San Francisco 20, Pittsburgh 3
When: 8:30 PM ET, Monday, December 19, 2011
Where: Candlestick Park, San Francisco, California
Temperature:
51°
Head Official:
Walt Coleman
Attendance:
69732
By SportsDirect Inc.
Alex Smith threw a 1-yard scoring pass to Vernon Davis and Frank Gore ran for a 5-yard touchdown as the San Francisco 49ers pulled away in the second half for a 20-3 victory over the visiting Pittsburgh Steelers on Monday night.
San Francisco (11-3) got a stellar defensive effort, forcing four turnovers and sacking Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger three times in snapping Pittsburgh's four-game winning streak.
San Francisco extended its streak of not allowing a 100-yard rusher to 36 games and became the only team in history to not surrender a rushing TD in the first 14 games of a season.
The loss was a costly one for the Steelers (10-4), who fell a game behind New England for the top overall seed in the AFC and dropped into a tie atop the AFC North with Baltimore. The Ravens hold the tiebreaker by virtue of a season sweep.
The 49ers intercepted Roethlisberger three times and used a dominating game of field position to stifle the Steelers, who did not start beyond their 20-yard line on nine consecutive drives.
Even when Pittsburgh finally got on the board, cutting the lead to 6-3 on Shaun Suisham's season-long 51-yard field goal with 6:08 left in the third quarter, San Francisco responded with the game's first touchdown on the ensuing possession.
Smith was 5 of 5 on the drive, hooking up with Davis for 31 yards and 21 yards before rolling out and hitting his tight end from 1 yard out for a 13-3 lead with 3:44 left in the third.
The 49ers then took advantage of two huge mistakes to break the game open. A sack of Roethlisberger and fumble recovery by Justin Smith set the Niners up at Pittsburgh's 17-yard line.
The Steelers stiffened and forced a short field goal attempt, but Lawrence Timmons was penalized for leaping on the play, giving the 49ers a first down at the 5. Gore plowed in two plays later for a 20-3 lead with 9:06 to play.
Roethlisberger, playing with a high ankle sprain, threw for 330 yards on 25-of-44 passing. Smith was 18 of 31 for 187 yards and a TD.
The start of the game was delayed 20 minutes by a power outage at Candlestick Park, and a second outage delay the contest for 16 minutes early in the second quarter.
Offense was at a premium in the first half with two field goals by David Akers accounting for San Francisco's 6-0 lead.
Akers’ 38-yarder with 12:13 to go in the second quarter gave him 141 points on the season and eclipsed the franchise single-season record set by Hall of Famer Jerry Rice (138) in 1987.
Top Game Performances
Team Stats Summary
| |
Yards |
Scoring |
Defense |
| Team |
Tot |
Rus |
Pas |
TD |
FG |
INT |
Sck |
FF |
| Pittsburgh
|
389 |
84 |
305 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0.0 |
0 |
| San Francisco
|
287 |
100 |
187 |
2 |
2 |
3 |
3.0 |
1 |
Upcoming Games
-
San Francisco will play their next game on the road against Seattle.
The 49ers have a W/L % of .000 after a win and .000 after a loss.
-
Pittsburgh will play their next game at home against St. Louis.
The Steelers have a W/L % of .000 after a win and .000 after a loss.
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