Crab cakes and football, that's what Maryland does.
Vernon Davis, a former Maryland Terrapin himself, had the football part taken care of when he caught two touchdowns as the San Francisco 49ers notched a 27-19 victory over the Detroit Lions on Sunday.
If Davis' performance wasn't enough ask Vince Vaughn. The Wedding Crashers Star, currently filming a new comedy in the Bay Area, was on the sideline watching Davis continue a hot stretch that dates back to last season's playoffs.
Counting San Francisco's two postseason games in 2011, the 49ers tight end has reached the end zone in four-straight games. Davis has now has caught a pair of touchdowns in three of his last four outings.
Furthermore, Davis's three touchdown catches this season tie him for first in the NFL, a total that is already half of his production from a season ago.
His streak has come against elite competition to boot as all four games came against teams that reached the 2011 NFC Playoffs.
Davis's two trips to the end zone against the Lions served as fitting bookends to the team's scoring in a convincing all-around win.
San Francisco's offense needed little time to get on the scoreboard against the Lions, and Davis capped the team's first possession of the evening.
Four plays after Alex Smith took over at the San Francisco 33-yard line, the 49ers quarterback connected with his favorite tight end target a 21-yard score. Davis eluded Lions' free safety John Wendling's coverage to get wide open along the left sideline.
"We came out right off the bat and did everything we had to do to take care of this team," Davis said. "It was pretty much the same play that we ran when we played New York in the playoffs. The safety comes down right up the sideline kind of like a go-route for a wide receiver. Alex (Smith) saw it, he checked to it and we made the play."
Davis celebrated giving the 49ers an early lead in style by splitting the uprights with a fade away jumper one week after he marked his touchdown catch with a failed dunk attempt in Green Bay.
It wasn't the only thrill that Davis would provide on the evening.
With the 49ers leading 20-12 and just over three minutes remaining, Smith took the snap at the 23-yard line, rolled to his right and hit Davis in space along the sideline. The tight end cut back to his left on the 10-yard line and crossed the goal line untouched before knocking down his second jump shot of the night to seal the victory.
"We needed those seven points," left tackle Joe Staley said. "We needed the touchdown because a field goal would not do it there."
Davis finished the night with 73 yards on five receptions to round off his fourth career multi-touchdown game.
Davis' jump shot celebrations electrified the already-amped up Candlestick Park crowd that got all it could ask for from one of the NFL's elite tight ends in the 2012 home opener.
"It was awesome, the crowd was great," Davis said of playing in front of the Candlestick Faithful for the first time this season. "The fans are always good, and we appreciate them. They came out to support us like they have since day one."
Davis' performance in the first two games has been impressive, but to his teammates it has come as no surprise.
"Vernon's been everything that we expect him to be," linebacker Joe Staley said. "What he does on the field is, to us, is what he's supposed to do… There's nothing miraculous in our eyes because we know the potential because he does it every day at practice."
Davis' big-time performances have been pivotal to the team's 2-0 start to 2012.
The 6-foot-3, 250-pounder attributes much of his recent success to San Francisco's wide receivers commanding attention on the outside.
"I'm not getting doubled as much as last year," Davis said. "A lot of the attention is on Michael Crabtree and Randy Moss. We are pretty balanced right now running and passing."
Coming off two big wins to start the year, Davis is looking forward to continuing to improve with the rest of the 49ers offense heading into Week 3.
"We can be as good as we want," Davis said of the team's potential. "We have a lot of weapons and great things going on for us."
