Fact: 49ers lost because Martz messed up

SAN FRANCISCO

Do you get the feeling 49er offensive coordinator Mike Martz is overrated? Do you get the feeling his reputation is based on stuff that happened long in the past? Do you get the feeling he’s an illusion and maybe even a fraud? Do you get the feeling the 49ers lost to the Eagles because Martz screwed up? I sure do.

After watching the 49ers play their hearts out and be entertaining — for a while — and lead — for a while — it was discouraging to the max to see Martz throw the game away.

It’s time to examine Mike Martz’s football sins — they abound. The Niners entered the fourth quarter leading. Things looked good. Things looked rosy. It looked like a 49er win and it wouldn’t be any old win. It would be a win against the Eagles, a win that redeemed the franchise, a win that would put head coach Mike Nolan on a track to stay on as head coach, as opposed to what he’s on now — a fast track to unemployment.

So, what did Martz do wrong?

Well, the 49ers had a nine-point lead, their largest of the game. Any football coach knows what you do in a case like that — and I’m not talking about only professional coaches. I’m including pee-wee football coaches in this discussion. When you enter the fourth quarter leading by nine and when, in addition, you have a great running back named Frank Gore, you run the ball. Let me repeat that. Run the freaking ball.

Why? Because it uses up time.

Why? Because it keeps the opposing defense on the field.

Why? Because it cuts down on mistakes and turnovers.

Why? Because it is basic football wisdom, wisdom carved in stone: With a lead, you run the ball in the fourth quarter.

Unless you are an egomaniac like Martz, unless you consider yourself superior to all the accumulated football wisdom handed down through the generations by Vince Lombardi and Don Shula and Bill Walsh and other great coaches.

I accuse Martz of acting superior by refusing to run when he was supposed to run. I say he lost the game for the Niners because he considers himself better than everyone else. When it mattered, when he needed to run the ball, he began the fourth quarter — he had a second-and-10 — by calling two pass plays that resulted in an incompletion and a sack. And then the Niners punted. And Gore never touched the ball.

Shame on Mike Martz.

So, the Eagles got the ball and, naturally, Philadelphia scored a touchdown against the Niner defense that already was wobbling and would give up — count them — 23 unanswered points in the fourth quarter.

But, OK, the Niners still had a two-point lead, skimpy but a lead. Surely, now Martz would come to his senses and tell Gore to run the ball. Surely, Martz knew his business well enough for that.

No. The next series was strictly pass-pass-pass, as in incomplete, incomplete, completion to Vernon Davis for a seven-yard loss. Again, no Frank Gore. At a time the Niners desperately needed to keep the ball, they retained possession for exactly 57 seconds before being forced to punt.

Shame on Mike Martz.

The Eagles scored a field goal, going up by one point. Still a winnable game for the Niners. Still a chance to feel elation, to feel the season turning around. Except Martz is the offensive coordinator. He began the next series by running Gore on first down for two yards. Well, hallelujah! Martz remembered teams are allowed to run. Then came the play that lost the game for the 49ers. Instead of trying another run, a simple run, a basic run, Martz decided to show everyone how clever he is. He sent Delanie Walker on a misguided end-around, a showy, flashy, quintessential Martz play — that lost 10 yards.

Now quarterback J.T. O’Sullivan faced a third-and-18, an impossible situation. O’Sullivan threw an interception, which directly led to another Eagles’ field goal. That interception should be charged against Martz. At the very least, Martz should get an assist, but there is no category on the stat sheet for “Offensive-coordinator-induced pick.”

There’s more I want to tell you about Martz — hey, I know this feels like piling on, but someone needs to reveal the truth about this guy. Now the Niners were down 30-26, still a game they could win. On second down, Martz had offensive guys shifting around and running here and there behind the quarterback as the play clocked ticked down. It all looked hilarious, like circus clowns imitating football. In this case, it was football clowns imitating football. Finally, a bewildered O’Sullivan called timeout, the Niners’ final timeout, because of the outright chaos behind him.

Shame on Mike Martz for messing around at a time like that.

Two plays later, someone slapped the ball away from O’Sullivan — fumble, recovered by Philly, then a field goal for Philly. Give Martz partial credit for that fumble. But remember O’Sullivan has zero pocket awareness when it matters, which explains why he’s been a career backup, which explains why he threw two picks and lost one fumble in the fourth quarter, which helps explain why the 49ers had minus-two yards of offense and zero points in the fourth quarter.

OK, enough on the inadequacies of Martz and JTO.

Afterward, someone asked Nolan what happened to the 49ers’ offense in the fourth quarter.

“It just became less effective, I guess,” he said.

Honest, that was his answer. Sure, it became less effective. Everyone saw that. But why did it become ineffective? Does Nolan even know?

There is one other question for Nolan, and he can answer at his leisure.

“How do you like your offensive coordinator now, Mike?”

For more on the world of sports in general and the Bay Area in particular, go to the Cohn Zohn at cohn.pressdemocrat.com. You can reach Staff Columnist Lowell Cohn at 521-5486 or lowell.cohn@pressdemocrat.com.