National Football League

Singletary's defense must take rap, too

Published Oct. 19, 2010 10:17 a.m. ET

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The underwhelming, underachieving 49ers defense has been overlooked so far, its shortcomings obscured by the towering flaws in the offense and the paternalistic melodrama playing out between the head coach and quarterback. But on the road to an 0-5 record, the defense sat behind the wheel several times, hitting the gas.

In all three close games, losses of three points or fewer, the defense has failed to hold the opponent on a crucial fourth-quarter drive. The problem represents a holdover from last year, when the 49ers brought out the legend in Brett Favre, rather than the interception-prone egotist. In a tie game in Seattle, the defense allowed a 32-yard completion with 18 seconds left to set up the Seahawks' winning field goal. In Green Bay, it cooled off a brewing comeback by capitulating to the Packers' running game.

The defense escapes deeper scrutiny for several reasons. It won the game against Chicago last year, picking off Jay Cutler five times; enabled a 2009 comeback in Arizona; held Seattle completely in check during the opener until the offense self-destructed; held New Orleans reasonably in check even as the offense and special teams repeatedly bumbled; held the Eagles reasonably in check until the quarterback pitched the ball to a safety for a touchdown; held the Falcons reasonably in check until ... well, you see the pattern.

In football, sloppiness is a pathogen, and frustration makes it virulently contagious. The 49ers' defensive failures can, to some extent, be attributed to an incompetent offense. The recent low-visibility of linebacker Patrick Willis, now stumbling into blocks that wouldn't have deterred him as a rookie, suggests that even superior players can get caught in a maze when the bulk of the team collapses around him.

Alex Smith has said his failures at quarterback stem from trying to do too much. The defense has begun to follow his example. Consider Nate Clements' fumbled interception return in the 16-14 loss to Atlanta. The cornerback was widely criticized for not taking a knee in that situation, with the 49ers up by a point, but circumstances called for more aggression.

The interception occurred near midfield with a minute and a half left, and the Falcons still had all three timeouts left. Going down near that spot, and handing the ball over to his inept offense outside field-goal range, would have been pretty risky. Clements' real error was carrying the ball as if no one could possibly catch him and strip it - the kind of mistake that has become characteristic of the entire 49ers team.

Like Smith, the defensive players ultimately have to bear responsibility for their own failures, without using the offense's problems or any other complaint as an excuse. The 49ers, however, need more than a consummately professional defense to pull them out of their cavernous funk. They need one that's both poised and passionate.

Management created something of an obstacle to that combination when it decided to apply the franchise tag to Aubrayo Franklin and then failed to recognize the ramifications when he refused to sign the deal until the end of training camp.

"Franchising" a player risks wreaking havoc on his morale. We can debate what that says about him as a pro, but take away even 1 percent of a defensive player's motivation, and you'll reduce a superstar to a commoner. It would be wrong to say that Franklin has become a malcontent, but one doesn't need to watch 49ers' game films very long to see that he is not performing like the happiest camper in the NFL.

In 21 games since Mike Singletary officially was named the head coach, the 49ers have played 11 games that were decided by seven points or fewer. They have lost nine. Offensive ineptitude has accounted for a lot of that, but their league-worst turnover differential of minus-10 four worse than the runner-up didn't pile up exclusively on one side of the ball.

The defense, which ranked 15th in the NFL last year in total yards, now sits in 17th. The offense is 23rd. Together, they have found a way to be 0-5.

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