It looked like Mike Singletary’s big plan to run, run, run the ball with Frank Gore was going to be a monumental failure after the Niners opening drive against the NFC Champion Arizona Cardinals Sunday afternoon. On the first two runs of the day Gore was stuffed for -5

and a third down incomplete pass from Shaun Hill gave the Niners an unimpressive 3-and-out.

But… with good defense and persistence Gore got into the end zone twice, once on a 6-yard run in the second quarter, and again on a 3-yard pass from Shaun Hill in the fourth to give the Niners the go ahead score. In all it was not a great day for the Niners running game as Gore ran for only 30 yards. Hill passed for 210 yards with one touchdown. In all, a great game against the tough Arizona defense, but with all of Singletary’s macho talk about the running game I hope to see more in the weeks to come.

I questioned Coach Singletary before the game but he made me eat my words. Patrick Willis led the defense with 11 tackles and an interception, an expected performance from the third-year linebacker. Aside from Arizona running back Tim Hightower getting 121 yards receiving it was a pretty spectacular day for the Niners defense. It seems Singletary has set a standard for the season that I hope he and the players can continue to live up to. In these days of post DeBartolo 49er football, faith is fleeting.