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. Washington 10 at San Francisco 20 WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW Washington Redskins: QB Shane Matthews spread the ball around well on short routes, but was pressured and ineffective on deep passes. He doesn't seem to be confident in the pocket. He was pulled in favor of Danny Wuerffel in the 4th quarter after being shaken up on a vicious late hit. Wuerffel was no better. He didn't get much playing time as San Francisco had the ball for the final 8 minutes of the game. He finished 1 for 2 with one interception. He forced the ball to Rod Gardner in double coverage in the endzone, and was picked off. The Patrick Ramsey Watch is on. RB Stephen Davis ran very well, but was only given 13 carries. He had a costly fumble at the beginning of the game. TE Zeron Flemister was a bigger part of the passing game this week catching 3 passes for 57 yards and a TD. LB Jesse Armstead had 17 solo tackles while Champ Bailey and Fred Smoot limited the 49er wide outs to only short routes. San Francisco 49ers: QB Jeff Garcia was suffering from a stomach virus / flu and played a poor game. He was replaced by Tim Rattay in the 3rd quarter. There is zero QB controversy. Announcers said the move was strictly due to Garcia feeling the effects of the flu. RB Garrison Hearst and Kevan Barlow both ran very well. Hearst seems to be running better than he had been. Both are outstanding talents. Does not appear that Hearst is any danger of losing more time to Barlow. The team seems to like this combination and workload split. WR Terrell Owens was shut down on deep routes but did have an incredible 38 yard touchdown run. He did drop a long pass that would have been a TD. San Francisco won the game with their defense. San Francisco had better field position and was +2 on turnovers. WHAT YOU OUGHT TO KNOW Washington Redskins QB: Shane Matthews had a very strong first half, but was terrible in the second half before leaving the game. Early on, he was spreading the ball around, hitting 8 different receivers in the first half, but in the second half he was only 3 for 9 with 19 yards. Finished with 17 of 28 passes for 169 yards and 1 TD. Matthews faced consistent pressure and was unable to complete deep passes. He was limited to control or safety valve routes. Matthews also missed high on several passes which in the future could result in interceptions and/or injuring his receivers. He was pulled in favor of Danny Wuerffel in the 4th quarter after being shaken up on a vicious hit that was late. I'm sure the fact that he'd been ineffective was also factor in lifting him. Probably a combination of the two. Danny Wuerffel came in for Matthews with a chance to prove himself in a come from behind win. He looked bad completing 1 of 2 passes for 14 yards and threw an interception to kill Washington's hopes. Patrick Ramsey didn't play in this game but, after the game, Shane Matthews made a statement to the effect that he knows he's not getting the job done and that he knows Ramsey is the future and would understand if a change was made. (I guess he just assumed like everyone else that Wuerffel wasn't even an option of starting) RB: Stephen Davis carried the ball 13 times for 59 yards. After fumbling on his first carry, Davis ran very well. The line opened holes and he broke tackles. They just didn't give him the ball enough. He also led Washington in receptions with 4 for 26 yards. He appeared to have a hand injury requiring attention on the sidelines but nothing more was made of it and it didn't seem to be a factor. WR: Rod Gardner had only one catch for 16 yards. He was the target on several passes including one dropped ball, but the 49er defense was just too much for the Redskin's passing attack. Either Gardner was open and Matthews was pressured, or when Matthews did have time, Gardner was covered. Derrius Thompson and Jacquez Green each had 2 catches for short yardage. Both were covered well by the SF secondary. It did appear that they were making an effort to get Jacquez Green more involved. TE: Zeron Flemister was a much bigger part of the passing attack today. His 3 catches were second only to Davis which netted him 57 yards and the only touchdown of the day for the Redskins. He found the seams in the defense early and was hard to tackle. Pass Defense: Cornerbacks Champ Bailey and Fred Smoot did an excellent job shutting down the wide outs with Bailey getting the only interception. Smoot had a hit on Tai Streets that Ronnie Lott would have been proud of stopping him a yard short of the first down marker on third down. Garcia and Rattay were knocked down many times and sacked twice by the rest of the defense. Rushing Defense: Linebacker Jesse Armstead was a one man wrecking crew tallying up 17 solo tackles. The rest of the rushing defense didn't show up allowing Hearst and Barlow to combine for 191 yards on 34 carries. They almost always had a hole to run through. /**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/** San Francisco 49ers QB: Jeff Garcia didn't look good completing only 10 of 19 passes for 84 yards with one interception. He was suffering from the flu and took IV fluids during the game missing the first series in the third quarter before being replaced outright by Rattay later in the quarter. Garcia was jumpy and didn't look himself. He did force a few passes to Owens when he was double covered. Did make an outstanding cut block towards the end of Owens' TD run that helped him into the endzone. Tim Rattay completed 5 of 9 passes for 41 yards, and like Garcia, he hit the short passes while missing on the deeper routes. He played the last quarter and a half after the offense had shifted its focus to clock management and preserving the lead. He did his job as a backup QB, he did not make mistakes and lose the game. There is zero QB controversy here. Announcers said it was strictly an issue of Garcia feeling the effects of the flu. RB: Garrison Hearst had 19 carries for 97 yards and 3 receptions for 25 yards. Hearst ran very well and earned a lot of his yards after first contact. He often had nice holes to run through as did Barlow. The run blocking was top notch. Kevan Barlow had 15 carries for 94 yards and a touchdown. He is a more explosive runner than Hearst and they compliment each other well. Barlow is fun to watch run and his only limitation seems to be sharing carries with Hearst. Also, Barlow wasn't used in the passing game like Hearst. Does not appear that Hearst is any danger of losing more time to Barlow. The team seems to like this combination and workload split. WR: Terrell Owens had only 2 catches for 33 yards while being covered down field very well by Smoot and Bailey. Owens did score a touchdown on an end around pass play where he didn't have time to throw so he reversed back across the field and followed the blocking train of Hearst and Garcia for 39 yards into the end zone. Taking Owens out of the offense at the cost of run support seemed to be the Washington defensive plan. Owens did get open on one long pass that he dropped that would have been a touchdown. JJ Stokes caught 4 passes for 20 yards. He was also limited to success only on short routes. Sad to say his 4 catches led the team. Garcia did try and force a long pass to Stokes when he was double covered that was almost intercepted. Tai Streets caught 3 passes for 27 yards. Streets made the most of limited looks his way. TE: Eric Johnson had 3 catches for 20 yards. Garcia didn't have time to let Johnson work the seams like he did last week. He was often kept in to block and was used as a safety valve. Pass Defense: The pass defense was solid, shutting down the wide outs and pressuring Matthews. Safety Zack Bronson had the only interception and defensive end Andre Carter had 2 sacks, but it was truly a team effort, not letting a single deep pass find its mark. Rushing Defense: The rushing defense wasn't good. Stephen Davis had no problem gaining yards on the ground. Fortunately for the 49ers, the Redskins didn't want to run the ball. The 49ers won the game with their combined defense. They won the field position battle and had only 1 turnover to Washington's 3.