Niners Take Down Jets 24-14

Jets 14 — 49ers 24 (Final)
Live Blog Recap — Laurence Scott, San Francisco

The 49ers took control of the clock (39:49 time of possession to the Jets 20:11), held Brett Favre to 137 yards passing and grabbed their second straight win by beating the New York Jets 24-14.

Bryant Johnson’s 3 yard TD catch gave the Niners a two score lead with 6:05 in the fourth quarter. (10-play, 51-yard, 6:35 drive)

###

What looked like a 99-yard Leon Washington kickoff return for a touchdown — following Nedney’s early fourth quarter field goal — was brought back to the Jets 30 after a holding call.

###

A 32-yard Joe Nedney FG gave the Niners a slight lead at 14:44 of the fourth quarter.

It capped a 12-play, 47-yard drive covering 5:40.

###

Thomas Jones blasted 17 yards for a tying touchdown at 5:24 in the third. (4-play, 45-yard, 1:57 drive)

Here’s what set up the score… the Niners were driving in NY territory when Shaun Hill gift wrapped a pick for the Jets David Bowens who rumbled an extra 25 yards to set New York up at the Niners 45.

###

Frank Gore was taken to the locker room on a cart with a left ankle injury.

He was limping on the sideline trying to walk on it after being helped off the field by the medical staff, but soon after was carted off after the first drive of the third quarter.

Later in the quarter, he walked back out to the sideline on his own power just in time to see the Thomas Jones TD run.

###

The Niners grabbed a seven point lead with 46 seconds left in the half as Shaun Hill hit Frank Gore with a four yard touchdown pass. (14-play, 74-yard, 6:31 drive)

It was yet another efficient drive with Hill buying enough time to find recievers breaking free in a soft New York zone.

###

The Jets awoke from their early game slumber… as Brett Farve scrambled 2 yards diving for a touchdown with 7:17 in the second quarter. (9-play, 61-yard, 5:21 drive)

While Laveranues Coles may have his own opinions about Farve… Chansi Stuckey was making some big grabs early helping the Jets get in an offensive rhythm.

###

Sometimes it just takes luck. After Jason Hill fumbled at the one heading into the end zone… the ball rolled past the goal line where Joe Staley recovered the ball for a touchdown at the bottom of a red and green pile. (8-play, 76-yard, 4:28 drive)

The Niners passing attack crisp early going… Shaun Hill connecting with Issac Bruce, Delanie Walker and even seldom seen Dominique Zeigler for some big plays.

###

The Jets first series goes three and out… and after a punt the Niners were moving in New York territory before Michael Robinson fumbled it back to the Jets at the NY 17.

The ensuing drive another three and out for New York.

###

Pre-Game Notes –

Celebrity sighting… Alyssa Milano is at Candlestick promoting her new clothing line. She is usually a fixture at baseball games and other big league events… spotted on the field at the 2007 MLB All-Star game in San Francisco.

Former Niners quarterback Steve Bono was also seen this morning chatting with Brett Farve before warm-ups.

Raiders Fall to Chiefs, 20-13

Chiefs 20 — Raiders 13 (Final)
Live Blog Recap — Laurence Scott, Oakland

The Raiders have dropped six straight games at the Coliseum to the rival Kansas City Chiefs… the latest, a comedy of errors resulting in a 20-13 loss.

Sebastian Janikowski booted a 51-yard FG to bring Oakland back to within a touchdown with 2:55 left in the game, but the Chiefs ran out the clock handing the Raiders their ninth loss of the season.

###

Connor Barth kicked a 27-yard FG with 8:54 in the fourth quarter to give Kansas City a 20-10 lead.

The field goal was set up after Raiders running back Justin Fargas fumbled on a first down run. It was recovered by Kansas City corner Brandon Flowers on the Oakland 39 yard line.

###

The Chiefs Larry Johnson blasted two yards for a go-ahead touchdown with 13:43 in the fourth quarter to give Kansas City a 17-10 lead. He added an exclamation point by slamming the ball into the wall of the Coliseum’s Black Hole section.

The run capped a 16-play, 91-yard drive taking 9:24 off the clock.

###

Final Quarter Notes: Former Cal Bear and 9-time Pro Bowl tight end Tony Gonzalez with a monster day for KC… over 100 yards receiving… and the match-ups with Raiders CB Nnamdi Asomugha have been fierce and thrilling old school-style AFC West battles.

###

Oakland’s Justin Fargas plunged one yard into the end zone to tie the game 10-10 at the 11:13 mark of the third quarter.

The run was set up by Raiders CB Chris Johnson’s interception of an errant Tyler Thigpen pass which was returned 44 yards to the goal line.

###

Late 2nd Quarter — The Chiefs punted after a go nowhere drive giving the Raiders a few minutes to work with before halftime… but after just three plays, Oakland punted back to KC… who quickly returned the ball back to the Raiders with under a minute left in the half. Shortly after, Darren McFadden fumbled during a run, adding to the drama… but the Raiders recovered on their own 16 and promptly ran out the clock.

###

Just out of reach and turning it over on downs… the Raiders going for it on 4th down from the Chiefs 21… and JaMarcus Russell sails a ball into the end zone just missing a diving and open Ronald Curry.

###

SPECIAL TEAMS DISASTER: A fake FG attempt involving kicker Sebastian Janikowski and holder Shane Lechler is fumbled… and returned 67 yards by Maurice Leggett for a Kansas City touchdown.

Officially, it’s ruled a fumbled lateral at 11:57 in the second quarter.

###

Rookie free agent kicker out of North Carolina, Connor Barth, nailed a 38-yard FG with 1:07 in the 1st Q to tie the game 3-3. (11 play, 65-yard drive)

Tyler Thigpen moved the Chiefs on the 6:45 drive with dinks, dunks, runs and dump downs… combined with some missed Oakland tackles… bringing KC to the edge of the red zone.

###

Sebastian Janikowski knuckled in a 25-yard FG to start the scoring at 7:52 in the 1st Quarter… (8 play, 80 yard drive).

The Raiders first offensive series had them moving fast downfield… first, splitting out Darren McFadden to the left side receiver spot drawing a 22-yard PI flag… then, JaMarcus Russell hits tight end Zach Miller in stride for 28 yards and another first down to the KC 30… and then, some trickery with Run DMC taking off on a pitch from Ronald Curry after a catch brought them into the KC red zone.

###

Kansas City started on offense running a no huddle offense… as tight end Tony Gonzalez grabbed the first two first downs… but the Raiders forced a punt on the Chiefs third set of downs.

###

Oakland’s own Tower of Power (without bassist Victor Conte) performed the national anthem.

###

Pre-Game Notes:

The 3-8 Oakland Raiders look to snap a five-game home losing streak against the 1-10 Kansas City Chiefs today.

Oakland hasn’t beaten the Chiefs at the Coliseum since a 24-0 victory on Dec. 28, 2002.

Niners Rough-Up Rams 35-16

Rams 16 — 49ers 35 (Final)
Live Blog Recap — Laurence Scott, San Francisco

The 49ers didn’t score a point in the second half, but they didn’t need to… an explosive start on offense and some suffocating defense enough for a 35-16 win over the hapless St. Louis Rams.

Outstanding first half for the Niners. In their first 6 possessions… 5 consecutive touchdowns.

Interim head coach Mike Singletary gets his first win as the Niners move to 3-7 on their way to Dallas for a meeting with the Cowboys next Sunday.

###

A late fourth quarter Marc Bulger to Dane Looker 2-yard TD after the two minute warning only made it look closer than it really was.

It was a slow start to the second half… yet the Rams stopped the bleeding a bit with a 48-yard Josh Brown FG with 3:51 left in the third quarter… and then a 44 yarder as the quarter expired.

###

So what does time of possession really matter?

The Rams held the ball around 12-and-a-half minutes in the first quarter… to the Niners 2-plus minutes… but San Francisco had a 7-zip lead to start the 2nd Q.

Shortly after, the floodgates opened and while the Rams only held a six minute advantage in time of possession to end the half (roughly 18 to the Niners’ 12), St. Louis was down 35-to-3.

###

Shaun Hill is making this fun. With under two minutes to go before the half, a perfect rope to Bryant Johnson for a 2-yard TD gaves the Niners a 32-point lead at the break.

Nate Clements intercepted Marc Bulger to set up the final dagger of the first half.

###

Hill… all guts and glory… leading the offense down the field and diving head-first into the end zone for the 49ers fourth score of the day. The one-yard run gave the Niners a 25-point lead with three-and-a-half left in the second quarter.

Walt Harris intercepted Bulger to get the drive started.

###

Willing his way to his second score of the game… Frank Gore powered into the end zone for a 1-yard TD on third and goal. (4 plays, 16 yards, 2:01)

The short TD drive was put in place as Rams QB Marc Bulger released from center Nick Leckey without the ball setting the Niners up on the Rams 16 yard line. We’re starting to see why teams flatten St. Louis week after week.

###

49ers QB Shaun Hill hitting his receivers in stride… finding tight end Vernon Davis in the middle of the end zone for a 2-yard TD at the 10:38 mark of the second quarter.

Issac Bruce and Bryant Johnson with two big catches on the drive to get the Niners near the goal line.(5 plays, 69 yards, 2:48)

###

Lockdown in effect: Nate Clements shutting down Torry Holt early… and the Niners playing strong goal line defense… holding the Rams to a 24-yard Josh Brown FG with 13:26 in the 2nd Q. (15 plays, 75 yards, 8:11)

###

Rams left tackle Orlando Pace (team cornerstone/all-pro who has battled injuries the past few years) has left the game — walking off on his own power with a knee injury. Adam Goldberg entered in his place.

###

The Niners O-line is shredding the Rams front seven. Frank Gore makes up for an opening drive fumble with a 5-yard TD run. (4 plays, 34 yards, 1:54)

###

Opening 49ers drive: running back Frank Gore broke off a 37-yard run… and looked headed to the end zone before former Stanford Cardinal, now Rams cornerback Oshiomogho Atogwe ripped the ball away… with the Rams recovering at their own 13… but they went three and out… punting to the Niners who set up at the STL 34 before scoring their first touchdown.

Rams kicker Josh Brown missed a 48-yard FG at the end of the opening St. Louis drive.

The Niners won the toss… decided to take the ball to start the 2nd Half… and kicked to STL to start the game. This is the second time they’ve deferred this season… the first time was at the start of their win in Seattle.

###

Pre-Game Notes:

We knew after Friday’s practice that 49ers receivers Arnaz Battle and Josh Morgan would be inactive. Bryant Johnson will start in place of Morgan with Issac Bruce on the other side. The third receiver, SF native Jason Hill, will continue to get some passes his way.

Also, look out for number 17, first year man Dominique Zeigler, to perhaps pick up a little of the slack. He had some decent timing worked out with QB Shaun Hill in the preseason.

The Rams All-Pro running back Steven Jackson is inactive as well… so a mix of Antonio Pittman and/or the likes of Kenneth Darby, Travis Minor and Sam Gado will run it for St. Louis this afternoon.

Raiders Can’t Find End Zone, Lose to Panthers 17-6

Carolina 17 — Oakland 6
Live Blog Recap — Laurence Scott, Oakland

Another week without a touchdown at home results in another loss to a visiting NFC South team as the Oakland Raiders drop another offensively-challenged game — this time to the visiting Carolina Panthers 17-6.

The Raiders defense did its best to keep it close, using a much more aggressive approach against the Panthers than we saw last Sunday with Atlanta here in Oakland.

One bright spot… Sebastian Janikowski is now Oakland’s all-time leading scorer with 865 career points.

He passed George Blanda with a 45-yard FG at 8:55 in the 3rd Quarter.

###

Carolina QB Jake Delhomme had a nightmarish day, picked four times — twice by safety Rashad Baker, in the second and third quarters.

In the first quarter, Delhomme was victimized by corner Nnamdi Asomugha… (it was Nnamdi’s first pick of the year — noteworthy, considering he’s only faced around 20 passes to his side of the field this season)… and in the third quarter linebacker Sam Williams nabbed a ball that bounced off a Carolina receiver.

###

To start the second half… Baker’s interception of Delhomme resulted in a 38-yard Janikowski FG.

To that point, the Raiders offense had been shutout for 7 straight quarters (going back to the game in Baltimore).

###

An electric touchdown blast by Carolina running back DeAngelo Williams — 69 yards to the Black Hole end zone with 3 minutes left in the half gave the Panthers a two TD lead at the break.

###

The Raiders tried throwing it deep… Andrew Walter’s arm not the question in single coverage… just positioning by the receivers — one bomb was just out of reach for Ashley Lelie… another long heave to Javon Walker was even closer… but Walker couldn’t reel it in.

Another, much more costly miss, came as Panthers corner Richard Marshall picked off Walter in the end zone with 5:34 in the first quarter after the Raiders started on the Carolina 39 following Asomugha’s pick.

###

Late in the first quarter, LT Kwame Harris came to the rescue (momentarily, that is… he was lifted in the 2nd Q for Mario Henderson)… as Andrew Walter was lit up by Julius Peppers… fumbled… but Harris plucked it out of the air for the recovery. Best use of his hands this season.

###

Raiders were on the move on their first drive, but punted… It took just two plays for the Raiders to get a first down… last week it took over two quarters.

Ugly opening kickoff… Raiders return man Johnnie Lee Higgins fumbled the ball away at the Oakland 16… thus, the Panthers set up shop in the red zone and scored four plays later on a Jake Delhomme to Muhsin Muhammad 3 yard TD pass.

###

The pregame story in Oakland was who would not be playing for the Raiders.

Quarterback JaMarcus Russell, running back Darren McFadden, wide receiver Ronald Curry and defensive end Derrick Burgess headlining the inactive list.

Atlanta Dominates Oakland, 24-0

At the midway point of the season, the Raiders were all kinds of disastrous in a 24-0 loss to the visiting Atlanta Falcons.

Opening night against the Broncos was a better showing, as Oakland falls to 2-6.

Combined with last week in Baltimore, this is the Merriam-Webster definition of regression.

“Quite simply, we just did not do anything in terms of what we were trying to do offensively,” interim coach Tom Cable said. “It was not a very good effort today by the Oakland Raiders.”

After a first half with -2 yards of total offense, the Raiders got their very first, first down a few minutes into the 3rd quarter.

Shortly after, Raiders QB JaMarcus Russell fumbled. He later threw an interception in the end zone to Falcons safety Erik Coleman from the Atlanta 10 yard line.

The battle of the first two quarterbacks taken in the past two NFL drafts was a TKO in Round One.

Atlanta owned this one from go. ATL rookie QB Matt Ryan was in complete control — something of a Peyton-junior, cool and collected.

The Falcons were organized… their game precise. First 3 drives = 3 touchdowns — the third a Ryan to Michael Jenkins 27-yard TD. Jason Elam added a 48-yard FG on Atlanta’s fourth drive.

The Raiders first 5 possessions… all three and outs.

On the second ATL score, Jerious Norwood took a pitch 12-yards into the Black Hole end zone.

Ryan heaved a 38-yard TD pass to Jenkins over former Falcon, now much maligned Raiders CB DeAngelo Hall to start the scoring.

Falcons running backs Michael Turner (3rd in the NFL in rushing this season) and Norwood churned out first down after first down.

The Raiders defense kept Atlanta off the scoreboard in the second half.

Oakland faces the NFC South again next Sunday, as the Carolina Panthers visit the Coliseum.

Notes:

No ‘Run DMC’… Raiders running back Darren McFadden was inactive for the game, dealing with a turf toe injury. Derrick Burgess was also inactive, missing another contest with a biceps injury.

The field was mostly dry. The grass a bit slick at kickoff, but with heavy rain in the Bay Area Saturday, the field was in very good condition.

Baron Abandonment Disorder

Warriors fans may be suffering from a rare condition as the seasons change… B.A.D. or ‘Baron Abandonment Disorder.’ {CLICK FOR VIDEO}

One Tree Hill, not Reality TV

Ben Gibbard nearly killed me.  It was five years ago, but I remember it vividly.  Gas was only two-bucks-and-change a gallon and I was still driving to work.

Death Cab’s ‘Transatlanticism,’ swelled in my truck cab with such deep sorrow that I found myself overwhelmed.  After one particularly morose evening commute, I desperately sought out some lighter fare upon hitting the couch with a rubbery carne asada burrito.

That’s when I found it.

2003 also marked the arrival of One Tree Hill.

It is singularly the best television show ever…

…on the WB (now the CW) to meld basketball and music within the framework of hour-long teen drama.

In the tradition of the ‘Trekie,’  I’ll admit to a being a ‘One Tree Hillbilly.’

One Tree Hill is the ninth track of U2’s ‘Joshua Tree’ and the physical address of the high school in the fictitious town of Tree Hill, N.C. where the story begins.

Creator Mark Schwahn is something of a genius, especially regarding advertiser sponsored plot elements and how the show has been re-crafted for an Internet audience.

But there are two major problems with One Tree Hill that must finally be addressed.

One, character Marvin “Mouth” McFadden (played by Lee Norris) works at one of the most asinine TV stations in the country.  It’s amazing how a television show could be so off base about how an actual TV station operates.

The other maddening (and less inside baseball) plotline is the derailed pro basketball career of James Lafferty’s character Nathan Scott.

Actor Lafferty grew up in Hemet (30 miles southeast of Riverside) and was a MVP of the Hemet High Bulldogs basketball team.  He played Steve Alford in the ESPN movie ‘A Season on the Brink’ and is frequently involved in celebrity games, like the one at the most recent NBA All-Star Weekend in New Orleans.

I interviewed Lafferty once at a Phoenix Suns charity event and watched him play.  While at 6-foot-2, he towers over most other entertainers, it is abundantly clear in person and on the TV show that his size and skill set doesn’t translate to even a fictional NBA career without a few tweaks.

Mark Schwahn has him playing way out of position.

There’s some back-story here.  Lafferty’s character Nathan Scott was slated by many draft experts to be picked 10th overall in the 2006 NBA Draft.  The Seattle Sonics instead selected a 6-11 center from Senegal, Mouhamed Saer Sene, in real life and on the show.

Scott had been thrown through a plate glass window just before the draft and became partially paralyzed, so then-Sonics GM Rick Sund pulled the trigger on Sene, who has toiled primarily with the NBDL’s Idaho Stampede while battling injuries of his own.

On the comeback trail, Scott is more concerned with bogus conditioning drills and dunking over a truculent high schooler (with no legitimate understanding of defense) named ‘Q.’

Schwahn’s insistence on Scott having any type of inside game is absurd, but there is a very reasonable solution here.

Frame his comeback as that of a sharpshooter.  This should have been done from the start, even back when he was setting the all-time scoring record for the Tree Hill Ravens.

Scott played his way into a scholarship at Duke, so think more along the lines of fellow 6-2 former Blue Devil J.J. Reddick… not Josh McRoberts.

The names will start to flow… Steve Kerr, Jeff Hornacek, Billy Hoyle… you get the idea.

If Schwahn could just think a little more like Coach K, or at least Brian Dennehy… I’m convinced the overall quality of the show would increase threefold.

As for the elephant in the room… don’t judge me for falling into One Tree Hill’s snare.  I’ve tried to blame it on Ben Gibbard, but actually, it probably has more to do with the Gilmore Girls.