San Francisco 49ers Week 8

By Kalen Patrick

Well the 49ers were able to avoid the trap game that was the Cleveland Browns and won the game 20-10. The 49ers absolutely dominated the Browns the entire 1st half and it is mind boggling the score was only 10-0 at the half. The 2nd half was mostly sloppy play on both sides, the Browns at one point did pull within 17-10, but a late David Akers FG sealed the game for the 49ers, who won for the 5th consecutive game. It's been 13 years since the 49ers have been 6-1.

The respective stars of the game were Frank Gore on offense and Navarro Bowman on defense. Frank Gore essentially had his way with the Browns defense rushing for over 130 yards (and passing Roger Craig for 2nd on the 49ers all-time rushing list). The 49ers had a solid pass attack, with some very clever trick plays thrown in (passes to LT Joe Staley and NT Isaac Sopoaga).

ILB NAVARRO BOWMAN HAS BEEN RELENTLESS BESIDE PATRICK WILLIS

The defense lead by Patrick Willis and Navarro Bowman was stout yet again. Not until the 4th quarter did the Browns ever really get anything going. The defensive line had another great game and the 49ers got great pass rush from Ahmad Brooks, Aldon Smith and Justin Smith.

#21 FRANK GORE HAS BEEN ON A MISSION IN 2011

The one key area for the 49ers to really improve upon is becoming more consistent in the passing game. Almost the entire 2nd half Alex Smith seemed out of sync with the offense and never really looked like much of a threat. Thanks in big part to the effective running of Frank Gore, that Smith didn't need to light up the stats sheet in order to get the win. I'm looking forward to seeing the 49ers open up the passing game more. However, the running game is working so well, it's very hard to go away from that. Ultimately, if it ain't broke then don't fix it. I'm liking the connection Alex Smith and Michael Crabtree have shown and look forward to more Braylon Edwards.

The 49ers will travel back to the East Coast to take on the struggling 3-3 Washington Redskins this Sunday. It's never easy to go West to East, and while I like the 49ers chances, especially against Grossman/Beck, anything can happen come Sunday. The 49ers do have a shot at wrapping up the division ridiculously early. Not sure whether thats a good thing or bad thing.

49ers Stats Leaders
Alex Smith - 1267 YARD's, 9 TD's, 2 INT's, 95.7 QB RATING
Frank Gore - 675 YARDS, 5 TD's
Vernon Davis - 297 YARDS, 3 TD's

Navarro Bowman - 68 TACKLES
Aldon Smith - 6.5 SACKS