98-yard fumble return puts plenty of hurt on 49ers' improvement

SAN FRANCISCO - Out of a pile of 49ers futility emerged 292-pound Eagles defensive tackle Mike Patterson.

Have you ever seen a man that size run 98 yards for a touchdown? It takes time to develop. It was a slow, painful play for the 49ers as they saw all hopes of a comeback against the Philadelphia Eagles extinguished with a play that lasted 21 agonizing seconds in the third quarter.

The 49ers might be improved from a year ago, but their 38-24 loss to the Eagles on Sunday demonstrated they still have to make up a lot of ground to be able to compete against non-NFC West opponents.

"We did get down early this year, which is a similarity," quarterback Alex Smith said, comparing it with last year's 42-3 loss to the Eagles. "Look at our attitudes, our character, and not giving up today. All those things show that we played a lot differently today than last year."

For a brief period of time in the second half, the 49ers even appeared to gain some momentum after trailing 24-3 at halftime.

The 49ers had a chance to cut the deficit to 14 points with approximately six minutes remaining in the third quarter. But another Frank Gore goal-line fumble resulted in Patterson's 98-yard touchdown romp going the other way.

And the bad news didn't end with the 14-point swing. Tight end Vernon Davis pulled up lame at midfield with a hairline fracture of his right fibula, an injury expected to keep him out of action for up to a month.

While coughing up the football for the third time in three games, Gore also sustained an abdominal strain that warranted a post-game visit to the hospital for X-rays. It was not immediately known after the game how much action Gore will miss with his injury. He was listed as questionable for Sunday's game against Kansas City on the preliminary injury report.

Gore's first fumble of the season led to an Arizona touchdown in the opener. His second fumble a week later was on the goal line, thwarting a 49ers scoring opportunity against St. Louis.

Sunday's fumble, caused when Eagles safety Brian Dawkins' helmet hit the ball, was the worst of both worlds - preventing a 49ers score and turning into a Philadelphia touchdown.

"We love Frank," 49ers left tackle Jonas Jennings said. "I have nothing bad to say about Frank."

Davis probably had the best chance to prevent Patterson from going the distance, but he sustained the non-contact injury. Davis missed a day of practice last week with a right shin contusion. Smith had a shot, but Eagles safety Quintin Mikell blocked him a full 60 yards down the field. When Smith was finally driven out of the play, Patterson lumbered in for the longest fumble return in Eagles history, as well as the longest against the 49ers.

"It's a tough feeling to be on the 1 and not get it in, and then to see that guy rumbling at you with blockers in front of him," Smith said. "That play turned out to be a 14-point swing in their favor. Fourteen points makes a big difference, considering the final score."

The 49ers (1-2) were never able to get within 14 points of the Eagles (2-1), who took a 7-0 lead just 109 seconds into the game on quarterback Donovan McNabb's 4-yard shovel pass to Brian Westbrook. Philadelphia opened the game with a flea-flicker on which McNabb hit receiver Reggie Brown, who had gotten behind safety Tony Parrish for 50 yards.

Although the 49ers controlled the ball 11 more minutes than the Eagles, they did not make good use of their time-of-possession advantage. Three of the Eagles' touchdown drives lasted 2 minutes, 25 seconds or less.

Westbrook broke the game open with a 71-yard scoring run midway through the second quarter, punctuating his touchdown with a violent stiff-arm of 49ers safety Mike Adams about 30 yards from the end zone for a 21-3 lead.

"I didn't play well at all," Adams said. "I've got to go ahead and take my shot. I tried to use the sideline to try to get him out of bounds. I should have just thrown my body at him, but I didn't."

Everything appeared to be set up for the 49ers to be more competitive this season against the Eagles, who were playing their first game without defensive end Jevon Kearse, who's out for the season with a knee injury. Also, top receiver Dont?Stallworth missed the game with a hamstring strain.

The 49ers viewed this as the kind of game where they could make a statement.

"I thought with a victory, we could become a team with an expectation to win, as opposed to hoping to win," Nolan said. "Certainly, we didn't play well enough to win the game."

Said Adams, "We've got a lot of work to do."

Out of the rubble, however, emerged another eye-opening performance from Smith, who had red marks on his back from the beating he took at the hands of the Eagles' pass rush.

Smith was sacked three times and hurried countless other times. He still managed to complete 27 of 46 passes for a career-high 293 yards with one touchdown and no interceptions.

"There are two things that I gained from this that are positive things from my standpoint," Nolan said. "We came out in the second half and continued to fight and compete until the end. The second thing is that we've got a tough quarterback. I don't know if there are too many guys in the league who could take that kind of beating and keep coming back. That's impressive to me."