
SANTA CLARA – For the second week in a row, the 49ers' fate ended up in the hands of their defense.
After a failure to preserve the victory a week earlier against the New York Giants, the 49ers’ defense kept the Baltimore Ravens out of the end zone as time expired for a 25-20 victory at Levi’s Stadium on Sunday.
“The toughest part is learning to stay composed and for everybody to learn to be on-point all the time, 100 percent of the time,” 49ers linebacker Michael Wilhoite said. “I think that the little mistakes last game that were killing us up until the end of the game, was where we corrected ourselves and made the improvement and grew.”
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The 49ers were in complete control after Colin Kaepernick’s touchdown pass to Quinton Patton bumped their lead to 25-13 with 10:52 remaining against the Ravens.
But the 49ers’ defense allowed Joe Flacco and the Baltimore offense to march 80 yards on 14 plays to cut the lead to five points with 5:38 remaining.
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When the Ravens took over again, they had to go 80 yards again – but this time in just 1 minute, 6 seconds.
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“Obviously, we want to get that lead and we want to keep it,” 49ers coach Jim Tomsula said. “We don’t need to be giving things back. But the Ravens played hard. But when we have a lead we want to make sure we keep it where it is.”
Baltimore made it as far as the 49ers’ 35-yard line. On a last-play desperation pass, 49ers safety Eric Reid batted down Flacco’s throw intended for Steve Smith in the end zone.
Afterward, Reid appeared to be in excruciating pain due to a couple of shots he took to his ribs, including from the game-ending play. (Reid said he was scheduled to undergo another set of X-rays after the first ones came back negative.) He said the pain was worth it because the 49ers snapped a four-game losing streak.
The 49ers knew what was coming on the final play, and Reid was able to execute.
“Just get it down,” Reid said. “Don’t hit it up. Hit it down, and not try be on SportsCenter.”
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A week ago, the 49ers took a 27-23 lead with 1:45 remaining, only to see the Giants drive 82 yards on eight plays for the game-winning Eli Manning-to-Larry Donnell touchdown pass with :21 left.
That bitter memory was a fresh wound when the Ravens took over.
“You’d be a fool not to say last week didn’t creep into our minds but that’s a way we can bounce back,” 49ers safety Antoine Bethea said. “We bounced back and didn’t let them score, and did a great job of that.
”Keep them out of the end zone. At the end of the day that’s what it’s all about, keeping them out of the end zone. Last week it was definitely a sour feeling giving up that last play, so this week it was definitely a better outcome.”