Just about every time I checked in on the 49ers-Rams game yesterday -- hey, I check in on all of the games -- it looked like Shaun Hill was doing his best to throw the game away for San Francisco. For three quarters, that's pretty much what he was doing as he completed just 10-of-21 passes, while throwing three interceptions, putting his team in a 16-3 hole in the fourth quarter.
Naturally, interim head coach Mike Singletary considered sending Hill to the bench, replacing him with J.T. O'Sullivan. Desperate times, I guess.
As Kevin Lynch of the San Francisco Chroniclewrote in his blog following the game, Hill was "geeked up" because he had friends and family in the stands, and he was having none of this benching nonsense. Apparently, he was "geeked up" enough to convince Singletary to leave him in the game, mostly because he had "the look in his eyes."
I'm not sure what "the look" is, but whatever he had in his eyes, he finished the game completing 8 of his final 13 passes, including a pair of touchdowns in the games final four minutes, leading the 49ers to a 17-16 comeback win on the road.
In the grand scheme of things for the 2008 NFL season, it's a relatively meaningless win. However, when you're fighting for jobs during the 2009 season -- as Hill and Singletary are -- there are no such thing as meaningless wins.
With the victory, San Francisco improves to 4-4 under Singletary -- and 4-3 with Hill as the starter -- with one game to play in week 17 against Washington. Yeah, so a .500 team is nothing to go crazy about, but when you consider this same cast of characters was 2-5 under previous head coach Mike Nolan -- and 5-11 the previous season -- it's at least worth mention.
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Especially when they helped ruin the postseason dreams of the New York Jets two weeks ago, and then last week, on the road, took playoff contender Miami to the final play of the game.
Frankly, the past eight weeks might be the best football the bay area has seen in, what, six years?
'Geeked Up' Shaun Hill Convinces Mike Singletary to Leave Him In, Leads Comeback originally appeared on NFL FanHouse on Mon, 22 Dec 2008 11:05:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.