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Eric Davis spent 13 years in the NFL as a cornerback. He's now in his second season as part of the 49ers broadcast team. After every 49ers game Davis will break down the game in his "Wrap Up" column. Here's Davis' eighth column of the 2009 regular season recapping the 49ers loss to the Tennessee Titans.**Based on my experiences as a former NFL player, you have to fix the things you can control in order to snap a losing-streak. And most importantly, you can't focus on fixing things that are out of your control. In my humble opinion, the best way to make your own team better is to clean up your own house.
The 49ers need to make sure they're doing everything they possibly can to improve as players and as a team. It's not about finger-pointing or placing blame – it's about performance. It's about putting on the film and seeing what you did wrong and then correcting it. But when you see yourself doing something right – you have to improve that too. That's what the 49ers have to do – that's the focus they have to have in order to get out of this slump they've been in.
A lot of people will talk about how the four turnovers on offense played a part in the loss, but the defense's inability to stop the Titans in the red zone was a factor as well. They both go hand-in-hand. The turnovers were costly, but that had nothing to do with the defense not being able to stop Tennessee from scoring once they were inside the red zone. That's most surprising because the group held Peyton Manning without a touchdown pass two weeks ago and had great defensive play inside their 20-yard line in that game.
The 49ers had been doing a very good job of keeping teams out of the end zone and this was a week where they needed to have that same type of performance.
To me, the difference in the game was the fact that the Titans scored 24 points off turnovers. But if you hold the other team to field goals, you're always in the game. Going forward, the 49ers will have to stop turning the ball over if they want to go from a team that's in all the games to a team that wins all the games.
From a player's standpoint, having Coach Singletary is a blessing in these tough times. I have a unique perspective as to how a player might feel and like I mentioned earlier in the column, you have to be policing yourself. And to me, Singletary is the perfect coach to relay that message to the guys.
In my opinion, this is still a work in progress. The team is trying to create a culture and build a type of philosophy that will allow the team to be successful consistently. Having a coach who understands that and won't lose his focus and will get that message across to the guys – is huge for the 49ers. His playing time at the level he played at for the 12 years he played – is only a plus in this situation.
But don't get me wrong, there were some bright spots on this game too.
The offense did score 27 points – that's a bright spot. Alex is showing he has the ability to be a quarterback who can lead his team into the end zone. But you can't overlook the turnovers. Everyone knows that. Alex knows that. It has to be fixed and that comes with his maturity.
Jason Hill was another bright spot for the 49ers. When he got on field – he did what he's always done! Part of the reason Shaun Hill was named the starter this season, was because of the on-field relationship he had with Jason at the end of last season.
Although Hill wasn't in the mix to start coming into training camp – he never complained. He went out and performed when he had the opportunities on special teams. On Sunday, he had the opportunity to play receiver and he made plays.
Lastly, I think it's a great thing that the 49ers will play again this Thursday night.
This game gives the 49ers an immediate chance to get the bad taste from Sunday out of their mouths. They get a chance to go back to business. A quick turnaround allows the team to forget about the Titans game right away, because they have no chance to bet to get focused on the Chicago Bears.
In this situation, I think it's really a good thing for the club.
