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This game, indeed this season to date, is all about missed opportunities.

The first possession of the game belonged to the Giants.  They went on a 13 play, 7 minute drive to score a touchdown.  This has to be the worst defensive showing by the 49ers, letting the Giants dictate the tempo of the game.  The Giants running back Brandon Jacobs is a big, tough, hard-running player, who gives harder than he gets.  The 49ers responded with a 3-and-out, with Gore going for 6 yards on the first play, then two Trent Dilfer pass attempts resulted in a sack and an incompletion.  This also was a harbinger of things to come, as the 49ers failed to give the ball to their best offensive player, Frank Gore.

The following possession turned out better for the 49ers defense, as Tully Banta-Cain tipped a pass at the line of scrimmage that was intercepted by an alert Derek Smith.  The 49ers dinked and dunked for a first down, where Gore then got a 16 yard run, Dilfer registered an 11-yard scramble, and Dilfer threw a good pass to Battle for a 17-yard touchdown.

The offense looked better than they’ve looked all season so far.   They began to show diversity in where and how they ran the ball, with Gore going right, going left, blocking via power and trap plays.  The offensive line held their blocks and gave Dilfer the time he needed.  We began to see the adjustments that the offense made during the bye week, and hope blossomed for fans.

The defense finally held the Giants to a 3-and-out, but a crucial error was made on the first play for the 49ers.  Dilfer came out of the exchange too slow, and had to stretch to get the ball to Gore, who closed his hands on the ball too soon, knocking it to the ground and giving it to the Giants.  Turnover #1 gave the Giants a short field, and resulted in a touchdown and and a 13-7 lead.

On the very next possession a shotgun formation pass play was called on first down.  We had seen blocking begin to open up for Frank Gore, and the 49ers had a lead, albeit a slim one.  I suppose the botched handoff was in Jim Hostler’s mind, but instead of panicking he should have continued to establish the run.  I think this is indicative of the team’s inability to trust each other, as Frank Gore says.  You have to get that handoff out of the minds of your players and trust them.  To trust in the arm of Trent Dilfer to make things happen is foolish, and this is perhaps the greatest problem with Offensive Coordinator Jim Hostler.

He apparently doesn’t have the experience to understand that you cannot make the running game open things up later in the game if you don’t push the issue early.  With a pass rush as eager as the New York Giants, you have to run the ball to take the pressure off your quarterback.  They know Trent Dilfer is immobile, and they came after him.  You cannot set up play action without the run, and they didn’t use play action much at all.  Frank Gore had 47 yards at halftime, which seemed to say to me that he was on his way to his first 100-yard game of the season.

Dilfer proceeded to throw an interception on a hook route, where two Giants defenders broke on the play.  Asante Samuel left Darrell Jackson on the play, and a well-placed pump fake would have given Dilfer ample chance to hit Jackson over the top for a big play.  The 49er offense had two opportunities to keep this game competitive and failed in a big way.  The interception resulted in a field goal, and a 16-7 lead for New York.

With 2:50 remaining in the second quarter, the right play was called as Gore took the ball 11 yards outside to the left, but Vernon Davis held on the play.  Instead of sticking with the plan, Jim Hostler panicked again and called three straight Trent Dilfer shotgun passes.  Again they failed to utilize Frank Gore, when he and the line were beginning to show life in the run game.  The Giants took the ball downfield again, getting a field goal for a 19-7 lead, and by this time I’m sure the defense was sick and tired of being on the field.

The third quarter started off with a flash of brilliance.  Trent Dilfer dropped back to throw, with time, and hit a wide open Vernon Davis in the deep middle of the field… only to have Davis drop the easy pass.  It is unconscionable to me how this happens.  Wide Receiver drops have been a big problem this season, and no one has failed to live up to expectations more than Vernon Davis.  To be a big time tight end in the NFL, you cannot drop that pass, and with his speed Davis likely would have scored a touchdown.

Kudos to Jim Hostler for finally making that call, but you can also look to Jim Hostler for failing to go back to that play later on.  Just like Dilfer and Gore deserved a chance to come back out and run the ball, Davis deserved a chance to get that play again and make good on it.  Nothing builds a player’s confidence like a second chance. Trent Dilfer apparently had plenty of chances as he threw the ball 38 times.

On the biggest play of the game for the Giants defense, they loaded the box with eight players at their own 15.  Correction, they loaded the line of scrimmage with eight players.  Now, most teams will make an audible at this point to some kind of extra protection play.  Instead, Dilfer takes a five-step drop and gets blown up by Osi Umenyiora, who returns the fumble 75 yards for a touchdown.

There was no audible, no timeout, and Jonas Jennings proved himself incapable of playing on this line.  Umenyiora blew by him untouched.  The left tackle, protector of a quarterback’s blindside, let the defensive end go!  He allowed his primary responsibility to get a touchdown when they were in scoring position, effectively ending the game for the 49ers, pushing the score to 26-7.

Holding penalties on Staley and Jennings put the next drive out of reach, and the 49ers were forced to punt.  Adam Snyder replaced Jonas Jennings, and only one more sack occurred the rest of the game. The 49er special teams got a break for their team as Moran Norris blocked a Giants punt out of the end zone, getting a safety and the ball back for the offense.

Two more punts for each team led to another possession where Trent Dilfer made a horrid throw directly to a Giants linebacker, who took the ball down inside the 49ers’ five yard line, and a touchdown to Jeremy Shockey. It was now 33-9, and in garbage time Dilfer led the team to a touchdown for Darrell Jackson, and a 33-15 final.

In my next post, I will identify the few positive developments from this game, and get a little emotional.