Week 10...missed it by THAT much

Mike Singletary's second game as head coach was significantly better than his first. That said, we still lost.

It was a tale of two halves. In the first half the offense was a dead ringer for the '85 Bears offense: pound the rock, pound the rock, pound the rock, then play-action deep pass. It was AWESOME! Frank Gore ran like the Pro Bowl-caliber running back he is. Shawn Hill only completed 50% of his passes, but, in his defense, he had a number of throw-aways to avoid sacks. And his two touchdown passes were things of beauty. He's got amazing touch on his deep ball. Another real positive on the offensive side of the ball is the continuing development of Josh Morgan, who looks to be developing into a quality NFL-ready wide receiver.

The defense didn't play great in the first half, but, because of the ball control offense, it played well enough for the Niners to lead 21-13 at the half.

Then, in the second half, Bad Martz came to visit. You know Good Martz: develop the ground game, establish short- to medium-range passes, then go for the jugular. Bad Martz is all about going pass-wacky. Why in the name of all that is sacred did he abandon a game plan that worked like a charm the entire first half?!?!?

Understand, I love what Martz has done for the offense. It was so cringe-inducingly BAD last year. This year it's been much improved, bordering on very good at times. But when Bad Martz comes out, everything goes into the crapper. My prediction: Martz will NOT be with the team next year if the York's retain Singletary as the head coach (which is my most fervent wish at this point).

While many will fault Singletary for the foul up in the last minute of the game where the Elephant package was rumbling out on the field when a "spike" play was needed, I believe that the brunt of the responsibility in that situation falls not on the head coach, but on the QB. Shawn Hill should have SPRINTED up to the line signaling "spike, spike, spike!" the whole way and trusted that the coaches on the sideline would handle everything else correctly. It's not that I'm throwing Hill under the bus, understand. It's that I recognize that this was only his 3rd or 4th professional start and it was his inexperience showing, nothing more.

Still, to go into the Cardinals' house and DOMINATE them offensively for a half, THAT to me is big time improvement. The 49ers under Singletary project a completely different attitude than they did under Mike Nolan. I like it. I'm looking forward to more of it.