Redemption Sweet For San Francisco Defense
Damin Esper, The Tampa Tribune, published 1 November 2005

Not many people expected the San Francisco 49ers to stay with Tampa Bay on Sunday, much less beat the Buccaneers. Oddsmakers had Tampa Bay favored by 11 points, despite playing on the road and the Bucs averaging just 19 points per game. So much for the odds. The 49ers pinned a humbling 15-10 defeat on Tampa Bay, clamping down on the Bucs' running game and daring quarterback Chris Simms to beat them. He couldn't. "We knew Cadillac [Williams] and [Michael] Pittman were going to come in here and try to run the ball down our throats," 49ers defensive tackle Travis Hall said. "Today was an opportunity for us to stop the run and play the pass."

Tampa Bay rushed for just 43 yards on 20 carries (2.2 per carry), including 18 yards by Simms. Williams ran 13 times for 20 yards and Pittman ran for 5 yards on four carries. "It takes 11 guys to stop the running game," San Francisco coach Mike Nolan said. "That's what we had today. You saw a lot of defensive backs help stop the running game."

The performance was more surprising considering the 49ers came in 1-5 and having been blown out at Washington last week, 52-17. In that game, the Redskins rushed for 204 yards. Linebacker Julian Peterson said that loss was motivation this week. "We've got a pretty good front seven and most of the time we play good against the run," he said. "Last week was embarrassing for us."

This week, they redeemed themselves against a Tampa Bay team that entered the game ranked fifth in the NFL in rushing offense. "Their defense gave us a lot of trouble," said Williams, who had 447 yards in his first four games but missed the last two with a foot injury. "I don't know exactly what the reason was. They did a very good job of stopping the run."

The 49ers started the season by shutting down the Rams, but in a five-game losing streak had plummeted to last in the league in team defense and 24th against the run. "We knew we had what it takes to be a top-five defense," Hall said. "We just hadn't shown it on Sundays."

That's an understatement. Hall noted that people who put too much on those statistics don't understand playing in the NFL. "All day long, people [TV commentators] are saying we're playing for the first [draft] pick next year," he said. "They don't realize that we're professionals and we have to get the job done."

They got the job done Sunday, in a surprise to many. "For a team with a losing record, they sure didn't look too bad today, did they?" Williams said.