust.
3:41 Madieu Williams gets called for a 15-yard unnecessary roughness penalty in the red zone. Ref said he went shoulder to head, but on replays it looked like shoulder-to-shoulder contact.
3:44 On 2nd & 2 from the 20, Seahawks try to set up a screen and Aldon Smith bats the ball out of the air with his long left arm.
4TH QUARTER
3:48 Steven Hauschka hits a 39-yard field goal. 16-10 Niners. I don’t think 16 points will be enough for the Niners to pull this out. They need another touchdown.
3:55 Alex Smith hits Braylon Edwards on 3rd & 3 for a first down. Michael Crabtree looks like he’s been taken out of the game. He’s standing on the sideline with his helmet off and a towel over his head.
3:55 But who needs Crabtree? Smith completes his best throw of the day – a 26-yard gain to Joshua Morgan deep down the right sideline.
3:58 Just when it looks like the Niners can’t run the ball, they bring out two tight ends and two running backs on 2nd & 14, signaling an obvious run play. Seattle still can’t stop it, and Gore runs for 16 yards, plus a horse collar penalty.
4:04 On 3rd and goal from the 4, Harbaugh/Roman calls a draw to Gore which doesn’t work, somehow. The Niners get bailed out though. On the next play, a field goal attempt, the Seahawks run into David Akers and give the Niners a first down at the 1 yard line.
4:07 The Niners attempt three runs in a row from inside the 5 and do not score a touchdown. Even Jimmy Raye would have called something more creative in that situation.
4:10 David Akers makes an 18-yard field goal. 19-10 Niners with 5:54 left in the game.
4:17 Injury timeout. Travaris Jackson spotted an open Ben Obomanu over the middle and fired a strike to him, but Donte Whitner blasted Obomanu in the head with his shoulder and the ball hit the ground. This play looked more egregious than the previous roughing penatly on Madieu Williams, but there were no flags on this play. Go figure.
4:20 On 3rd & 3 Tarvaris Jackson slides around the pocket then bolts forward to pick up the first down. Gain of 5. The Seahwaks are holding on.
4:21 Next play, Tarvaris Jackson hits Doug Balwin on a quick slant. Baldwin runs the ball 55 yards for a touchdown. 19-17 Niners. 3:56 left in the game. The Niners seem to have blown a zone coverage on the play, with Tarell Brown rotating down to the flat to cover the running back, and no one rotating over the top to pick up Baldwin.
4:24 Very next play, Ted Ginn Jr. returns the kickoff 102 yards for a touchdown. He started running up the left, hesitated, then turned right and beat every Seahawk around the right edge. Wow. Ginn clearly has a function on this team. 26-17 Niners with 3:45 left.
4:29 On 3rd and 10, Justin Smith sacks Jackson. Seattle punts, pretty much conceding defeat. But for good measure, Ginn returns the punt 55 yards for a touchdown. 33-17 Niners. Who do you think’s going to get the game ball?
4:31 I’m going to run down to the field. Hopefully I’ll hear what Harbaugh says to Carroll. Be back at you soon.
Comments are closed.