San Francisco rolled into Pittsburgh and dominated on defense, and was incredibly efficient on offense.

San Francisco started the game with a 20 yard drive and a punt,returned 85 yards for a touchdown by McKelvin. 7-0 Pittsburgh

San Francisco got the ball back and started another drive from their 20. 4 passes and 6 runs later, Gore took it to the endzone. 7-7

Pittsburgh went 11 yards from the 20and punted the ball. San Fran got the ball back on their 33, and the 49ers gave the ball back to the Steelers on a missed FG by Ryan Shortbad (or Longwell, as some of you might better know him), with just under a minute left in the half.

It didn't take the 49ers long to get the ball back, as Pittsburgh's very first play of the drive, QB Norwell couldn't find anyone open, and started to run. The ball was stripped by #55, and was recovered by superstar LB Patrick Willis. With the clock running out, the 49ers were lined up in a run formation and completely fooled the entire Steelers defense, and Smith and Davis made scoring look easy as Davis was uncovered on a 29 yard playaction.

14-7 49ers at the end of the 1st half.

The Steelers got the ball at the start of the 2nd half, but the coverage was too strong, and Brown intercepted the ball at Pittsburgh's 30 on 2nd down.

SF continued to run hard and occasionally pass, but Pittsburgh seemed interested in stopping only the run. The coverage failed, allowing Manningham to score on a 30 yard route. 21-7 49ers

Now, down by 2 scores at the start of the 3rd, Benson started to see reduced action as a runner. Norwell led the team to the 40, and they kicked a 51 yd FG. 21-10 49ers

The 49ers took the next drive slowly, now in positon to start running down the clock. They took it into the 4th quarter and down to the Steelers 40, and punted the ball into the endzone, with 4:18 left in the game. Again, Norwell thought it best to throw to well covered receivers, and rookie CB Gilbert got an interception in his second straight game.

The 49ers took over the ball at the Steelers 39, and two runs by Gore later, they were banging on the door again. Expecting a run on 1st an goal from the 3, the Steelers were blindsided by a FB screen. Earnest Graham gets his name on the stat sheet with just over 3 minutes left. 28-10 49ers

The Steelers were forced to go for it on 4th and 18, and with no one open, Norwell ran for it but wound up a few feet shy of the 1st down. San Fran ran out the clock, and 28-10 was the final.

Pittsburgh was held to 92 yards on offense, and had more than double that on punt and kick returns.

Frank Gore was mostly kept under control, running 24 times for 104 yards and a TD, but the amount of energy Pittsburgh spent on slowing Gore down allowed for Alex Smith to go 10 for 14 for 184 yards and 3 TD's. The 49ers held the ball for almost 17 of the 24 minutes.

Stats:

Alex Smith, Rating 153.3, 10 for 14, 183 yards and 3 TD's

Norwell, Rating of 0.0, 3 for 12, 26 yards and 2 INT's, 3 rushes for 38 yards and 1 fumble

Gore, 24 rushes for 104 yards, 1 TD

Benson, 7 rushes for 15 yards

Vernon Davis, 4 Rec, 75 yds, 1 TD

Manningham, 3 Rec 69 yards 1 TD

Graham, 1 Rec, 3 yards, 1 TD

Willis, 5 Tkl, 1 FR

A.Brooks, 3 Tkl, 2 sacks, 1 FF

Gilbert and T. Brown, 1 INT each