What I Would Have Love To See From Mike Singletary Today

Today the San Francisco 49ers played the Dallas Cowboys. In the first quarter the game was dominated by the 49ers. It was shocking to see because I was expecting them to look like they did in the 2nd and 3rd quarters.

During the first drive of the game Shaun Hill looked impressive on his first throw to Isaac Bruce that went for 21 yards. On his 2nd throw though it was a failed screen pass to Michael Robinson that went for a 2 yard loss to bring up 2nd-and-12. Frank Gore got his chance and went the same direction as Robinson backwards for a 2 yard loss, making it 3rd-and-14. Hill makes another throw to Bruce for a 17 yard gain.

The Cowboys secondary looked soft and Hill was taking advantage of it. The 49ers decided on first and 10 turn the ball with Frank Gore which went for a five yard gain. So it was 2nd and 5 for the 49ers.

The 49ers then run it to Gore again and it appeared the Cowboys were offsides on the play, but no flag. The play resulted in a one yard loss by Gore making it 3rd-and-6. Again the Cowboys jumped offsides, but no penalty was called and the play resulted in an incomplete pass, making it 4th down. The funny thing is even Troy Aikman was surprised that no flag was thrown in each situation.

So, instead of marching down the field for what could have been points the 49ers attempted a rather long field goal. The field goal was for 53 yards and Nedney just missed it. So, it gave the Cowboys excellent field position. The good news for the 49ers is their defense held and forced the Cowboys to punt.

So, there's two missed penalties on the first drive. I guess the referees decided that the Cowboys defenders were behind the line of scrimmage and there was no need for a flag. Ok, so not too upsetting the score was still tied at zero.

The 49ers march back down the field get to the 4 yard line. From there the 49ers tried running the ball and it didn't go so well. On the third down play it was Shaun Hill passing to Bryant Johnson. The pass fell incompletely, but wait there's more to it.

As the ball was in the air before it got there Anthony Henry the Dallas Cowboys cornerback came in early and hit Johnson. It was a clear pass interference and it wasn't a close call that you could see going either way. In every level of football a flag would have been thrown on that. Was there a flag thrown? Nope. So, in the end the 49ers had to settle for a field goal.

Here's what I would have loved to see from Mike Singletary. That could have easily been the third missed call on the Cowboys defense. Singletary then should have called one of the officials over the sideline to get his point across, show the fight he showed in the lockerroom and the press conference he had after his first game as 49ers coach.

So what if he gets a 15 yard penalty for giving the official a piece of his mine? One he wouldn't get a fine for it and secondly he's going to show that the 49ers aren't going to be a pushover when it comes to not making the correct call.

If the flag had been thrown it would have been 1st and goal at the 1 for the 49ers. More then likely the 49ers would have scored to make it 7-0 49ers, but instead it was only 3-0.

The 49ers got another field goal on another impressive drive this time utilizing their tight end Vernon Davis. Personally I believe that if Davis fought more out of the tackle he may have been able to score the touchdown, but again the 49ers were on the doorstep at the 4 yard line and weren't able to score more then a field goal.

There's a huge difference between being down 6-0 and 10-0. One it means that it's only a one score game and secondly it means if there's a big play by the defense or offense it takes away the momentum from the team with the 6 point lead. This is the case that happened for the 49ers.

After the score became 6-0 the defense of the Cowboys woke up and got pressure on Hill. That became the turning point in the game. In the end would it have mattered if the 49ers had gotten the pass interference call? No, but it gave Mike Singletary an opportunity to fight for his team on a bad call.

My last point is when your team has fallen on hard times or isn't as good as the oppositions team calls like that tend to go against your team rather than going towards your team.

For example last week against the Cardinals and the lack of communication of where the spot of the ball was when 49ers offensive coordinator Mike Martz presumed it was on the one yard line when it was actually at the 2-and-a-half yard line.

It's not just the 49ers who have been screwed but in this case it was a penalty that was called. The Detroit Lions could have beat the Minneota Vikings 10-9, but lost 12-10. The reason being is Leigh Bodden was flagged for pass interference on Aundrae Allison which gave the Vikings a 42 yard gain and the ability to kick a 26 yard field goal to end the game.

On the play itself there was no pass interference. The call was a joke, but when you're a team that isn't supposed to be a more talented team those close calls more time then not are going to go against your team.

What can coaches or players do? Absolutely nothing because if they speak out against the officiating they are going to get fined by the league.

I would have loved to see Rod Marinelli get a flag for I believe that it would be an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty because for one Marinelli isn't an idiot he knows if there's 42 yard pass interference penalty and all the Vikings need is a 26 yard field goal it's all but automatic.

It probably wouldn't help the situation one bit but at least it shows his players that he has their backs. Instead of tossing the clipboard in disgust, get the official over to your sideline and give them an earful.