From: marshall@NEBULA.SSD.LMSC.LOCKHEED.COM (Bob Marshall)
Subject: 49ers/Skins
Reply-To: marshall@NEBULA.SSD.LMSC.LOCKHEED.COM
Organization: LMSC, Sunnyvale, California
Date: Sun, 10 Jan 93 02:15:30 GMT

The 49ers squeaked by with a nail-biting 20-13 victory in a game that
they should have put away much earlier. In most respects it was a very
ugly game, other than the 49ers' first drive, which was a thing of
beauty, except for the actual touchdown play. Young threw an ugly
pass into the end zone that somehow managed to avoid A.J. Johnson's
hands and bounced right into Taylor's hands. Winners get those kinds
of breaks, so I took this as an omen.

From then on it turned into a turnover orgy, eight of them in all, and
almost every one of them very ugly. The 49ers dominated the first
2-1/2 quarters, putting up 300 yards in the first half, but only
putting 17 points on the board when they could have had more.
Midway through the third quarter the 49ers were driving for the TD
that could have put the game away, but Young suffered a weird fumble
on the 15. He slipped down making a cut, but he was not touched. As
he tried to get back up, Jesse Sapolu came rumbling in from behind
and punched the ball out of Young's arms with his knee. Um, by the
way, Young and Sapolu are teammates. At that point the 'Skins were
given life. Given a second chance the 'Skins came back to make it
17-6. On the 49ers' next possession, just after I got finished thinking
to myself "just don't fumble it!", Young attempted a pass, but on his
back swing he forgot to take the ball with him, and the 'Skins pounced
on it on about the 13. Soon after it was 17-13, and the tide had turned.
The 49ers went three-and-out, and the 'Skins were rolling again. Just
when I was trying to think of what I was going to post here without
sounding like sour grapes, Rypien botched a handoff to Mitchell, and
Michael Walter pounced on it. That was the play of the game. From there
the 49ers went on a 7-1/2 minute drive for a field goal with 2:20 left.
The 'Skins had one more chance, but their OL completely broke down and
allowed the 49ers three sacks (although one was nullified by
a defensive holding penalty). Rickey Sanders also helped out by dropping
a perfect pass on 3rd-and-17 which would have kept the 'Skins alive.

OK, the field conditions were terrible, but I don't think you can blame
all the poor play on that. At least it didn't rain very much during the
game. You certainly can't blame *ANY* of the turnovers on the field
condition or a slippery football.

I think the key to the game was the 49ers' D. They only allowed 73 yards
on the ground, and the secondary did a fine job for most of the game,
evidenced by the fact that the 49ers sacked Rypien five times (these
were mostly "coverage" sacks). The 'Skins did score 13, but ten of
these were the result of turnovers (Note: the announcers said that
*ALL* of the points were due to turnovers. However, the 'Skins got
their first turnover at their own 35 yard line; I don't count that
as a turnover which "led directly to a score").

On the plus side, Rickey Watters had a fine game, with about 75 yards
rushing and a few catches. Brent Jones looked great. Rice looked good
in the first half, but had a dismal second half. Cofer was 2-2 on
field goals (I was disappointed that the 49ers didn't trust him to
try a 42-yard field goal on 4th-and-4, even given the kicking conditions;
his two successful kicks looked great). Young had a high completion
percentage, and two of the turnovers were flukes. The interception was
a really dumb play, and he knew it. And the other fumble was a good
play by the Washington player (still, Young carried the ball far too
loosely on several other plays, and was lucky not to have gotten stripped
more often. Tuck it away, Steve!). Eric Davis looked good on several
plays, as did Don Griffin.

I think the 49ers will be pissed at themselves for nearly blowing this
game, and will come out with a vengeance in the championship game;
remember what they did to the Falcons after the humiliating performance
against Phoenix. Of course, they won't be playing the Falcons in the
championship game :-)

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Bob Marshall                     \\     "Women aren't as smart as they
Lockheed Missiles & Space Co.     \\     think they are; they think we
Sunnyvale, CA                      \\    men know a lot more than we
marshall@force.ssd.lmsc.lockheed.com\\   really do."
"I tell the truth 'cept when I lie"  \\     - Tim the Toolman
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