http://www.49ers.com/blog49/

August 22nd, 2008
Head coach Mike Nolan is on a 3pm conference call with local reporters right now, and the big news is that Nolan just named J.T. O’Sullivan as his starting quarterback. Nolan said that it was a unamious decision among himself, general manager Scot McCloughan, offensive coordinator Mike Martz and quarterbacks coach Ted Tollner to go with O’Sullivan.



O’Sullivan started all three of the 49ers preseason games including last night’s game against the Chicago Bears. His 7 of 8 completions for 126 yards and a 37-yard touchdown strike to Jason Hill built a 13-10 early second quarter lead for the 49ers.



Shaun Hill and Alex Smith began camp sharing reps with the first-team, but about a week into things, the coaching staff began to grant increasingly more opportunities to the off-season free agent acquisition.



“This is not a case of Shaun or Alex not playing well,” said Nolan. “This is a case of J.T. O’Sullivan performing very well.”



Nolan said that Smith will be the second-string quarterback with Hill as the third.



O’Sullivan, a former sixth-round pick by the Saints in 2002 out of UC-Davis has spent time with several NFL teams including the Packers, the Vikings, the Patriots, and then played last year for Mike Martz in Detroit.



“J.T. was as he normally is,” said Nolan of sharing the news with O’Sullivan. “He was just listening to what I had to say. But, I could tell he was pleased with the decision.”



Nolan believes that guard David Baas will practice this week. Baas has been on the PUP list since camp started as he recovered from surgery on his torn pectoral injury. Nolan didn’t have an injury update on Adam Snyder, but he said he’s 60-40 that the other injured players, even running back Michael Robinson could practice this week.



Nolan said that returner Allen Rossum was sore today after suffering a chest injury in Thursday night’s game. Nolan has yet to speak directly with the 49ers head athletic trainer Jeff Ferguson, but he would expect Rossum to play in the final game against the Chargers.



The team will practice on Saturday at 1PM and then have Sunday off.



Nolan was asked about Mike Martz being on the field to call the plays the last two week. He said it’s really a question for Martz to answer in terms of how things are going.



He was also asked about the Zak Keasey stop of Devin Hester on a punt return in the end zone. Officials ruled it a touchback instead of a safety. Nolan said that he hasn’t been able to watch it yet, but he doesn’t believe the call was accurate. He said he thinks that the ball should have either been a safety or spotted at the two.

Posted in Breaking News

49ers/Bears Postgame
August 21st, 2008
First up, a schedule change…Coach Nolan must have been happy about the outcome because he granted the players tomorrow off. The team will report first-thing Saturday morning.



I asked Justin Smith about the lack of pass rush tonight. He said the Bears were going max-protect all night and that it was just difficult to get to the quarterbacks. He said there was some miscommunication by the first-team defense on a few plays, minor things that he doesn’t feel will take the starters much to correct.



Marcus Hudson doesn’t know what happened on the fumble as he did tumble at the end of the special teams play that set the 49ers up inside of the Bears redzone in the second quarter. He said the special teams unit needs to smooth out its inconsistencies in this final week before the regular season begins.



My quick thoughts - J.T. O’Sullivan will be the starter week one. He’s enjoyed three consecutive starts and played almost flawlessly tonight with only one incompletion. His QB Rating I believe was over 150… Not that Alex Smith or Shaun Hill played poorly, but heading into tonight, I’m like most folks who think it was O’Sullivan’s job to lose. I definitely think he avoided that scenario.



Frank Gore came out of the locker room with an enormous grin on his face. Even without two of his starting offensive linemen, Gore socked it to the Bears defense on the first drive. The 49ers did get stopped in the red zone, but Gore had a few nice runs on the first series, as did fullback Zak Keasey. I asked him about 37 points on offense and his smile got even bigger - “It’s fun,” he said. Gore said he was very happy with the way that rookie guard Brian de la Puente played in his first start.



Allen Rossum’s injury has been updated to being a chest contusion. Again, linebacker Jeff Ulbrich suffered a lower back strain, while safety Dashon Goldson suffered cramps in his legs.



The 49ers will have to make their first round of cuts this weekend, probably Saturday or Sunday.

Posted in Gameday

49ers 37 - Bears 30 GAME OVER
August 21st, 2008
The 49ers have won the toss and elected to receive.



J.T. O’Sullivan and team started off at their own 25-yardline. Frank Gore enjoyed three straight carries of 11, 28 and 4 yards a piece, followed by a 16-yard run by fullback Zak Keasey to move the 49ers all the way to the Bears 16-yardline. Then on the 5th play of the drive, O’Sullivan threw his first pass, a short 5-yarder to Isaac Bruce. A dropped ball on a shovel pass to Gore, followed by a Gore carry for no gain brought on kicker Joe Nedney for a 28-yard field goal and a San Francisco 3-0 lead after their opening drive.



Everyone knows that Devin Hester is a serious threat in the return game, but after a 12-yard return on the following kickoff, Hester handed it off to Daniel Manning on a reverse. Keith Lewis and Donald Strickland were right there to make the tackle, but Manning got away for another 60 yards, setting Chicago up at the 33-yardline. Head coach Mike Nolan said he wasn’t overly concerned about the problems the special teams unit has had recently since they were breakdowns later in the game, but this one was against the first-team unit.



Kyle Orton used five plays to get into the end zone on a 21-yard pass to Rashied Davis and a Bears 7-3 lead. Mark Roman, Nate Clements and Patrick Willis were in the vicinity but Orton dropped it right over their heads.



The next 49ers offensive series began with a Gore 4-yard carry , followed by a well-timed screen pass to the back. Gore followed the block by center Eric Heitmann, going 15 yards for a first down. The offense is quickly driving down the field, with the plays being called from the sidelines by Mike Martz. Bruce caught an 18-yard pass from O’Sullivan and then got an interference call to set the 49ers up a the 1-yardline. Gore got stopped for no gain and then lost a yard before O’Sullivan was sacked. From the review here in the press box, the angle couldn’t let me see who gave up the sack but I’m also listening to Gary Plummer and Joe Starkey and Plummer said really there was just no one to throw it to and that it should be a coverage sack. Nedney hit from 24 yards out to bring the game to within one.



Special teams is making me ill right now. Manning busted loose for another 75-yard return. He slipped thru a Donald Strickland tackle and then warded off an attempted tackle by Nedney. Reggie Smith stripped the ball out at the end of the run but Chicago recovered at the 14-yardline.



And the first quarter soon ended with a 21-yard field goal by Robbie Gould. Credit cornerback Walt Harris for tipping away a pass in the end zone to prevent a touchdown.



LB Takeo Spikes is in with the first-team defense.



I need to catch up here, after running down to the field to get some photo chips from my photographer. Basically, Jason Hill scored on a 37-yard touchdown from O’Sullivan, set up by a 40-yard O’Sullivan throw to Vernon Davis. That was the end of the night for O’Sullivan, who finished 7 of 8 for 126 yards and a touchdown. The Bears challenged the Davis’ catch but officials upheld the completion ruling.



I was heading off the field, but waited to watch the kickoff and I believe that Marcus Hudson’s leg actually popped the ball loose from Garrett Wolfe. Official stats are saying Dashon Goldson and I know that Dashon did get the first hit on him, but I think a falling Hudson got a leg in there. Keith Lewis recovered at the 16.



LB Jeff Ulbrich is out with a lower back strain.



Alex Smith came in and was able to get the unit on the board after the turnover, using 6 plays to move 16 yards for a score by Moran Norris on a 1-yard run, his second in two weeks. The offense caught a break on 3rd and 2 pass play when the Bears were called for defensive holding. On 1st and goal, Norris punched it in, 49ers 20- Bears 10.



Chicago just burnt the 49ers starting defense for a 55-yard completion to Mark Bradley. Manny Lawson had tight coverage on him, but then appeared to release the receiver to Nate Clements. But Clements didn’t seem to be on the same page with Lawson, and broke inside and Bradley got a big play. A Bears 3-yard touchdown was negated due to an illegal formation but Chicago eventually got it anyhow on a 7-yard Orton pass to Davis, their second touchdown hookup of the night. The Bears drove 81 yards in 9 plays on the series.



By the way, there’s 5:53 to go in the half and neither defense has yet to make a stop and force a punt.



I’m still dumbfounded as to what just happened because Hester caught Andy Lee’s punt (yes the Bears finally stopped the 49ers and forced a punt) at about the 2-yardline and then had his momentum take him into the end zone. Keasey then tripped him up in the end zone for what most of us up here in the press box thought was a safety, but officials ruled it a touchback.



And the Bears are again driving easily against the 49ers defense. The pass rush of the last two weeks is MIA tonight. It’s the two-minute warning and the Bears have a 1st and 10 at the 49ers 17-yardline. A 23-yard pass to Davis accounted for the longest play so far on the drive. With 41 seconds left in the half, Chicago tied it up with a Gould 24-yard field goal to cap off the 11-play, 74-yard drive.



The Bears kickoff rolled out of bounds, giving Smith excellent starting field position at his 40. Smith found J. Hill for a 41-yard completion at the Bears 24-yardline and then spiked the ball to stop the clock with 12 seconds. An incomplete throw to Robert Ortiz took one second and set up Ricky Schmitt for a 42-yard field goal that was blocked by Chicago, ending the first half.



Where is Josh Morgan is what I want to know? He’s had only one ball thrown his way, an incomplete along the sidelines…



It’s the start of the third quarter, and Orton is still in at quarterback for Chicago but he handed off to Kevin Jones on the first offensive snap of the half, and Jones enjoyed a 34-yard run. Here’s what happened on the play. Justin Smith got sealed on the edge, Roman missed the tackle near the line of scrimmage and then Jones warded off Michael Lewis and continued plowing his way downfield. A few plays later, M. Lewis ran a safety blitz and batted down a 3rd and 9 pass, leading to a Bears 48-yard field goal try that Gould missed, giving the offense the ball at their 38-yardline.



Smith commanded an 11-play, 62 yard scoring drive that ended with a 12-yard touchdown pass to Dominique Zeigler. Thomas Clayton looked very good on the drive, making a couple of nice cuts for long runs. Smith threw five incompletions on the drive, but he did find J. Hill for a 19-yard completion to overcome a false start penalty and got some points on the board with the TD pass.



Rex Grossman came in at quarterback for Chicago after the score, with mostly the second-team 49ers defense to work against. Shawntae Spencer just got called for pass interference, which might be one of the MOST awful calls I’ve seen. The penalty cost the 49ers 33 yards and was a joke in my opinion. Spencer tripped himself up when he backed into the receiver, who stayed on his feet while Spencer fell, and the ball was no where close to being catchable. The penalty may have fired up the defense though because Tully Banta-Cain and Ron Fields tagged up for a 5-yard stop in the backfield, followed by an almost leaping interception by Keith Lewis. On 3rd and 15, the 49ers held and forced a Brad Maynard punt, his first of the night.



Brandon Lloyd blocked Andy Lee’s punt after a three and out offensive series. Lloyd beat K. Lewis on the play, giving his offense the ball at the 49ers 18-yardline. The defense held them out of the end zone, but Gould’s 28-yard field goal trimmed the 49ers to a 4-point lead (27-23) with about five and a half minutes left in the quarter.



Shaun Hill is now in at quarterback, starting at the 48-yardline after a nice 51-yard kickoff return by Allen Rossum. Smith finished the night 6 of 17 for 83 yards and 1 touchdown.



Hill had a 12-yard completion for a fresh set of downs, but the 49ers quickly then had to punt.

The Bears did the same after a three and out. Rossum took a nice blow to the head at the end of his 19-yard punt return into Bears territory at the 46. A call up to our PR staff in the box told us that Rossum actually suffered a back contusion.



Hill marched his unit on a 6-play, 46-yard scoring drive that ended the third quarter and began the fourth. Thomas Clayton finished off the drive with a 15-yard touchdown drive to give San Francisco a 34-23 lead with 14:14 left in the game.



QB Caleb Hanie came in after the score for the Bears. S Dashon Goldson looks like he injured his knee on the second down play. Hanie and the Bears went three and out. An update on Goldson - cramped up.



With Rossum out, Robert Ortiz fair caught the Bears punt at the 49ers 31-yardline.



Hill drove his unit on a 12-play, 56-yard drive capped off by Schmitt’s 31-yard field goal for a 37-23 49ers lead with 4:38 to go in the game. It was a long drive, taking over eight minutes off the clock.



The Bears scored on the final play of the game on a 51-yard touchdown pass. I thought for sure Reggie Smith would pick it off, but instead the Bears got a touchdown. The 49ers still won it by seven. I’m waiting for players outside of the locker room, so I’ll try to finish up a few notes before we take off….