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Niners Kick Off Season With Less Than Stellar Performance

Chris Pisar |
September 15, 2010 | 11:29 p.m. PDT

Staff Writer

"Why do you build me up Buttercup, baby, just to let me down?"

That's the sad tune the 49er faithful were singing after a 31-6 drubbing at the hands of the new-look Seattle Seahawks in their season opener Sunday.

Following a preseason that saw the Niners go a perfect 4-0 for the first time in 18 years and dispose of playoff hopefuls like the Indianapolis Colts, Minnesota Vikings and San Diego Chargers, the excitement level in San Francisco hadn't been higher in recent memory.

But the strong preseason wasn't the only reason 49er fans were excited.

The 49ers returned the majority of the starters from an 8-8 team that had a strong finish a season ago and used their two first round draft picks on tackle Anthony Davis and guard Mike Iupati to help solidify the offensive line.

And the division was up for grabs.

With a new coach (Pete Carroll) and a ton of new faces (prime example: Mike Williams), the Seahawks didn’t look like much of a threat.

The St. Louis Rams are in Year 2 of rebuilding under second-year head coach Steve Spagnuolo and are starting Sam Bradford, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2010 draft, at quarterback; not exactly a combination that sends shivers down an opponent’s spine.

And the defending division champion Arizona Cardinals lost two of their premiere offensive players in quarterback Kurt Warner, who retired, and No. 2 receiver Anquan Boldin, who was traded to the Baltimore Ravens.

It seemed as if all the pieces were finally falling into place.

Then Sunday came and the Niners laid an egg.

After dominating most of the first half on both sides of the ball, the Niners were up just 6-0.

The Niners' defense picked off Seattle quarterback Matt Hasselbeck on the first play of the game. A few plays later, San Francisco thought it had its first touchdown of the season only to have the score reversed after a challenge by the Seahawks revealed that wide receiver Josh Morgan didn’t get two feet down before falling out of bounds.

The Niners ended up settling for a field goal after a predictable run play and a failed screen to running back Frank Gore.

On its next two possessions, San Francisco had two more red zone opportunities, coming up empty on the first after a failed fourth-down conversion at Seattle’s six-yard line and settling for a field goal the next time down.

Then Seattle scored twice in the last few minutes of the second quarter to make it 14-6 and I had that “a-ha” moment.

All of the sudden I found myself watching the 49er team of a year ago, the one that struggled to capitalize on mistakes with seven points instead of three and lacked the killer mentality needed to put teams away when ahead (Exhibit A: last year's loss to the Vikings).

Offensive ineptitude and lack of pressure on the opposing quarterback left the 49er defense hanging out to dry -- the Seahawks' 31 unanswered points was proof of that.

The loss marked the Niners’ seventh in their last nine road games dating back to last season, with their only wins coming at Arizona and St. Louis.

It was déjà vu all over again: the Niners finding ways to lose games they were in a position to win.

Now there are rumblings from the 49er camp that they struggled on offense because there was a headset communication problem between offensive coordinator Jimmy Raye and quarterback Alex Smith. In their defense, the Niners did have to burn all of their timeouts in the first half with nearly 10 minutes to go in the second quarter but a veteran like Smith should be able to call plays without having them sent to his ear from the sideline.

It also didn’t hurt that there were a handful of former 49ers on the field and sidelines for the Seahawks, most notably former linebacker Jeff Ulbrich (the assistant special teams coach) and recently cut Niners Michael Robinson and Kentwan Balmer.

No matter the problem, San Francisco needs to remedy it in a hurry and get back to the way they were playing toward the end of last season, especially with the Super Bowl champion New Orleans Saints headed to town for a Monday night showdown.

To reach writer Chris Pisar, click here.

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