Niners turn up the heat

SAN FRANCISCO — There may have been plenty of grumbling among 49ers players behind closed doors. But it did not remain that way.

Offensive and defensive players alike aired their concerns with the 49ers' coaching staff last week. The coaches made adjustments, and the habitually slow-starting 49ers responded with their best opening act of the season.

The 49ers got contributions all around Sunday to gain a game in the NFC West standings with a 20-3 victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars at Candlestick Park.

“The absolute best thing that happened this week was I saw leadership on the offensive side of the ball,” 49ers coach Mike Singletary said.

Tight end Vernon Davis and quarterback Alex Smith offered Singletary and offensive coordinator Jimmy Raye the most useful suggestions. Even rookie receiver Michael Crabtree, who publicly expressed his desire for the 49ers to feature a spread attack after last week's loss to the Green Bay Packers, spoke with Singletary about his preferences.

“I keep telling him he needs to be quiet, but he's getting there — good kid,” Singletary said of Crabtree. “Those guys are leading the pack.”

The 49ers have seemingly been reluctant to scrap their power-running blueprint to run a spread attack on offense. The 49ers generally would go into a shotgun formation only on third downs, two-minute drills or when the 49ers fell behind by multiple scores at halftime.

But the club has shown an ability to have success throwing the ball from a wide-open attack, especially in the second half of losses at Houston and Green Bay.

“I had a few more discussions with Jimmy this week about what we were doing,” Smith said. “We were more focused this week and really stepped it up. ... I think we were (more aggressive). We weren't in an I-formation running the ball a lot, but we exposed them were we could.”

The 49ers felt like they could make some plays in the passing game today, as the Jaguars have one of the league's worst pass rushes and they were playing without injured starting cornerback Rashean Mathis.

Smith completed 27 of 41 passes for 232 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions. The 49ers did not allow a sack for the first time in their past 18 games.

Through three quarters, the 49ers ran 31 of their 47 offensive plays from the shotgun formation. The 49ers converted a season-best eight of 16 third downs (50 percent).

“Jimmy's always had an open door, and I think it's a combination of the more I play — the more we're growing as an offense — the more input you have and the more comfortable you feel talking to him about things,” Smith said.

“Maybe you saw some guys go up there and voice their opinion. But in the end, we're not putting the game plan together. We didn't call the plays. It's our job to go out there and execute. It's that partnership, that relationship, that I think leads to success.”

Smith's temperament was a talking point last week after Singletary described him as “meek” during his Monday press conference. Raye said Smith needed to gain more confidence. But both suggested Smith was being more assertive in his day-to-day dealings with the coaching staff.

Singletary said he was thrilled with the willingness of his players to share their thoughts.

“To me, that's leadership,” Singletary continued. “That conversation could go to the parking lot. It could go in the bathroom. It could go to their homes. But it came to us. It came to me.”

And the sharing of thoughts was not relegated to only the offensive side of the ball.

“We wanted to be more aggressive and attack,” 49ers cornerback Dré Bly said. “Instead of sitting back and letting the other team dictate the tempo of the game, we wanted to take the tempo to them.”

The 49ers' turned up the heat in the second half, as they registered six sacks of Jaguars quarterback David Garrard. It was the second time since sacks became an official state in 1982 that the 49ers recorded six sacks in a half.

The Jaguars outgained the 49ers 357-284 in total offense but they were held without a touchdown to spoil Hayward resident Jack Del Rio's return to the Bay Area as Jaguars coach.

The victory, coupled with the Arizona Cardinals' loss to the Tennessee Titans on the final play of the game, has put the 49ers back in striking range in the NFC West. The 49ers are two games behind the Cardinals with five games remaining. The clubs meet Monday, Dec. 14, at Candlestick Park.

The 49ers, who lost five of their past six, finally earned the right to engage in scoreboard watching after a victory.

“One of the things I don't want our team doing is looking at what Arizona is doing, but you can't help but,” Singletary said. “If a situation works out like that, that's fantastic. We just have to make sure that we earn the right to look at what they're doing, and we've got to take care of business on our side.”

For more on the 49ers, go to Instant 49ers at blog.pressdemocrat.com/49ers. You can reach Staff Writer Matt Maiocco at matt.maiocco@pressdemocrat.com