REPORTER’S NOTEBOOK: 49ers 41, Patriots 34

REPORTER’S NOTEBOOK

49ers 41, Patriots 34

Michele Tafoya

 

Friday morning in a meeting room at Foxboro Stadium, Patriots head coach Bill Belichick told our Sunday Night Football production team, “We expect to win.  I’m sure (the Forty-Niners) expect to win, too.

Saturday evening in a meeting room at the Niners’ team hotel in Providence, Rhode Island, San Francisco head coach Jim Harbaugh told us, “This is a big game.  It’s a big task.  We’re up for it.”

On Sunday Night, the Forty-Niners proved they were up for it, winning in a hostile environment, in the rain, on the road.  They withstood a second half 28-point run by Tom Brady and the Pats.

What could have been a major collapse turned into a franchise-altering win.

And after the game, Niners safety Donte Whitner told me, “If we can come in here and win, then we can win anywhere.”

NUGGETS FROM THE NOTEBOOK

MOSS FOR MANNINGHAM

San Francisco WR Mario Manningham missed his second straight game Sunday night, but Randy Moss filled in and scored the game’s first touchdown against his former team.

Manningham suffered a shoulder injury in Week 6 against his former team, the New York Giants, and sat out the following week against Seattle. He’s been on the Niners injury report ever since.

Manningham’s status for next Sunday night at Seattle is not yet known.

Moss also played a role for the San Francisco defense.  According to Niners’ safety Donte Whitner, Moss dispensed a good amount of advice about what to expect from his former teammate, Tom Brady.

Whitner told me that on the team flight from San Francisco to Boston Friday night, he and CB Carlos Rodgers sat with Moss and watched tape of two Patriots games.  Whitner said Moss was able to point out things, like where Brady likes to go with the football in certain situations.  And they spent a good amount of time looking at the Patriots empty formations.

Whitner told me “we picked up some tips.  So when we step out there hopefully it helps us.”

Interestingly, it was Rodgers who came up with the first of two interceptions Brady threw in the game.

SOLDER ON

Very few players in the NFL are 100-percent healthy heading into Week 16, but nowhere are injuries more noticed than on the offensive line.

Brady needed all the protection he could get against San Francisco’s front seven Sunday night.  And even though he had his entire starting offensive line in front if him, the two-time Super Bowl MVP was sacked three times and pressured throughout the first half.

So how concerned should the Patriots be heading into the season’s final stretch?

LT Nate Solder injured his abdomen in the second quarter of Monday night’s win over Houston and was added to the team’s injury report Friday after being escorted off the practice field by athletic trainers.

His partner on the left side of the line, LG Logan Mankins, has missed six games so far this season with ankle, calf and hip issues.

And RG Dan Connolley — who suffered a concussion early in the season — has been dealing with a back injury since leaving the Buffalo game in week 10.  His backup, Nick McDonald, has had a lingering shoulder injury all season.

JUSTIN TIME

It was hard to ignore the fact that the San Francisco defense looked quite different after DT Justin Smith suffered an elbow injury.

Smith left the field in the third quarter to get x-rays on his left elbow.  He returned to the sidelines, had the elbow wrapped up and returned to the field for one play.

After that, Smith was back on the sideline having the wrapping removed from that elbow.  He did not return to the field Sunday Night.

GRONK RETURNS TO PRACTICE

While Rob Gronkowski did not play Sunday night, there were promising signs for the Pats TE last week.

On Friday, Gronkowski practiced for the first time since fracturing his forearm in the win over Indianapolis the Sunday before Thanksgiving.

The third-year vet took snaps with the first-team offense for a portion of practice.  Gronk also participated in 7-on-7′s wearing a red jersey signaling no contact.  But he ran and caught balls without issue.

NINERS’ RISING STAR

San Francisco RB LeMichael James, who didn’t see playing time from scrimmage until Week 14, told me that he was never disgruntled while waiting for his chance to play.  He said, “We have a great team.  This is a remarkable team.  That’s why I was never upset about not playing.”

And the former Oregon Duck thinks the timing was for the best.  He told me, “The Coaches made the right decision.  I’m more prepared now. I just go with the flow.  Whenever they need me.  I like my role. I just want to help the team win, and I’m not just saying that.”

James told me one of the things that kept him going as he waited for his opportunity was the support of the offensive line.  “It’s the best O-line out there,” he said.  “I love those guys.  They really do believe in me, and that builds my confidence.”

The offensive linemen have nicknamed James “Little Body,” and they like to remind him that no one can see him when he’s behind the line.

HIGH ON HIGHTOWER

Speaking of relevant rookies, I asked Bill Belichick about how Dant’a Hightower is living up to expectations.  Belichick emphasized how versatile Hightower is.  He said, “The game comes easy to him.  You tell him one time and he understands.  He has a passion for football.”

When I told Hightower about Belichick’s comments he said, “I feel like I’m adaptable.  I can learn pretty fast.  Obviously I’m pretty big and pretty strong.  That being said, I have a great teacher In Pepper Johnson.  And all those guys in the linebacker room.”

The Patriots’ defensive veterans are clearly influential.  Hightower told me one of the reasons the Patriot defense is giving up fewer big plays lately is the leadership of the veterans, who were emphatic that things needed to change.

The rookie told me there was one team meeting where Vince Wilfork stood up and said, “We’re not going to have a big run again.”  And, Hightower added, when you have Vince Wilfork telling you that, it’s hard to argue.

Hightower, and Alabama product, is especially enjoying the camaraderie he has with the other  starting linebackers, who also came from SEC teams: Jerod Mayo from Tennessee, Brandon Spikes from Florida.  Hightower told me that even though there is good-natured ribbing about conference rivalries, all three of the linebackers feel a bond.

“To us it’s SEC against the world,” he said. “It’s a real honor and a real pleasure to have those guys in the locker room for me to learn from.”