Editor: Joe Bryant. Game Recap Contributors: Mike Anderson, Michael Brown, Chris Burtt, J.D. Caldwell, David Dodds, 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 16 at New York Giants 13 WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW San Francisco 49ers: As if you needed to be told, the passing game is all about Garcia to Terrell Owens. Garcia locks onto to Owens to the point of forcing the ball. Garrison Hearst owners be very careful - Kevan Barlow looks extremely strong. Expect something close to a 50 / 50 split for carries. TE Eric Johnson could be a value. With an off night from Owens, Johnson led the team in receiving yards New York Giants: Jeremy Shockey didn't live up to the hype but is clearly a big part of this offense. What team runs a TE screen in the Red Zone? The Giants did and even though Shockey couldn't hold onto the ball, it was a big statement of what kind of role he'll play. Ron Dayne is becoming less and less a factor. With Barber's hamstring, he should have been a bigger contributor. He wasn't. Still looks very slow. Kerry Collins appeared to just lock onto Amani Toomer. Clearly the first look on most passing plays. 2nd year Cornerback Will Allen looked extremely good covering Owens. He had help but he definitely held his own. WHAT YOU OUGHT TO KNOW San Francisco 49ers QB: Jeff Garcia - Forced the ball to Owens in double and sometimes triple coverage, only 4 completions to Owens. Looked to run early sometimes before he'd made all his reads. Had a nice 10 yard run called back by a holding. WR: Terrell Owens - drew double teams, even on first down. In the end zone, Owens was triple teamed. Garcia continued to give him the red zone passes but couldn't connect. Appeared frustrated and made a couple of uncharacteristic drops. JJ Stokes - Garcia rarely looked Stokes' way. Stokes did make a 15 yard catch, but it was on 3rd and 17 against soft coverage. He had a nice first down reception on third and 9. Ended up with two catches for 24 yards. Tai Streets - 3rd WR was on the field but completely ignored. RB: Garrison Hearst - Got the ball the first and third possessions of the game. Got the ball inside two minutes. Got the ball a lot in the second half. Scored the only touchdown of the game on a great stop-on-a-dime reception. Ended up with 12 rushes for 40 yards, and 2 receptions for 10 yards and a TD. Kevan Barlow - Came on the field in the second drive and had three runs - one was a 19 yard run to the 6 yard line, but on the other two, he got stuffed. Had a great 2nd-and-1 reception that led to the Garrison score, but dropped a couple easy passes in the flats and was pulled on the goalline. Ended up with 8 rushes for 33 yards and 3 receptions for 34 yards. Looked very comfortable in the offense and ran hard. Looked to me as if he came out of the game right before the Hearst score to take a rest. Did not look like he was "pulled". In other words, he very likely could have scored the TD that followed. TE: Eric Johnson - Finger tipped an overthrown pass about 25 yards downfield. On his next play had a great catch and run for 38 yards. Seemed to be the #2 target early, but ended up with only 3 receptions for 44 yards. 49ers Pass Defense - 3 INTs, 2 came on tipped passes. Lots of pressure. Couldn't contain Toomer with single coverage, though. Announcers commented on the fact that Toomer was single covered a lot tonight, likely because SF is trying to keep the ball away from Shockey who was split out often. 49ers Rush Defense - Great east-west coverage. May be vulnerable up the gut. 49ers Special Teams - Jose Cortez had his first field goal blocked. He had four blocked last year. He then barely hit a 23 yard FG, missed a 47 yarder, hit a 33 yarder and hit a game winning 36 yarder with 6 seconds on the clock. His kicks were noticeably low, even the kickoffs. /**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/** New York Giants QB: Kerry Collins - Completed 28 of 45 for 342 and 3 INTs. Two of the interceptions were on tipped balls and were not Collins' fault. The third was a bad pass. Collins continued to force throws when he was getting hit. Looked as sharp as I've seen him. Locked onto Amani Toomer on many plays. TE Shockey will be a player but Toomer was clearly the favored target. WR: Amani Toomer - Toomer, who lost 20 pounds (195) in the offseason, was the target of three of the first four passes, and most of the passes thrown in the first half. He had two receptions called back, a 26 yard catch (offensive pass interference) and a 44 yard catch (holding). Still managed 9 catches for 134 yards, but he was two penalties away from breaking 200. Note that he was single covered all night, maybe because of extra attention paid to Shockey. He was the target of a pair of passes in the end zone but was double teamed and was unable to make the catches. Ike Hilliard had a nice 22 yard catch that set up a field goal at the end of the first half. He ended up with 5 receptions for 65 yards. Ron Dixon is the 3rd WR and had a couple of nice catches, but did not get a lot of attention. RB: Tiki Barber started and broke a nice 16 yard run early. He then had 5 straight carries for no gain, including a 3rd and 1 and a 4th and 1 where he got stuffed for -3. He had some trouble receiving, but got better through the game. He did have a limp and does not appear to be 100% recovered from his hamstring injury. He still had enough speed to tie the game in the 4th quarter. With 2:00 to go, 1st and goal from the 2, Tiki gets hit in the backfield but bounces outside and scores easily. Ended up with 15 rushes for 29 yards and a TD, 4 receptions for 29 yards. Ron Dayne was in the game for quite a few plays but had only 7 touches for 14 yards, including an ill advised pass in the flats on third and long. Looks like an afterthought in this offense. TE: Jeremy Shockey received a ton of hype but didn't produce. He jumped off sides, couldn't hold onto a few passes and looked amazing like a rookie. The good news is that the potential is there. While Toomer was clearly the go to target early, Collins seemed to look more at Shockey as the game went on. He was split out wide in several formations. Most telling play was the TE Screen New York ran in the Red Zone. Shockey failed to catch the ball but the fact they have that much trust in the rookie is important. The opportunities were definitely there. Ended up with 3 catches for 44 yards. Giants Pass Defense held 49ers to 3 points on two straight first and goals. Sehorn, Stoutmire and Allen look solid on pass Defense, especially Allen. He lined up on Owens and blanketed him all game. They appear to be capable of taking the #1 receiver out of the game, and generated a decent pass rush (although they got no sacks). Sehorn was used primarily as the nickel back. Giants Rush Defense played well, even on apparent passing downs. For example, the Giants used a nickel coverage on 2nd and goal from the 6 and still stopped Barlow for a loss. Giants Special Teams blocked a field goal. Matt Bryant is the new kicker, and hit both of his field goal attempts. Tiki Barber returned the first punt of the game and a couple of kickoffs, which seemed odd since he was recovering from a hamstring injury.