Redemption for Gore as he carries load for SF

SAN FRANCISCO — Frank Gore pledged to redeem himself after his 52-yard, two-fumble performance last week. Consider the Niners running back absolved.

Gore had 149 yards on 25 carries in San Francisco's 17-9 win over the Raiders on Sunday after he entered averaging a career-worst 3.7 yards a carry and hadn't a rush of more than 20 yards this season.

Coach Mike Singletary had said Gore's problems were tied to the offensive line. But there has been speculation that it could also be the hard-running Gore's workload over his six-year, 1,259-carry career.

In the second half, though, Gore flashed his old form, collecting 123 yards on 18 carries and ripping off a 64-yard, fourth-quarter gain to set the stage for the 49ers' final touchdown.

Gore passed Ken Willard and moved into third place on the Niners' career rushing list with 6,032 yards. He trails Roger Craig (7,344) and Joe Perry (7,064).

Establishing Gore has long been a key to San Francisco's success.

Since 2005, the Niners are 16-6 when Gore rushes for 100 yards and 16-48 when he doesn't hit the century mark. They are 13-0 when he has at least 24 carries. Gore finally got it going after managing 26 yards on seven first-half carries.

“We just had to calm down. We just had to be us,” Gore said.

“Like I told everybody, I told Alex (Smith), ‘Let's just go out there like it's practice. You know how in practice we do everything right? Let's just go out and do the same thing, we're just playing against guys in a different jersey.”

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(pressdemocrat.com)