Vernon Davis, with his 13th touchdown reception this season tied the NFL season record for tight ends, helping to spark a late surge by the 49ers on Sunday and lead them to their 28-6 win over the Rams.

Davis said, my number got called. Coach said if a defensive back was out there I should do my best and run by him. That is exactly what I did. All I did was run as fast as I possibly could.

Frank Gore rushed for 107 yards in 23 carries and scored two touchdowns. After a sluggish first half where they managed only 52 total yards and trailed in game 3-0, the 49ers (8-8) pulled away.

Mike Singletary, 49ers coach said, it wasn’t the style of game that we would like to have. It wasn’t the way we had wanted things to go. I’m just thankful that we came out of the game. Just get the heck out with a win and out of St. Louis.

With their win San Fransisco snapped their streak of having six losing seasons in row. They also stopped their streak of losing six consecutive road games and finished with a record of 5-1 versus NFC West reams. St. Louis (1-15) finished their first home schedule without a win since 1959 when they went 0-6 and for only the third time in franchise history.

St. Louis needed to lose their final game in order to secure the rights to the No. 1 draft pick. It’s the first time they have had it since 1997. That year they traded up and obtained tackle Orlando Pace, a seven time Pro Bowler. The offense had only 109 total offensive yards, their fifth lowest total in franchise history. It was also their lowest total since September 8, 1996 when they gained 105 yards in San Francisco.

For the Rams, Steven Jackson rushed for 63 yards in 20 carries. The biggest play for St. Louis was a punt return of 56 yards by Danny Amendola down to the 19 yard line of the 49ers. The play resulted in a field goal, cutting the lead of the 49ers down to 7-6 with just 9:11 to play.

Jackson said, we have lots of things we need to turn around. Something needs to turn.

This will be the Rams first overall No. draft pick they’ve earned since selecting Terry Baker, Oregon State quarterback and winner of the Heisman Trophy award in 1963. During the off season there will be some excitement for the Rams as their rebuilding process continues. During the last two seasons the Rams have had the second pick overall and have a record over the last three seasons of 6-42.

Steve Spagnuolo, Rams coach said, I won’t deny that one.

It’s the seventh time this season that the 49ers were able to hold the opposing team to 10 points or less. It came behind eight sacks, a season high for the team, including Justin Smith’s 3 ½ sacks.

Keith Null, rookie quarterback for the Rams, went 7 for 17 for a total of 57 yards. He took five of the 49ers sacks before he sustained a possible concussion during the four quarter. According to Spagnuolo, Donnie Avery, wide receiver, suffered a concussion and Null was well but a little fuzzy. The coach added that he didn’t know whether or not the term concussion had been used.

Davis tied a record that was set last season by Antonio Gates with the longest catch in his career. He caught a 73 yard pass from Alex Smith to score the go ahead touchdown during the fourth quarter to make the score 14-6.

In his last five games Gore rushed for a 100 yards or more in four of them. For the season he had five overall.

The punters dominated most of the game. Donnie Jones of the Rams punted 11 times, his season high, with a 50.1 yard average. The 49ers’ Andy Lee punted nine times, tying his season high, and had an average of 46.7 yards.

For the third game in a row the Rams game on local television was blacked out. Attendance for the three games was the three lowest since 1995 when the franchise relocated back to the Midwest.

The game’s paid attendance was 47,965. Out of the three games it was the best, most likely boosted by the fact that it was “fan appreciation day” featuring various giveaways including Super Bowl tickets, game worn jerseys and flat screen TVs, along with severely reduced prices on team store merchandise and concessions.

The first half’s only scoring came on a field goal of 54 yards by Josh Brown during the second quarter. It was only one yard short of his season best. At the end of the half Brown had an attempt from 45 yards go wide to the left, after the Rams decided to not use any timeouts.

When Roger Allen III, undrafted rookie from Missouri Western, left the game after injuring his left knee during the second quarter, St. Louis was without any more offensive guards. On the flip card Mark Setterstrom was listed as the backup for two different positions but out for the rest of the season due to an injured left triceps requiring surgery, while Adam Goldberg, starting tackle, was also listed for two positions as the backup.

During the second half they got it together and moved another step closer to the only large goal they have remaining- avoid their seventh losing season in a row.

Frank Gore scored a touchdown on a one yard run and went over 1,000 yards rushing for the fourth season in a row. The 49ers capitalized on six Lion turnovers to defeat Detroit on Sunday 20-6.

Alex Smith connected with Vernon Davis on a touchdown pass, as the 49ers (7-8) scored both of their touchdowns during the third quarter. San Fransisco closed their home season out with a win and needs a victory next week in St. Louis to finish the season with a .500 record.

Smith said, it’s for our pride. Right now that’s what we are playing for. Since I have been with the team we haven’t had a better finish than 7-9. It is something that we all are playing for right now.

In the first start of his career for Detroit (2-13), Drew Stanton struggled. He passed for only 130 yards and threw three interceptions before Daunte Culpepper replaced him mid fourth quarter.

It was the fifth loss in a row for Detroit, who failed to score any touchdowns, and 20th straight loss on the road.

Jim Schwartz, Detroit coach said, last week we talked about how a quarterback’s true measure is his ability to lead the team and score points. Today we didn’t do that. We didn’t move the ball, we didn’t get our third down conversions, we didn’t score any touchdowns, and we had too many turnovers. How well Drew performed doesn’t matter. Our offense didn’t do its job. That is ultimately the quarterback’s responsibility.

Last week Culpepper was replaced with Stanton in Detroit’s search to find a quarterback with Matthew Stafford, rookie starter out for the remainder of the season due to an injured shoulder. Schwartz didn’t say who would be his starting quarterback next week versus Chicago.

Until the third quarter when they scored two touchdowns to pull away, the 49ers didn’t do much better. Their first touchdown came on third down and goal at the 2 yard line. Smith rolled out and flipped a pass over to David right before he cross over their line of scrimmage.

It would have been an easy play for Smith to run the ball in himself, but instead he opted to get the football over to Davis who scored on his 12th touchdown reception this season, one touchdown short of the record held by Antonio Gates for tight ends.

On fourth down and one during their next drive, Smith connected with Gore, who was wide open. Gore ran the ball for a 48 yard gain down to the 6 yard line. He dove in from the one yard line two plays later to make the score 20-3.

Mike Singletary, 49ers head coach, thought that their slow start may have been due to the fact that it was a holiday week or because San Fransisco had been eliminated from the playoffs. He was happy with how the team finished the game.

Singletary said, bottom line we came out for the second half, picked things up and got things going. We started to create some things and execute.

Gore rushed for 71 yards in 28 carries. For the season he has a total of 1,013 yards rushing. He is the first 49ers player to rush for 1,000 yards in a season four times.

Gore said, it does mean a lot to me. This season was very up and down. I had to miss a few games. That was tough. It has been a tough year. This is a blessing. I give it all over to my offensive line. They did a really great job.

Smith was 20 out of 31 for a total of 230 yards passing and had his 17th touchdown pass for the season, his career high, as he attempts to solidify his status as the team’s starting quarterback for next season.

During their first drive, Detroit was able to move the ball. Their 15 play, 76 yard drive resulted in a field goal of 27 yards by Jason Hanson. For the remainder of the first half, the Lions only got three additional first downs. They had one interception and two fumbles, giving the 49ers good field position during most of the half.

Calvin Johnson, Lions receiver said, it was his first start. What we need to do is build some chemistry with him. It’s tough when a young quarterback goes out for his first time. There were plays that lots of players just left out on the field. We can’t do that. During the first half we hung in there, but the second half was like that same old story. For a little bit we just stalled and then couldn’t get things going.

Detroit didn’t get any more points until late fourth quarter when Hanson booted another field goal, long after the game had been decided and Culpepper had come into the game.

San Francisco wasn’t able to capitalized off of any of Detroit’s errors, even though they received the ball near midfield each time. On fourth down and one Gore was stuffed after Stanton had fumbled. San Francisco also was forced to punt following a fumble by Johnson. During the closing seconds first half a field goal attempt of 28 yards by Ricky Schmitt was blocked by Grady Jackson.

This week Schmitt was singed to replace Joe Nedney, who is injured. He made two field goals to give the 49ers the lead at 6-3 earlier first half.

Donovan McNabb ran for one touchdown and passed for another, while DeSean Jackson got 140 receiving yards as Philadelphia defeated San Francisco on Sunday 27-13 to clinch a spot in the playoffs for the eighth time in the decade.

However, none of the other seven playoff berths have resulted in winning the Super Bowl.

McNabb said, clinching a playoff spot early is always a good thing. However we still need to put our foot to the pedal. It is exciting, but we can’t get too excited about this. We have a goal of winning the NFC East and getting a bye week. The only chance we have to get that is to win our last two games.

The loss by the 49ers gave the Cardinals their second NFC West title in a row.

Philadelphia (10-4) has won five games in a row and has a one game lead in the NFC East over Dallas. In two weeks the Eagles will visit the Cowboys.

The game’s starting time got pushed three hours back because Philadelphia was still trying to recover from the second biggest snowfall in the city since records started being kept in 1884. On Saturday Philadelphia received 23.2 inches of snowfall.

Inside of Lincoln Financial Field it didn’t appear to be too bad until some of the fans start to throw snow during the fourth quarter. When LeSean McCoy ran the ball in for a touchdown from 2 yards to give Philadelphia a 27-13 lead, a few die hard, frozen fans threw snow up into the air to celebrate. Some of the fans also threw snowballs, aiming for 49er fans. They stopped after a warning message was flashed over the video screen.

Andy Reid, Eagles coach said, we don’t really need to be throwing snowballs. Here in Philadelphia we are a classy group. Save it for out in the parking lots.

49ers running back Frank Gore rushed for 107 yards. He became the first player in 24 games versus the Eagles to go over 100 yards. However San Francisco (6-8) wasn’t able to overcome Alex Smith’s three interceptions.

McNabb went 21 for 36 for a total of 306 yards passing. He had two interceptions for only the second time all year.

McNabb said, I definitely would like to have those throws back. It was very uncharacteristic for me. I tried forcing the ball.

Trailing at halftime 20-3, San Francisco was able to score 10 points quickly to close the gap. On the kickoff for the second half Josh Morgan had a return of 52 yards. However the 49ers offensive wasn’t able to take advantage and they had to settle for a field goal of 25 yards from Joe Nedney.

Dre’ Bly then intercepted a cross-body pass by McNabb into double coverage. The 49ers were able to take advantage this time. Smith threw a touchdown pass of 12 yards to Morgan to bring the score to 20-13.

Early fourth quarter Philadelphia had an 89 yard drive and increased the score to 27-13 on a touchdown run by McCoy. On third down and 2, McNabb had a pass of 59 yards to Jackson to keep the drive alive.

On Philadelphia’s opening possession, McNabb scrambled and then connected on a touchdown pass of 19 yards with Jackson to give the Eagles a 7-0 lead. It was Jackson’s shortest touchdown reception of the season. He has 11 touchdowns in total and has tied an NFL record with his eight scores of 50 yards or more, including one rushing and two on punt returns.

Jackson said, it’s challenging for me going out there and having people focus on me all the time like they do. It’s a great challenge for me and our team to still go out and be able to make things happen.

On the first possession for the 49ers, Nedney booted through a field goal of 51 yards.

Coming off their impressive Monday night win over the Cardinals, San Francisco started slowly after their short week and flight cross country. However, Philadelphia wasn’t very sharp either.

Mike Singletary, 49ers coach said, this wasn’t our best performance obviously. We came out to play a much different game. There were things we needed to do. We just didn’t get them done.

During the first quarter, Michael Vick left due to a quad contusion and didn’t return to the game. On fourth down and one from the 29 yard line of Philadelphia, Reid made a very gutsy decision to go for it. However Michael Lewis and Takeo Spikes, two former Eagles, stuffed Lenard Weaver.

San Francisco was unable to take advantage of great field position. Delanie Walker was stripped by Sheldon Brown after a catch of 8 yards. The ball was recovered by Asante Samuel on the 6 yard line. McNabb then led Philadelphia on a nine play, 94 yard drive. He ran the ball in from 8 yards out to make the score 14-3.

On the next possession of the 49ers, Samuel picked off a pass from Smith. He returned the ball down to the 28 yard line of the 49ers to set a field goal of 22 yards up by David Akers.

Two out of the seven turnovers for the Cardinals led to two Alex Smith touchdown passes, while Frank Gore rushed for 167 yards and scored a touchdown. With their dominating 24-9 win on Monday night over Arizona, San Francisco kept their very slim hopes to make the playoffs alive.

Darnell Dockett, Arizona tackle said, it wasn’t anything that they did I don’t think. We lost the game on our own.

The relentless defensive attack by the 49ers forced a sloppy Cardinals team into five turnovers in the first half and prevented Kurt Warner from getting into a groove. During the opening half Warner had two interceptions after passing 130 times without any pick offs.

The Cardinals (8-5) still have the opportunity to clinch their division crown by winning two of their last three games.

Gore said, we came out here and really dominated. We got a win versus a team that has been playing great football and that could have clinched the division with a win. They allowed me to get into the zone. When a running back is able to get into the zone, it is tough to stop him.

It was the most productive game for Gore since Week 2. He ran all over a Cardinals defense that last week held Minnesota running back Adrian Peterson to only 19 yards rushing in their victory over the Vikings. After rushing for just 30 yards in 22 carries on September 13 in the season opening win in Arizona, Gore was very motivated to have a big night.

Smith, who came into the game having passed for 310 yards, his career high, in the team’s loss last week in Seattle, connected with Michael Crabtree and Vernon Davis on touchdown passes. He went 19 for 35 for a total of 144 yards passing. San Francisco (6-7) answered the challenge of coach Mike Singletary to make a strong statement versus the current NFC champions on a national stage.

Arizona matched a high for turnovers in the NFL this season. It was their second game in 2009 having six or more turnovers, delighting Candlestick Park’s sellout crowd. Last season they had seven versus the Jets in a game they lost 56-35.

It was the first time San Francisco had forced seven turnovers since having eight on September 14, 1997 versus New Orleans. Their five forced fumbles set a franchise record. Two of the fumbles came from Dashon Goldson, safety.

Ken Whisenhunt, Cardinals coach said, clinching the division I don’t think was ever a big thing for us. We were playing a team that earlier this year beat us, it was a Monday Night Football game, the week before we have a very emotional game versus the Vikings. We were very excited. We lost some of our discipline. That’s something you can’t ever do.

San Francisco not too long ago had been hoping the game would decide the division crown. However after starting 3-1, the 49ers lost six of their next games. For this game they showed up. It was a night where Jerry Rice and Steve Young, former stars for San Francisco were working the ESPN pregame show from their sideline.

Singletary said, I really can’t express how very proud of this team I am. All week that was what we talked about. Let’s go out there and see just how good we really can be and not kill ourselves.

After having the finest four game streak in his career, Warner had a dud. He went 16 for 29 for a total of 178 yards passing and was sacked four times. Johnny Unitas and Warner are the only quarterbacks in NFL history to have a passer rating for four games in a row of 120 or more.

Warner said, sometimes this game is crazy, just like anything is in this life. You get to some point and and think, okay maybe we are there now. Then it turns out, no you aren’t there quite yet. We continue finding that out.

Arizona wasn’t helped at all when they lost Larry Fitzgerald, their star receiver, early second half due to an injured right knee after he was landed on by Goldson. He returned to the game later.

Davis caught a touchdown, his 11th this season, to extend his tight end franchise record. The second touchdown reception of Crabtree’s career, a catch of 35 yards, came a minute before halftime. A field goal of 37 yards was added by Joe Nedney.

Mid third quarter, the Cardinals finally scored on a field goal of 48 yards by Neil Rackers. Early fourth quarter on fourth down and goal at the one yard line Beanie Wells scored with a second effort that was very impressive. The attempt for an extra point was blocked by Ray McDonald.

Dre’ Bly, 49ers cornerback said, when you are able to force turnovers the way we did tonight, when you have six or seven, there is no way that you will lose.

From the very start of the game the Cardinals were completely out of sync. During the opening drive for the 49ers, Arizona jumped offside three times in four snaps.

With four and a half minutes left first quarter, the 49ers used their second and last review. They won, giving Bly a fumble recovery off of Tim Hightower and first down and goal from the 49ers 8 yard line.

Two plays later Smith connected with Davis on a 5 yard touchdown pass to give the 49ers a lead of 7-0.

Whisenhunt said, both of our backs fumbled. That’s not acceptable. It was ugly obviously for all of us. We are embarrassed and disappointed.

Crabtree caught five passes for a total of 67 yards receiving.

Aaron Curry, Seahawks rookie outside linebacker said, when they eliminate one of the problems for us, it’s a real load off. That was beautiful. Curry was beaming over the fact that Gore, who three months ago romped for 202 years versus Seattle, on Sunday only ran with the ball nine times.

That fact along with a multitude of mistakes by the 49ers helped to keep the Seahawks in the game. As time expired Olindo Mare booted a field goal of 30 yards to give Seattle a 20-17 win over the 49ers.

Patrick Willis, 49ers linebacker said, right now it’s very disheartening.

San Francisco attempted to ice Mare by calling a time out. However on a day that was already cold, the veteran kicker made the second of his go ahead field goals during the fourth quarter and extended his franchise record of making 18 field goals in a row for Seattle (5-7). The victory kept Seattle’s hopes alive for having a winning season, but probably not a spot in the playoffs.

San Francisco (5-7) had more blown chances than they could ever have imagined, especially missing the opportunity to keep the pressure on the Cardinals for the NFC West title. Next Monday night Arizona will visit San Francisco.

Mike Singletary, 49ers coach said, we found ways to screw up in all situations. Teams who want to make it into the playoffs really cant afford doing that.

Alex Smith, who during his first 38 games in the NFL didn’t have any 300 yard passing games, passed for 310 yards inside San Francisco’s new offense. Smith, the 2005 No. 1 pick overall in the draft who in October was reinstalled as the starter for the 49ers, went 27 for 45 passing and threw two touchdown passes.

Vernon Davis caught one of the touchdowns. Davis caught six passes for 111 yards, his career high. The 10th touchdown for Davis this year set the 49ers team season record for touchdowns by a tight end.

The 49ers had multiple blown opportunities. During the first quarter they had incomplete passes from Seattle’s one yard line on third and fourth down. A punt return reverse fumble was botched by Brandon Jones and Arnaz Battle. Gore had another fumble when the mothballed runner was finally dusted off by the 49ers. Jordan Babineaux forced the fumble at the 22 yard line of Seattle. Josh Wilson returned the ball 43 yards, setting up the first field goal of Mare’s in the fourth quarter. A would be touchdown pass from Smith also slipped through the hands of Davis while inside the end zone and bounced off his face mask with the 49ers trailing late, 17-14. Davis said, I didn’t really know who Smith was trying to throw to.

Then Michel Crabtree, the rookie, had the ball graze off his helmet inside the end zone when he wasn’t looking, following a throw that came earlier than Crabtree was expecting when Smith was forced by a blitz. With 2:57 left to play San Francisco had to settle for a field goal of 34 yards from Joe Nedney to tie the game.

The 49ers discovered that their pass heavy approach does have some drawbacks, unless of course you’re a Seahawks player with the job of trying to stop Gore.

In seven previous games versus Seattle Gored had averaged 160 yards. In 2006 he had 212 yards, his career high, versus the Seahawks.

Curry said, anytime you are playing a team that runs for 300 yards, why wouldn’t you do it again, or try to?

Jim Mora, Seahawks coach said about Gore, I’m just happy he didn’t get the ball more often.

The fourth quarter was packed with mistakes, eptimozing the wild, mild West.

With 1:19 left to play Matt Hasselbeck completed four passes in a row, three of them going to T.J. Houshmandzadeh, brought the Seahawks down to the 40 yard line of the 49ers. Then the fourth completion for negative yardage came, a screen pass over to Julius Jones which Willis destroyed for a loss of 5 yards.

Chris Spencer, Seahawks center, was called for a false start pushing the Seahawks into third down and 19 with only 1:03 remaining. Then Hasselbeck throw a perfect pass to a striding Deion Branch at the 12 yard line of the 49ers, but the ball slipped through Branch’s hands.

Hasselbeck, in disbelief, bent over. For the 10th time in the game, Seattle punted the ball.

However the 49ers from their 11 yard line went three downs and out, all on passing plays. Deon Grant, Seahawks safety, dropped the last pass right at midfield.

The ensuring punt was returned by Nate Burleson 21 yards down to the 48 yard line of Seattle with just 21 seconds to play. The rookie Deon Butler, two plays later, raced past Keith Smith, cornerback, and the pass from Hasselbeck hit him right in stride to gain 32 yards.

According to Hasselbeck, Butler wasn’t one of Seattle’s first five options on the alert play. Hasselbeck said, you probably won’t get the ball, but stay alert.

However when a safety was cheated by the 49ers to the opposite side of the football field where there were three receivers and Smith was playing up on Butler, then Hasselbeck knew that his choice was Butler.

Seattle called a timeout one play later. Mare came in and did his job calmly. Jon Ryan, Seattle holder, along with the other Seahawks mobbed Mare on the field.

Seattle’s oldest player shrugged. I get paid for making field goals, the veteran said.

In Smith’s best game so far this season, he threw short touchdown passes over to Vernon Davis and Frank Gore. It was a sound game for the 49ers all around on Sunday as they defeated the Jaguars 20-3.

The 49ers began the season planning to be defined by their running game, but with Smith behind the center they are starting to open things up. Five receivers had at least four catches.

Smith said, it’s the growth of our offense. You need to be balanced in the NFL. You need to have different ways to win.

Joe Nedney booted field goals from 27 and 46 yards for San Francisco (5-6) who snapped Jacksonville’s three game winning streak. They also spoiled the homecoming to the Bay Area for Jack Del Rio, Jaguars coach, and Maurice Jones-Drew, running back.

The loss by Jacksonville clinched the title of the AFC South for undefeated Indianapolis, who earlier on Sunday rallied to defeat Houston on the road.

Jones-Drew, who was a prep star for De La Salle High School over on the opposite side of the San Francisco Bay, rush for 75 yards. It’s the first time he has rushed for 1,000 yards in a season in his career. Jones-Drew is also only the second player for the Jacksonville franchise to do so, joining the seven efforts of Fred Taylor. However, his five game streak of scoring a running touchdown was snapped.

The defense of the 49ers recovered two fumbles off of sacks in the second half, including an early fourth quarter hit by Parys Haralson on David Garrard for a loss of 20 yards.

Smith passed for 232 yards and had no sacks or interceptions. It was the best game for Smith since he took over in late October as San Francisco’s starting quarterback. Gore caught seven passes, Davis and Josh Morgan each had six, and Michael Crabtree and Delanie Walker had four each.

Mike Singletary said, this week the very best thing I saw happen was leadership on offense. In terms of players saying, coach I think this will work. I think this is what we need to do. What about doing this or can we do the spread more? Put it on us receivers.

Singletary credited Smith, Davis and even the rookie Crabtree, their top pick in this year’s draft, for offering input.

A field goal of 32 yards was kicked by Josh Scobee for Jacksonville (6-5), but he also missed a 40 yard attempt wide to the left early second quarter as well as a 21 yarder during the fourth quarter that hit the upright on the left. Afterward he had a disgusted look on his face. His second field goal miss tied for the shortest miss this season in the NFL. Lawrence Tynes of the Giants also missed an attempt from 21 yards during Week 3 versus the Buccaneers.

Scobee said, missing that short one is just totally unacceptable, simple and plain. For that I take full responsibility. I’m a professional after all.

Why does Jacksonville have all of these woes on the West Coast? On October 11, the Jaguars lost in Seattle 41-0. On Sunday they were never a threat. It was the second time, the first coming in 2004, in the history of the franchise that the Jaguars have played two games on the road out West.

Garrard was able to complete six out of the first seven passes he threw, but didn’t have much to show for it. During the first half, the Jaguars only managed to get six first downs. They did out gain San Francisco 357 yards to 284 yards. Torry Holt had a reception for his 164th game in a row. He passed Andre Reed and moved up to 10th place on career yards receiving with 13,226.

The victory for San Francisco was the type of methodical win that coach Singletary has insisted that his team is capable of producing.

Since their promising 3-1 start, the 49ers had lost five of their last six games. The last four losses have been by seven points or less. Singletary and the 49er players admit that they have beaten themselves regularly.

All during the week we emphasized that, not to beat ourselves, said Haralson.

During the first half, Smith threw the ball 29 times. It was his career high for one half. The most he had had was 18 attempts. Singletary was happy with Smith’s heads up, sound decision making.

On third down and 10 at the 36 yard line mid second quarter, Smith connected on a pass play of 27 yards with Crabtree, moving San Francisco for the very first time into the red zone.

Then Morgan caught a 6 yard pass, setting up a touchdown catch of 3 yards by Davis two plays later. For the 49ers tight end it was his ninth touchdown reception of the season.

Smith faked to the right and then turned to the left. He found Davis wide open in the end zone’s left corner.

Late first half Davis had a catch of 30 yards on fourth down and one as well.

However neither Rodger or Green Bay were gloating after their 30-24 win over the 49ers on Sunday. During the second half the Packers (6-4) almost blew their big lead. They also may now have to try to hang in there in the race for the playoffs without two of their key defensive players: Aaron Kampman, outside linebacker, and Al Harris, cornerback, who both suffered knee injures that are potentially very serious.

During the second half both Harris and Kampman were carted off and back to the Packers locker room. Mike McCarthy, Packers coach, admitted there is concern over the severity of the two players injuries.

McCarthy said, those two injuries hopefully are not as serious as we are thinking.

The Packers coach added that the team would hopefully know more on Monday about Harris and Kampman. In the meantime they will try to carry the things they did do right from the first half over into their game in Detroit on Thursday.

If Rodgers was feeling any satisfaction from defeating the team that had passed him up in the draft, the quarterback was keeping those thoughts to himself.

Rodgers, a Chico, California native said, it’s a lot of fun playing against a team you idolized when you were growing up. Every Sunday I watched them after church. Those guys deserved a lot of credit. They fought harder during the second half.

Alex Smith, San Francisco’s No. 1 draft pick the year they passed up Rodgers, was able to rebound from his miserable start. After halftime he threw three touchdown passes for San Francisco (4-6), include Michael Crabtree’s first career touchdown catch.

However the 49ers’ rally fell short, making their path to making it into the playoffs a lot harder.

Mike Singletary, 49ers coach said, we either dig ourselves into a big hole early on and there’s too much for us to overcome or we get ahead and end up getting too comfortable when we have the lead. We need to start settling down. The young guys need to settle down some and just play the game of football.

At halftime Green Bay led the game 23-3 and during the four quarter 30-10 after Nick Collins picked off an Alex Smith pass, setting up a touchdown run of one yard by Ryan Grant, who had 129 yards rushing.

Josh Morgan of the 49ers had a kickoff return of 76 yards. Smith then connected with Vernon Davis on a touchdown pass of 24 yards to cut the Packers’ lead down to 30-17.

During the next series, with Kampman and Harris sidelined, Smith completed long passes to Crabtree and Isaac Bruce. That set up a fourth down and 5 play from the 10 yard line of the Packers. With 5:56 remaining, Smith threw a touchdown pass to Frank Gore and cut the Packers lead even further down to 30-24.

Charles Woodson, Packers cornerback said, just because you have a lead over a team that doesn’t mean they will quit. They didn’t quit. During the second half we gave up some big plays to them. We let them stay in and gave them confidence.

The success for the 49ers according to Davis came mostly from the team’s shotgun spread formations. He suggested using the spread more frequently.

Davis said, we need to come in from the very start and take advantage of what we can. If it means spread the ball, we maybe should do it. It’s not my call though. I don’t call our plays.

The starting quarterback of the 49ers wasn’t sold though, stating they were too deep into the season for making major changes.

Green Bay, despite all the swings in momentum, was able to hold on and win. During their recent losses to Tampa Bay and Minnesota they didn’t do that.

McCarthy said, this is something we definitely can build from. In the past we had some of those swings in momentum. Two weeks ago we had that and we didn’t recover.

Following the touchdown by Gore, Green Bay put a drive together, including a crucial third down conversion that Rodgers got on a quarterback sneak on that allowed the Packers to run the clock out.

Rodgers went 32 for 45 for a total of 344 yards passing, with 274 of his yards coming during the first half when Green Bay built their 23-3 lead. The offensive line for the Packers did a serviceable job. On Sunday they gave up two sacks. Coming in, Rodgers had been sacked 41 times, the worst in the league.

Smith went 16 for 33 for a total of 227 yards passing. Although his rally in the second half was impressive, the performance by Rodgers provided more evidence that Green Bay got a better deal from San Francisco selecting Smith in 2005 as their No. 1 draft pick. Rodgers had also been considered as the top draft pick, but ended up slipping all the way down to No. 24 where the Packers selected him.

Smith said, I’m happy for the guy. He’s been through a lot of adversity. That deal on draft day and then coming here and sitting behind Brett Favre. Then that Brett Favre thing happening here. He had big shoes he needed to fill. The guy stepped up.

Mike Singletary, 49ers head coach, didn’t man handle his old team exactly. Cutler instead handed a desperate San Francisco team a win that was very much needed.

Frank Gore had 104 yards rushing and scored a touchdown. Meanwhile Cutler threw five interceptions, his career high. The last one came on the final play of the game into the end zone. With their 10-6 win on Thursday night the 49ers snapped their losing streak at four games.

Mark Roman, 49ers safety referring to Cutler said, I don’t think he was really trying to force it. He was just trying to make some plays when they needed them at the time. We knew that the football would be up in the air. If our coverages were sound we knew we would have a chance.

Alex Smith, 49ers quarterback, got his first win in eight starts. His last victory came versus St. Louis in Week 2 of the 2007 season. However, the game was interesting right until the very end.

With 2:53 remaining in the game, after Singletary made the decision to punt on fourth down and six from the 34 yard line of Chicago versus his former team, Cutler led the Bears down to the 12 yard line of the 49ers with only 13 seconds left to play. On first down Cutler threw an incomplete pass, and then on his next attempt Michael Lewis picked off the pass inside the end zone as time expired. It was the first win for the 49ers since October 4 when they routed the Rams 35-0.

For the post game news conference Cutler showed up still in his uniform except for his jersey and pads.

Cutler said, it was very tough out there. I apologize to our defense. Our whole offense I think needs to apologize. Our defense played great and kept us in the game even with all of our turnovers.

It was far from being pretty, with two struggling teams in the game who are still trying to make it into the playoffs.

Just four days after San Francisco (4-5) had four turnovers leading to 24 points in their loss to Tennessee 34-27, the 49ers had nine penalties and Smith was sacked two times and threw an interception.

All game long Cutler took opportunities away from Chicago (4-5). The Bears, who were penalized 10 times, lost their second game in a row and fourth in the last five games. Patrick Willis, with his 11 tackles, wreaked havoc on Chicago.

Smith said, it’s definitely nice being on the other side of that.

Cutler’s five pick offs tied him for the most interceptions thrown by a Bears quarterback since October 2, 1960 when Zeke Bratkowski had seven in a game Chicago lost to Baltimore 42-7.

It was the second time Cutler has thrown four interceptions or more this season. In total he has 17, the worst in the NFL. Cutler became the first Bears quarterback to throw four interceptions in two games during a season since Billy Wade did it in 1962.

Cutler said, I’ve played before in Thursday games and had success. That didn’t affect us for this game. We saw everything that was coming. They didn’t surprise us. The fact is we didn’t execute.

Robbie Gould had 38 and 50 yard field goals for the Bears. It quickly became a game of what team would make fewer mistakes and keep possession.

Singletary said, on offense we did barely enough to win this game.

The game was the first time as a head coach that Singletary faced off against his former team. The ex linebacker and Hall of Famer played his entire 12 year NFL career with Chicago. He played in 10 Pro Bowls, was awarded Defensive Player of the Year two times, and was on Chicago’s 1985 Super Bowl championship team.

Singletary wasn’t interested in any of the hype surrounding him facing his old team. He insisted that he didn’t have time to think about anything except coaching San Francisco to get a win and save their season.

After the game Singletary said, we were just playing another team on our schedule.

In was the seventh home win game in a row for San Francisco versus Chicago, including one playoff game. The last victory for Chicago in Candlestick Park was in 1985 during the Bears Super Bowl championship season. That year it was Singletary who led the Bears defense. The previous three games in the series had been won by Chicago.

Late second quarter Gore had a touchdown run of 14 yards following the second interception by Cutler. Going into halftime the 49ers led 7-3.

Alex Brown, Bears defensive end said referring to Cutler, everyone has bad days at work. We need to have his back. We do have his back.

Early fourth quarter Joe Nedney kicked a field goal of 21 yards. During the opening drive for the 49ers he had missed wide right on an attempt of 39 yards. It was the first time he had missed a field goal from less than 40 yards all season.

Neither one of the quarterbacks had impressive stats. Cutler went 29 for 52 for a a total of 307 yards passing and Smith went 16 for 23 for a total of 118 yards. The Bears out gained the 49ers 350 yards to 216 yards.

Vernon Davis, 49ers tight end, fired the Bears with his Tuesday trash talk. He said, I think we will be able to destroy their front. Adewale Ogunleye, Bears defensive lineman, and Davis mixed it up in a jawing session during the pregame. Prior to the coin toss some of the captions for Chicago avoided shaking the hand of Davis.

Davis doled out his own form of punishment. He bowled over Nick Roach, Bears linebacker, sending him briefly to the sideline during his only catch in the half. Davis also received two penalties for false starts.

Davis said, it’s a big relief. To get this win is a blessing. We need to keep on winning.

With 3:53 remaining the 49ers punting the ball, giving Chicago one last chance.

The gritty play of Young’s at the quarterback position has provided the Titans with a morale boost that has been very much needed after their 0-6 start. Tennessee has won two games in a row.

Chris Johnson, only six plays after having his touchdown run of 81 yards overturned, got a pitch from Young, scoring the go ahead touchdown on a run of 2 yards and leading Tennessee to their second consecutive victory on Sunday by defeating the stumbling 49ers 34-27.

Young proved that his comeback is a legitimate one. He outplayed Alex Smith, fellow first round pick in the draft, down the final stretch. For the second time in two weeks, Young has led Tennessee (2-6) into the end zone and been clutch when it really mattered.

Kevin Mawae, Titans center said referring to the ordeal of Young, you go through a maturing process when you are not the main guy anymore. He had to sit back for over a year and see what someone like Kerry does. He has been in the NFL for 15 years. You see how he handles a 13-3 successful season and also how handled the 0-6 start and all of those ups and downs. There’s a lot you can’t help learning from.

On fourth down and just inches to go, Johnson converted to get his second touchdown for the game to make up for the lost six points that were taken away a few minutes before when it was determined that he went out of bounds during his long run. When the Titans went for it on fourth down when they could have tied the game with the field goal showed that Jeff Fisher, Titans head coach, had faith that Young and Company could get the job done.

Last Sunday Tennessee defeated Jacksonville to end their losing streak at eight games which dated all the way back to last December. The team suddenly had some momentum, which was very much needed. The Titans now have back to back victories for the first time since defeating Detroit and Cleveland during last season’s Weeks 13-14 on their way to finishing 13-3.

Young said, we are believing in each other. Everybody is excited and has confidence in each other. Right now it’s tremendous. It feels really good coming over to our sideline and hearing the defense cheering you on or vice versa. Right now everyone’s together. I wanted to get out there to show everyone what has been going on for me, to show what I have been doing all this time behind the scenes.

During the final 6:24 of the game, Smith had two interceptions. In all he had three interceptions, got sacked four times and had two fumbles. It wasn’t the type of day he had been hoping for in his first start at home in over two years. On October 25 versus the Texans, coach Mike Singletary brought in Smith and benched Shaun Hill. Smith has been the 49ers starting quarterback since then.

The Titans scored 24 points off of turnovers by the 49ers.

Following the score by Johnson, Chris Hope picked of a Smith pass on the ensuing series of the 49ers, setting up a field goal of 28 yards by Rob Bironas. Cortland Finnegan then had an interception return of 39 yards to score a touchdown, sealing the victory for the Titans.

The 49ers (3-5) have lost four games in a row after starting the season 3-1. San Francisco won’t have much time to recover with Chicago coming to visit for a game on Thursday night.

Mike Singletary, 49ers coach said, it’s very frustrating for us to be here at this point. However we still have eight games to play. We need to make sure that get out there and play an entire football game and not kill ourselves during the process.

Johnson and Young smiled on the sideline while standing together as they waited for the game to end.

After the touchdown of Johnson’s was reversed by the officials, Young connected with Justin Gage, who made a leaping catch in between his two defenders, on a pass of 33 yards to get the Titans into the red zone. On the big plays Tennessee just kept converting.

Johnson had 135 yards rushing on 25 carries, his career high. Fifty three of his yards came after his run for a touchdown was nullified. Young, who last week got his starting quarterback job back, went 12 for 19 for a total of 172 yards passing. He also had a touchdown run of 7 yards. Through eight games, Johnson has rushed for 959 yards.

Johnson said, right now we are confident. We are feeling like a new team. We have a new schedule to play.

Vernon Davis caught 10 passes for 102 yards for the 49ers in a game that was a matchup between two quarterbacks who have improved their play of late as they attempt to rebuild their careers. For Smith, the 2005 No. 2 pick overall in the draft, this game was a step backwards. During the final moments of the game the fans who bothered to stay until the end booed Smith.

Smith said, I think it’s too early to know whether this is a regression or not.

For the 49ers Jason Hill had touchdown catches of 3 and 12 yards. San Francisco needs to turn things around quickly in order to have a shot at making the playoffs or snap their streak of having six losing seasons in a row, the worst in franchise history.

Frank Gore had only 83 yards rushing in 15 carries. He did score on a touchdown run of 3 yards and caught seven passes for a total of 75 yards receiving.

During the first quarter, Young connected on a nice completion of 49 yards to Gage, who caught four passes in the game.