Posted up at his locker following Sunday’s 45-3 domination of the Buffalo Bills, Davis was given some perspective on the historic thrashing that just took place at Candlestick Park. He and his teammates had just racked up 621 yards of total offense, the highest single-game output by any team in franchise history.
Not to mention the 49ers became the first club in NFL history to record 300 yards rushing (311) and passing (310) in the same game.
“It means a lot just being part of this,” said Davis, who had five catches for 106 yards. “We’re talking about legends who played here. Legends. Joe Montana, Steve Young, Jerry Rice. To be able to perform on this level and do it better than what they did? That’s a huge honor.”
Pick a player on the 49ers offense, any player. Chances are they had a big day against the Bills.
“It’s a mystery on what happened there,” Roman said. “I think it’s just lack of sleep and thinking too hard.”
Roman and the rest of the 49ers coaching staff become night owls during the regular season and it’s for good reason. Not only was Sunday’s result a product of execution by the players, but preparation by the coaches.
“He’s an evil genius,”
The score was knotted at 3-3 well into the second quarter before Williams turned in the first showstopping score of the afternoon. Streaking down the right sideline with a defender on his hip, Williams and Smith improvised on a deep back shoulder throw more than 30 yards down field, before Williams spun past his man and into the end zone for 43-yard score.
The touchdown was especially important for Williams, who dropped to his knees and pointed skyward to honor his late grandmother as the NFL celebrated breast cancer awareness. Williams made sure to get the ball from the ref following the play, a memento for the momentous occasion.
“I wanted to get the ball and he was making sure that I wasn’t trying to do something extra with the celebrations,” Williams said. “I was just telling him I was saying hello to my grandmother.”
Williams’ catch wrapped up a quick, two-play, 74-yard drive that also included a 36-yard connection between Smith and Crabtree. The talented wideout caught an intermediate pass from Smith before outrunning defenders and picking up another 15 yards on the ground.
Crabtree also scored the next touchdown, which was perhaps the most crucial one of the afternoon. Following a Kaepernick fumble, the Bills took over at their own 17-yard line with 46 seconds left in the first half.
Crabtree ran a flag route near the left pylon and hauled in a perfect pass from Smith for a 28-yard score. The catch gave the 49ers a 17-3 lead, it gave Crabtree more than 100 yards receiving and it wasn’t even halftime yet.
“We’ve got athletes, we’ve got playmakers,” Crabtree said. “We just have to use them, we’ve got to create that identity. Like said, we can’t talk about it, we’ve just got to go do it.”
Once the second half started, so did the offensive onslaught. Kaepernick provided a change of pace at quarterback on select plays and helped set up Gore’s 1-yard, third-quarter touchdown run with a 15-yard scamper down near the goal line. On the score, Gore followed his powerful offensive line before leaping over the pile into the end zone.
“I feel good,” Gore said. “I feel fresh, young. I’m just out there having fun.”
Next on the touchdown train was Manningham, who was wide open before catching a 10-yard reception from Smith to make it 31-3 early in the fourth quarter. To wrap up the scoring, Kaepernick rushed one in from 16 yards out and Dixon scored from the 3-yard line.
“It was an all-around great performance on offense,” Pro Bowl tackle
Combined with last week’s 34-0 road win over the Jets, the 49ers have outscored their opponents 79-3 in the past eight quarters. But with the reigning Super Bowl champion New York Giants posed to return to Candlestick in Week 6 after the teams had two tough battles in 2011, Smith said the celebration will be short-lived.
“There’s a lot of baggage, a lot of history,” Smith said. “A little unfinished business.”
Kaepernick Carves Out Role
While it wasn’t like last week’s career performance when he totaled 50 rushing yards and a touchdown, Kaepernick played a big role in Sunday’s victory. The second-year signal-caller was sprinkled in to plays throughout the game, before taking over mop-up duties in the final stages of the game.
“The more I can do to help this team, the better I’ll be as far as running all those things,” Kaepernick said. “So I just want to get out there as much as I can and do as much as I can to help this team.”
In all, Kaepernick carried the ball four times for 39 yards and score, while also completing his only pass of the day for seven yards. Roman even put Kaepernick in motion for an end around play, showcasing the quarterback’s unique athleticism.
The 49ers had five ball carriers with at least 20 yards rushing Sunday, including
“You never want a defense to know what you’re going to do,” Kaepernick said. “Our coaches do an amazing job of game-planning and I’ll leave that up to them.”
Dominating Defense
The Bills had trouble getting anything going on Sunday, as their only points came via a first-quarter Rian Lindell field goal. The 49ers defense turned in its second straight remarkable performance and has only allowed 3 points in the last eight quarters.
Along with Willis’ forced fumble, the 49ers received another turnover from
To
“When you have an offense overall 600-and-something, that says it all,” Brooks said. “And with the defense playing the way it did, yeah.”
In total, the 49ers limited the Bills to 89 yards rushing, 126 yards through the air and 10 first downs.
Notes and Quotes
Sunday’s contest marked the first time since 1961 that the 49ers had a 300-yard passer (Smith), a 100-yard rusher (Gore) and two, 100-yard receivers (Davis and Crabtree) in the same game.
“Very pleased with our guys,” Harbaugh said. “Good football. Good team victory.”
Undrafted rookie tight end
