Random Rant: "Just when I thought I was out..."

The Niners suck this year, so I put a lot less thought into the team than I'm used to. Don't get me wrong, I still spend an ungodly amount of time watching their games, reading about them online, even posting about them. But growing up in the 80's and 90's, I was used to spending most of my waking hours thinking about them. Now, because of their record and recent history, I care whether they win or lose, but more of my thought goes toward the future -- how are the young players progressing, do they have the right coaches, is the ownership holding them back, etc. Back then, the next week's game was always foremost in my mind, as was the playoff picture. Those are two things I never think about anymore.

But still, come Sunday morning -- or this week, Monday afternoon -- I start thinking about the game, the match-ups, the team's chances. And once the game starts, the competitive juices really start to flow. If the Niners keep it close, I get into it and want to see them win. That's why Monday night's game was so painful. It was a Michael Corleone/Godfather III Special: Just when I thought I was out... they pulled me back in.

I had low expectations going in, but then Rossum returns the opening kickoff for a TD, Morgan makes a circus catch for a TD, the Niners lead 14-3 and suddenly my hopes are raised. By the time the Cards had pulled within 14-13, I was pretty sure we'd seen the best the Niners had and the Cards were just warming up, but then Vernon Davis makes a circus catch for a TD, and I'm feeling hopeful again. When Shaun Hill turned from "effective game manager" to "JTO-like turnover machine" and the Niners lost the lead with 4:16 left (after leading for 55+ minutes), I was ready to throw in the towel, but then Hill drove them down to the Arizona 20 yard line.

After Hill's "Look at me, I'm Brett Favre! Wait, check that -- I'm not" interception, I thought for sure the game was over, but once the Niners stopped the Cards and got the ball back, drove to the 2 yard line and had a 1st and goal with 40+ seconds remaining, I thought for sure we'd win. Unfortunately, that's when the Niners finally decided to go ahead and cut to the chase by crapping the bed. The mistakes came in rapid succession:

1) After Jason Hill went down on the 2 yard line, the Niners were confused whether they should just spike the ball or put in their goal line package first (when there is absolutely no reason to). Because of this, and their inability to line up correctly, it took them 24 seconds to finally kill the clock.

2) Instead of doing the obvious -- and smart -- by calling at least one pass play (and probably two), they ran the ball. Quick passes, like a fade or quick slant for instance, take only 4 or 5 seconds, meaning the Niners could've easily fit in two before finding themselves in a 4th down situation. Even one pass before a run wouldn't have changed the situation much. As close as Frank Gore came from staying on his feet and getting in, his run for no gain changed everything -- by the time the Niners ran another play they only had time for one.

3) Having mismanaged their time so badly they changed a 4 down opportunity into a 2 play opportunity, the Niners used their last play -- their one chance to win the game -- to hand the ball to a backup RB. If this was from the 1 yard line, I still would complain about the ball not going to Gore. But the ball was on the 2 1/2 yard line. Any run from there is misguided. Especially given how the Cards had stacked the middle of their line. Double-especially when considering offensive coordinator Mike Martz and head coach Mike Singletary had extra time to think up/discuss this because officials were reviewing the previous play.

The bottom line: The Niners ran out of time with one down left despite having 44 seconds to play with. They gained 50+ yards on the first three plays of the drive (all passes to emerging star Jason Hill) in just 22 seconds, then proceeded to run only two real plays (if you can even call them that) in the final 44 seconds. That's inexcusable. Still, despite these mistakes, this was one of the Niners most exciting games, which only made the hurt worse, but it is a good sign. Considering the Cards were at home, it was Monday night, and some arizona players had made comments about this being a statement game, this would've been a tough test for a new coach, even if Singletary hadn't had a crazy debut two weeks ago. Everything considered, it was a impressive performance by Singletary's squad -- if a bitterly anti-climactic finish.

"We have to learn how to finish", Coach Sing said after the game, and he was right. It seems the team believes in him. A tough loss like this will be a good test. So will next weeks game against a very beatable Rams team. If the Niners win that in front of the home crowd, he may suddenly find himself with a following -- and some momentum he needs to retain the job next season. If he loses, not so much. And right now, just as I most want to completely give up on the team, I can't wait to see how they play next week.

Just when I thought I was out... they pull me back in.