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Closer Look Davis' TD leaves 49ers dazed and confused
Posted: Tuesday November 30, 1999 10:05 AM
By Jon A. Dolezar, CNN/SI SAN FRANCISCO -- Packers tight end Tyrone Davis has been a bit of a hidden weapon for Green Bay the last couple of seasons. Never did the Packers think that they would be able to hide him from the opposition in the middle of the field though. Davis' 10-yard touchdown catch in the third quarter lifted Green Bay to a 17-3 lead, which was more than enough for the Packers on a night when San Francisco's offense was bogged down in the 3Com Park quagmire. The Packers came out in a four wide-receiver set on second-and-goal from the 10-yard line. Brett Favre came to the line of scrimmage, and the 49ers defenders danced around in a fit of confusion about eight yards off the line of scrimmage. Winfred Tubbs, Ken Norton and Tim McDonald were all bunched in the middle of the field, but no one was covering Davis in the left slot. McDonald recognized the 49ers' confusion and tried to catch the officials' attention to signal a timeout, but Favre got the snap from center Frank Winters before McDonald could get the timeout called. Favre saw that Davis was uncovered, and quickly gunned the ball his way after taking a one-step drop. Davis made the easy grab at the 6-yard line and dashed untouched in the end zone to put Green Bay up by two touchdowns and seal the game. "Their safeties looked a little confused on the play," Davis said. "There was a miscommunication between their defensive backs. I looked at him [Favre] and saw in his eyes that he read the same thing that I did. Brett just had the ball snapped quickly and threw it to me." The Packers quarterback said that his team was trying to utilize different formations to confuse the 49ers during the game. "They didn't line up on the tight end," Favre said. "We tried the formations with a bunch of different motions and stuff. We figured they would come in and play man coverage and blitz us. So we tried to confuse them with our formations and stuff, and that particular play we got them." The 49ers defensive backs admitted that there was confusion amongst them, but they gave Favre and the Packers credit for exploiting their confusion. "It was a mix-up in the coverage," free safety Lance Schulters said. "They got us. They snapped the ball before we had a chance to call a timeout and he was open. That's what beat us right there. It was a blown assignment on our part. ... Some of our plays will look ugly on tape, but what's happening is missed coverages." San Francisco defensive coordinator Jim Mora Jr. said that mental mistakes like what happened on Davis' touchdown are unforgivable in a tight game. "We don't have a lot of margin for error," Mora Jr. said. "That's just the way it is right now. So therefore, every error is magnified. We can't allow those things to happen. We've got to be better defensively than to allow and easy one.
"Wins are hard to come by when you give them an easy one like that. It's really bad, and it looks bad. It's simple miscommunication, but it just shouldn't happen."
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