Thoughts on Sunday's 49ers loss to the Colts

San Francisco 49ers quarterback Alex Smith (11) is pressured by Indianapolis Colts defensive tackle Eric Foster during the third quarter of an NFL football game in Indianapolis, Sunday, Nov. 1, 2009. Indianapolis won 18-14.
(AP Photo/Darron Cummings)

Mike Singletary is scheduled to speak with the media at 11:45 AM today after another tough loss to a team in which the 49ers played well enough to win.

The 18-14 loss to the Colts was the team's fourth loss in five games, putting them at 3-4. Fortunately the Cardinals lost on Sunday, putting the defending division champions up by only one game. But despite the loss, the team continues to battle, telling the fans to keep the faith.

another tough one today. we're going to get better. keep the faith in us!!!
- LB Takeo Spikes via Twitter

Looking at what the 49ers did on Sunday, I was impressed. The 49ers led for three quarters against the dangerous Colts. They held the running attack to only 61 yards, kept Peyton Manning out of the end zone, which forced the Colts to score their only touchdown via a trick play. That's a pretty impressive performance on the 49ers and their defense.

Defensive coordinator Greg Manusky said that he would hope he could come up with defensive schemes to fool Manning, and he did well in that department. Manusky kept Manning unbalanced early by not putting any down linemen at the line of scrimmage, something that the New England Patriots are known to do. With that, Manning could not figure out which defenders were rushing him until he snapped the ball. The scheme was done very well and the 49ers have clearly made their mark as a solid defensive team in the league.

The problem for the team on Sunday was their inconsistent offense. Offensive coordinator Jimmy Raye said that he wouldn't change the playbook to compensate for Alex Smith, but on Sunday, he did the opposite of what we have seen from him. The 49ers ran nearly two passing plays for every running play. Given Smith's stronger arm over Shaun Hill, Raye clearly change the offensive attack for Smith.

Smith looked the most comfortable in the team's final scoring drive in the first half. Starting on their own 11-yard line, the team marched down the field to an 8-yard Vernon Davis touchdown pass in only 1:11. Smith completed 6-7 passes on that drive, all in the spread formation. This would be the only successful drive the 49ers would have all game.

Prior to that, RB Frank Gore had a nice 64-yard touchdown run to draw first blood early in the first quarter. Gore was ineffective on the ground for the remainder of the game, gaining only 20 yards after that touchdown. But Gore did only have 13 total carries, so we don't know how he would have done if he had gotten the ball more.

Without a successful running game, the 49ers were forced to pass. Some may wonder why the 49ers didn't go shotgun for the second half. A part of the reason why the 49ers couldn't afford to do it more was simply because the offensive line would not have been able to handle it. With Joe Staley out with a right knee sprain, and his replacement Barry Sims getting his first meaningful playing time of the season, it would have been a tough task for the offensive line to pick up the blitzes. Smith was sacked four times during the game, which makes me wonder if the team's offensive line can ever really protect their quarterback.

The 49ers could have at least done a hurry up shotgun for a couple plays, but I believe that they just didn't feel that they would find success in it. That lack of confidence may have cost the 49ers the game on Sunday. There wasn't a strong enough aggressive approach in the second half, which allowed the Colts to crawl right back into the game.

Two years ago, the 49ers were accused of not having a "killer instinct" as a team, especially on offense. They weren't aggressive enough, which allowed the opposition to run right over the 49ers. I don't want to call this team that just right now, but this past Sunday showed me that the 49ers had a great chance to win, but never took that opportunity to do so.

Call it what you want, but the offense didn't put up a strong threat against the Colts in the second half. That's not going to help the 49ers win many more games if they continue to play like that.

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Other thoughts...

- Joey Staley's injury at this moment is uncertain, but Singletary should provide an update on it. Nate Clements' shoulder injure more than likely will end his season. Waiting on official word from the team.

- Brandon Jones got some playing time by returning punts. Catching a ball at the 3-yard line rather than letting it bounce for a touchback is another reason why I think the 49ers made a huge mistake in letting Allen Rossum go.

- Barry Sims, Joe Staley's replacement, played well for most of the game. But in the fourth quarter, the offensive line started to give up sacks, killing potential scoring drives.

- Gore's 13 carries is way too low for the former Pro Bowler. A solid running back like Gore should get at least 20 carries a game. Not giving Gore the ball more makes him an insignificant part of the offense, and it just limits the 49ers to a one-dimensional team.

- Isaac Bruce, Michael Crabtree and Vernon Davis are playing all at a high level right now, which is a really good sign for an OK passing game.

- The one stat that pretty much sums up the game: Third down conversions. 49ers went 2-10 while the Colts went 8-19.

For more 49ers news: Visit my my blog at Mining the Gold Rush .