49ers looking to shape up on defense

49ERS: SF confident issues on defense can be resolved

By Matthew Barrows
The Sacramento Bee

last updated: October 07, 2008 02:39:46 AM

SANTA CLARA -- Patrick Willis emerged from Sunday's 30-21 loss to New England frustrated that he and his defensive teammates couldn't stop the Patriots, who held the ball for 39 minutes, 52 seconds, the second-most lopsided margin of any game this season.

The San Francisco 49ers linebacker emerged from a film-room session Monday, however, reassured that the problem is correctable.

"After watching the film, I feel just as I did coming into training camp, just as I did at the start of the season, just as I do today -- that I have complete faith and confidence in our team," said Willis, who had a game-high 18 tackles.

He said technical errors -- attacking the wrong gap, for example -- were to blame for the defensive struggles against the Patriots. In saying so, Willis sounded much like head coach Mike Nolan, who hours earlier said correctable mistakes were to blame for the team's two-game skid.

"If you can look at a film and all you see is just you getting your tail whipped, that's real discouraging," Nolan said. "But in this case right here, in the last two weeks, we've made several errors on our own account and have hurt ourselves: changed game momentum, changed game field position, changed a lot of things in the course of those mistakes. Some have been technique; some have been mental."

Keeping the faith is a key objective in coming weeks.

The 49ers have lost two consecutive games against good but wounded opponents. The euphoria that surrounded the team following the 31-13 win over Detroit on Sept. 21 has been replaced by a dread that perhaps the 49ers haven't made as much improvement from previous seasons as previously believed.

In fact, Nolan was answering the same sort of questions Monday he was asked in 2007, including whether he was worried about job security.

"As far as performing for my job, I've never looked at it that way," he said. "I'm always -- every day I'm doing that. If you're 5-0, you're coaching for your job, so that doesn't change. That's just the nature of the beast so to speak."

Nolan also insisted the 49ers have progressed from last season. Entering Monday night, the offense ranked 21st overall and 11th in scoring after finishing last in both categories a season ago.

On defense, however, the 49ers are allowing more points (25.4) and yards rushing per game (128.4) than they gave up in 2007.

"We're at 2-3 in this (fourth) year," Nolan said. "I don't know where we'll end up. We need to do better right now. I would expect us to be at least a game or two better than we are right now from a record standpoint, so we'll see where that takes us. But there's a lot of football left, as we all well know, between now and the end of the season."

Willis also expected a better outcome after five games, specifically against the Patriots.

"I felt all week (leading up to the game) that it was going to be a chance for us to get a big win for our program, for our organization," said Willis, who sat in a daze in the locker room for several minutes after the game. "Even when the game started, I felt that. I knew it was going to be a good game. Nobody ever expects to roll over anybody, but we expect to win.

"It was heartbreaking."

• Comments
• Add Comment
• Disclaimer