Running game stalls on 49ers doorstep

Cadillac's return is soured by the 49ers' eight-man front as the Bucs are held to 43 yards rushing.

By JOANNE KORTH
Published October 31, 2005

SAN FRANCISCO - Despite the eagerly anticipated return of Cadillac Williams, the Bucs' running game failed to make a dent in the 49ers. Actually, it was the other way around.

Tampa Bay rushed 20 times for 43 yards in Sunday's 15-10 loss.

"We did not get anything going running the football, and that obviously hurt us," coach Jon Gruden said. "We barely got the car out of the garage."

Williams was ineffective against a 49ers defense that used an eight-man front to crowd the line of scrimmage. He gained 20 yards on 13 carries, including a 15-yard run on a third-and-26 play in the first half in which the 49ers were more concerned with preventing a deep pass.

Williams lost yardage five times and was tackled for no gain twice.

"I feel like any time the running game's not going, it's got something to do with the running back and the offensive line," Williams said. "We, as a whole, just weren't getting the job done. You have to tip your hat to the 49ers; they did a great job."

Williams said he was not limited by the foot injury that forced him to miss the past two games. Williams strained tendons in the arch of his left foot Sept.18.

"I wasn't limited at all," he said. "That's just how it goes."

San Francisco entered the game ranked 24th in the league against the run, allowing an average of 124.2 yards. Still, the Bucs were not surprised the 49ers geared their defensive game plan toward stopping the league's fifth-ranked running attack, especially with quarterback Chris Simms making his first start of the season.

"They used a lot of eight-man fronts, but this is the seventh game of the year and teams have a lot of time to study us and they know what we're going to do," right tackle Kenyatta Walker said. "We know they know what our plays are. As you get later in the season, it's going to get repetitive. It comes down to who wants it more, and they played inspired football."

Center John Wade said the offensive line failed to open holes the way it had previously.

"Personally, I was coming off blocks and letting guys get in on plays and make plays when I shouldn't have," Wade said. "We didn't execute. As an offense, we didn't get it done."

Running back Michael Pittman, who ran well the past two games in place of Williams, also was stymied by the 49ers. He had four carries for 5 yards.

"Our game plan was to run the ball and move the ball down the field the best way we can, and we didn't do that," Pittman said. "They did a good job stopping the run.

"The past couple weeks they were really getting beat up on the running game. They had everybody in the box, but we prepared for that. Our coaches showed us all different kinds of fronts we were going to face. Still, we came out and didn't run the ball well at all. Cadillac got stopped. I got stopped.

"As an offense we didn't do a good job at all."

[Last modified October 31, 2005, 08:41:02]