Editor: Joe Bryant. Game Recap Contributors: Mike Anderson, Michael Brown, Chris Burtt, J.D. Caldwell, David Dodds, Bobby Elder, Jim Enochs, Joel Faulhaber, Michael Flynn, Kevin Goldblum, Clayton Gray, Bob Harris, Fred Hebert, Jesse Hilsenrad, Drew Kendall, Jeff Lewis, Joey Matusek, Justin Oliver, Steve Prosapio, David Shick, Cody Smith, Scott Smith, Jeffrey Stout. San Francisco 17 at San Diego 20 WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW San Francisco 49ers: QB Jeff Garcia had another solid game. He is not putting up the huge 4 TD, 400 yard games, but he consistently puts up solid numbers. The emergence of Tai Streets as a quality #2 receiver should help Garcia and Terrell Owens down the stretch. RB Garrison Hearst and Kevan Barlow shared time almost equally. Hearst was clearly the better runner today, but that didn't change the playing time. Barlow actually got one more carry than Hearst. WR Terrell Owens continued his reign of terror on opposing corners, with seven catches for 171 yards and two touchdowns. Crucial defensive penalties, an unsportsmanlike conduct foul and a pass interference call, helped the Chargers to two of their touchdowns. K Jose Cortez has probably collected his last check with the Niners. He missed another chance to win the game this week, shanking a 41-yard attempt late in the 4th quarter. PK Jose Cortez missed the game winning field goal in overtime. There was talk about Cortez losing his job. Keep an eye on this as the 49er kicker has value. San Diego Chargers: QB Drew Brees got his confidence back and led the Chargers to a come from behind victory. This was not a John Elway performance, but it was a big step in the maturing of a young quarterback. RB LaDainian Tomlinson faced an eight man front most of the day and still managed to be productive. He is a very strong runner and is now a must start running back. WR Reche Caldwell was a favorite target in the red zone today, catching one touchdown and getting a crucial pass interference call in the end zone later on. WR Curtis Conway is still the focal point of the Charger's passing game. He is the primary downfield option of the team. The Charger tight ends were again kept in to block and were rarely looked to in the passing game. WHAT YOU OUGHT TO KNOW San Francisco 49ers QB: Jeff Garcia completed 25 of 43 passes for 337 yards and 2 touchdowns. Garcia was under pressure most of the day and sacked twice. The Chargers defense blitzed often, which did pressure Garcia, but also left many receivers in single man coverage. He didn't force the ball and either hit the open receiver, or threw it away. His only interception was on a Hail Mary type pass to end the first half. Garcia played a good game, but it wasn't his best. RB: Garrison Hearst carried the ball 12 times for 66 yards and had 3 catches for 22 yards. Hearst did not show any signs of injury as he evaded the usually tough Charger rushing defense with spin moves and sharp cut backs. With as well as he was running, it's hard to see why he wasn't given more carries. Kevan Barlow had 13 carries for 49 yards and 1 catch for 3 yards. Barlow did not have a bad game, but his running style is what the Charger's defense is built to stop. He had one strong run where he broke a few tackles, but he was mostly ineffective. Barlow owners should be somewhat happy with the fact that even though Hearst was a better fit and a better runner in this game, Barlow still had one more carry than Hearst. Hearst and Barlow are beginning to look like one person, from a statistical standpoint. Hearst has more carries but each is toting the rock at a rate greater than 4.5 yards per carry. Hearst has caught more balls but Barlow has been more productive with his catches. Hearst is still running with authority but it's not clear who is the #1 back from week to week. Regardless, both are productive if you can live with 10-15 carries a week. WR: Terrell Owens led the team with 171 yards on 7 receptions and 2 touchdowns. He beat the injured corner back Alex Molden on both long touchdown catches. Even though Garcia spread the ball around a bit more than usual, Owens was the target on the deep routes and was responsible for over half of the team's receiving yards. He is the go to guy in this offense. What can you say about Terrell Owens? He's a monster. There isn't a defensive back in football that can cover him and when he gets into the open field, like on his 76-yard catch and run today, he is the most dangerous receiver in the game. Over the last four weeks, he's averaged nine catches for 136 yards and a touchdown. Tai Streets continues to be the solid #2 receiver for the 49ers. He led the team with 8 receptions for 78 yards. He did not get into the end zone, but made several key catches to move the chains. He runs sharp routes and has good hands, and more importantly, has earned the confidence of Garcia. He may be worth picking up in deeper leagues. J.J. Stokes had 3 catches for 44 yards. Stokes is a better fit as the #3 receiver. He played well and moved the chains a couple of times for the 49ers, once with a very nice one handed grab. Stokes is the forgotten man but to have a guy with his size in the slot gives the Niners a big advantage against most nickel packages. TE: Justin Swift made just one catch for 4 yards. While filling in for the injured Eric Johnson, Swift was not a big part of the game plan. He mostly stayed in to block and help pick up the blitzes. Pass Defense: The San Francisco passing defense was not very good. They did provide some pressure on Brees, but not enough to rattle him. They were unable to sack Brees and had only one interception by linebacker Quincy Stewart. It is true that the focus of the defense was to stop Tomlinson, but they did so at too high a cost. Charger receivers were open on almost every play and Brees was usually given enough time to find them. Also, corner back Mike Rumph committed a pass interference penalty on Reche Caldwell in the end zone at the end of regulation that set up the game tying touchdown that sent the game into overtime. Rushing Defense: The San Francisco rushing defense was not bad. The trio of linebacker Derek Smith, corner back Jason Webster, and safety Tony Parrish combined for 26 total tackles. They lead the charge to limit Tomlinson to 88 rushing yards and keep him out of the end zone. It was a solid effort by the rushing defense, but they did so at a cost of a poor passing defense. Special Teams: Place kicker Jose Cortez made his first field goal during the game, but missed the 41 yard attempt in overtime. This was the 6th missed field goal of the year by Cortez and there was talk brewing about Cortez losing his job. Keep your eye on this as the San Francisco kicker should have some value down the stretch. /**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/** San Diego Chargers QB: Drew Brees completed 29 of 50 passes for 336 yards and two touchdowns. He did appear to get nervous a couple of times and made a few mistakes (including an interception), but for most of the game he kept his cool and played an excellent game. Brees and the coaching staff did a poor job of clock management at the end of regulation, but Brees regained the confidence he lost the last few weeks and led the team back to a come from behind victory in overtime. This was a huge game for Brees. The pressure was on, he did not panic, and his receivers ran good routes and held on to the ball. He may continue to be inconsistent however, as this offense is still based around Tomlinson, ball control and defense. Brees continued his rise towards the top of the "young gun" ranks with an impressive performance against one of the league best pass defenses. With the 49ers focused on stopping LaDainian Tomlinson, Brees was able to use the play-action effectively enough to put San Diego in positions to score time after time. Although he threw the ball 50 times, was as strong and poised on the last scoring drive as the first. Showed some mobility on couple of key scrambles. RB: LaDainian Tomlinson carried the ball 24 times for 88 yards and led the team in receptions with 8 for another 57 yards. He ran very well considering he was facing an eight man front. He is the Man in this offense and hopefully the performance of Brees this week will make future defenses respect the pass a bit more and not stack the line to stop Tomlinson. Even though the Chargers have a tough schedule the rest of the way, Tomlinson is a must start every week. The game plan called for a more pass-heavy attack and Tomlinson was extremely effective in drawing the defense in. FB Fred McCrary is the lead blocker for Tomlinson. He is responsible for many of the blocks that help spring Tomlinson. McCrary is not usually a scoring threat, but he did get a touchdown today on a play action pass in the flat on the one yard line. It was nice to see a workhorse get a little glory. WR: Curtis Conway led the team with 152 yards on 7 catches. He did not get into the end zone, but was responsible for many first downs and keeping drives alive. He is still the primary target in the passing game, but is no longer the only target. Brees is spreading the ball around more as he is gaining trust in his other receivers. That being said, Conway is still his favorite target and go to guy. Tim Dwight had 5 catches for 64 yards including a very important first down catch on 4th down to keep the Chargers alive on the game tying drive at the end of the fourth quarter. His main use seems to be on short crossing routes. He was the true #2 receiver again this week as the tight ends were often kept in to block. Although Brees seems to lose sight of him for long stretches during a ball game. Reche Caldwell only had three catches for 21 yards, but they came at important times and one was for a touchdown. He is a rookie that is getting better every week. With continued improvement, look for Caldwell to be the #2 receiver next year and Dwight to move back to the slot where he is better suited. TE: Stephen Alexander had only 2 catches for 18 yards. As the Chargers have been facing 8 man fronts, Alexander has had to stay in to block. He has not been a very big part of the game plan the last few weeks. Justin Peele is also getting playing time as a blocking tight end. He did have 1 catch for 2 yards. Pass Defense: The Charger passing defense was average at best for most of the game, but tightened up for the second half of the fourth quarter and overtime. The best thing the unit did was pressuring Garcia. Corner back Alex Molden sacked him once and linebacker Junior Seau and defensive tackle Marcellus Wiley shared the other sack. Garcia was flushed out of the pocket many times. Molden played hurt and got beat deep for scores twice on man coverage against Owens. He should have swapped roles with rookie cornerback Quentin Jammer who comes in for the nickel package and made several good plays. He is learning the pro game fast. Safety Rogers Beckett had a bad game and misses several tackles. Rushing Defense: The trio of safety Rodney Harrison, linebacker Junior Seau, and corner back Ryan McNeil each had 10 total tackles to lead the Charger rushing defense. The unit was able to limit Barlow, but the quickness of Hearst was just too much for them. The only thing that saved the Chargers is that Hearst only had 12 carries. One possible reason for the problem stopping Hearst is that linebacker Donnie Edwards left the game early with a concussion. The saving grace for the defense is that they held at the end of the game where they have had problems in the past. Jamal Williams, normally a top run-stuffer, is not getting to the runner enough. Two tackles from your best run-stuffing defensive lineman is not good. Special Teams: Place kicker Steve Christie did make two of three field goals, but two kicks were very low. The game winning kick in overtime was a strong kick fitting of a guy like Christie.