Gore passed over in game plan

One of the curiosities about the 49ers' fading season is how, in the last month, they've morphed from coach Mike Singletary's deeply held philosophy of being a smashmouth running team into a pass-happy bunch.
Not that Seattle, mind you, was complaining Sunday.

After dealing the 49ers a tough-to-swallow 20-17 loss, several Seahawks — including coach Jim Mora — rubbed salt in the wound by expressing their profound gratitude that Frank Gore didn't carry the ball more often.

"It's a load off when they take care of one of our problems for us," said Seattle linebacker Aaron Curry of Gore's nine carries for 25 yards. "It was ... beautiful."

While 49ers quarterback Alex Smith had another strong afternoon operating a spread offense-like attack — completing 27 of 45 passes for a career-high 310 yards and two touchdowns — finding a balance between the run and pass continues to elude a team now in danger of missing the playoffs.

Singletary, as he conducted his post-mortem Monday, once again said that he doesn't care how the 49ers win, just as long as they do.

The Seattle defense, he added, was focused primarily on stopping Gore, who burned the Seahawks for 207 yards rushing in a Week 2 49ers victory. So San Francisco tried to make them pay through the air.

"I don't want us to outsmart ourselves," Singletary said. "If they have a package out there where it's better to throw the ball, then we need to take advantage of that matchup. You have to be smart about the matchups."

In fact, he added that "some" calls intended to be running plays were changed on the field once Smith got a better look at the Seattle defensive scheme.

That said, even tight end Vernon Davis expressed some mild surprise that the 49ers' offense has been opened up so dramatically in recent weeks.

"But it takes everybody on the team to make things happen," he added. "Frank just can't do everything all by himself."

Of course, it didn't add up to a win Sunday in large part because the 49ers made too many mistakes — highlighted by two fumbles and numerous dropped passes. And now the math doesn't favor their playoffs hopes.

The 49ers (5-7) are three games behind NFC West-leading Arizona (8-4) with four left to play as the two teams head into a showdown Monday at Candlestick Park. The 49ers could run the table and it still might not be enough considering the depth of the hole they've dug for themselves.

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(mercurynews.com)