San Francisco vs. Diego

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San Francisco 49ers vs. San Diego Chargers flame out

San Francisco 49ers vs. Diego Chargers, Flame out
San Francisco 49ers vs. Diego Chargers, Flame out

Did we not start out strong? Did we not soar above the clouds in the first half? Was Frank Gore not amazing on this day? And yet we somehow managed an Icarus-like defeat. I am so ready for this season to be over. Seriously.

The first drive of the first quarter had Frank Gore breaking 52-yards for the touchdown. On the second possession the lads moved from their 29 to San Diego’s 5-yard line and nearly scored again…except for a Bruce Miller fumble on the 2-yard line. We were not shaken. The Niner’s following possession did not suffer from any errors – moving 67-yards in 10 plays to the end zone. Our defense added their own flourish with an interception and 49-yard return by Antoine Bethea. With 10:20 left in the second quarter, San Francisco held a commanding 21-0 lead. The golden rays urged us to fly higher.

San Diego finally found their perch and put together a drive capped by a Philip Rivers to Eddie Royal 15-yard touchdown score to make it 21-7. No matter. The Niners came right back with another scoring drive ending in a 1-yard Bruce Ellington run to exit the half up 28-7. How clear our vision from this perilous height. The azure ocean stretched out to the western horizon.

Flight is but a temporary condition as we were reminded on the first possession after halftime. A sack on 4th down turned the ball over to the Chargers at the San Diego 41. We claimed it was nothing more than turbulence when San Diego could not move the ball and returned it to us four plays later. But what is this? We did the same thing. We felt a downdraft when the Chargers put together a 50-yard, 9 play drive to the end zone at 5:54 in the third quarter making the score 14-28.

We tightened our harness straps and attempted to regain altitude…but our efforts were crushed when Colin Kaepernick was sacked at the SF 8 and those darned Chargers chased the fumbled ball into the end zone. The downdraft had turned into a mild squall, score 21-28.

On the third play after receiving the kick off, our Avain QB recovered from this insult by breaking into one of the finest 90-yard runs we have seen all season. We thought we had passed through a cloud…and emerged with a 35-21 lead.

Surely the glowing orb was our friend. It could not / would not hurt us.

But San Diego found their wings half way through the fourth quarter. With an 85-yard drive followed by an 80-yard drive, the unimaginable happened. The Chargers had soared upwards, had gained two touchdowns and now stared us eye to eye, score 35-35.

Feathers may have been ruffled, but the Niner’s offense approached the ball with confidence. Unfortunately, Quinton Patton lost his grip on the precious pigskin…giving San Diego the ball at their 38. The smell of singed feathers and evaporating paraffin accompanied San Diego’s ensuing 40-yard drive to their game-winning field goal and 38-35 final score.

It’s not the hardness of the terrain so much as the altitude from which you fall. Feathers! I say.

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