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2B Daily News – Tuesday, October 4, 2011 Harbaugh turning 49ers into believers, winners SANTA CLARA (AP) — Jim Harbaugh took a window seat along- side his players for San Francisco's cross-country charter flight home from Philadelphia. Cornerback Car- los Rogers had never seen anything like it: an NFL coach in coach. Harbaugh gave up his first-class spot to center Jonathan Goodwin. ''He's a blue-collar guy, blue-col- lar coach,'' Rogers said Monday. ''It was so funny, when we were flying back on the plane, he's back there with us. He gave up his first-class seat to come back with the players and sit in the coach seats with us. He even had someone beside him, someone he was watching video with. When do you see a coach want to give up their first-class seat and come back there and sit with the players throughout a five-hour flight?'' This is Harbaugh's way. The for- mer NFL quarterback believes in being one of the guys in order to truly gauge the pulse of his team, and the 49ers have certainly bought into his unorthodox, all-hands-on approach. ''I don't feel comfortable up in first class. I'm a coach guy,'' Har- baugh said. ''I watch the tape on the laptop, walk around, talk to the fel- las. Watched a little bit of a movie. It was a long trip.'' It's working well so far in Har- baugh's first year. Despite some noticeable flaws, San Francisco is a surprising 3-1 and atop the NFC West, fresh off a stun- ning 24-23 comeback win over the Eagles that moved the Niners to 2-0 on the road — Harbaugh's most sig- nificant victory yet in his team's biggest test thus far. Strangely enough, the win Sun- day came by the same score as Har- baugh's 2007 Stanford victory at Southern California that went a long way in turning around the Cardinal program. His Stanford squad trav- eled to Los Angeles in his first sea- son as 41-point underdogs only to shock the second-ranked Trojans and end their 35-game home win- ning streak. And these Niners are oh so close to being unbeaten at this stage. They blew a late lead in a 27-24 overtime loss to the Cowboys at home Sept. 18. Can they keep this up? The 2009 team also began 3-1 only to lose the next four and five of six on the way to an 8-8 finish. ''I told them the other day they're good, and the longer it takes them to figure that out the better off we'll all be, because when people start think- ing they've arrived that's when they stop working and doing the things that got them there,'' Harbaugh said. ''We'll keep pretending we have a long way to go, and we do. We don't have to pretend.'' Next up is a talented Tampa Bay team that will come West in a short week after playing at home Monday night against the Colts. After Sunday's thriller against the Eagles, Harbaugh brought out an old familiar chant: ''Who's got it better than us?'' he hollered through the celebratory locker room. ''Nobody!'' his players screamed. For Harbaugh, this is just another way he tries to relate to the men he leads and challenges every day. Sometimes, he will share stories of his modest early upbringing in a two-bedroom house in Iowa City, Iowa, where he shared a room with his big brother, Baltimore Ravens coach John. Harbaugh went back to that house during his scouting days. ''There was just a little saying around the house my dad would always use: 'Who's got it better than us?' We'd all respond, 'Nobody,''' Harbaugh recalled. ''We could be driving in the car, just whatever we were doing, he'd say it and we'd respond 'nobody,' and we really thought that. We didn't think there was anybody who could possibly have it better than us. As you get older, you realize people do have it better than you do.'' Still, the message has resonated with a group that embraced the high- profile hiring of Harbaugh — even down to the motivational posters he has hanging around team headquar- ters — and didn't complain when he had them stay in Ohio for practice last week as a way to keep their body clocks adjusted to East Coast time. Team President Jed York wooed Harbaugh away from Stanford in January with a $25 million, five-year deal to replace the fired Mike Sin- gletary, though it was anybody's guess how quickly he would actual- ly be able to transform this franchise back into a winner. Left tackle Joe Staley showed up at Harbaugh's over-the-top introduc- tory press conference at a downtown San Francisco hotel because he believed the Niners had found their man and were finally headed in the right direction. Other players caught the same vibe in a hurry. ''I think we've changed. We're a different team,'' running back Frank Gore said. ''We always knew we had talent in this locker room. Having our coaching staff, that's a really big part of this organization. They're doing a great job. We're just follow- ing, believing, and great things are happening. ... As long as we just keep following our leader and keep believing in our leader, we'll be fine.'' While it's been far from spectac- ular through four games, Harbaugh is all about the ''process'' of build- ing something special. He did it right up the road at Stanford during his four-year tenure. Harbaugh himself acknowledged NFL success wouldn't necessarily be immediate — especially consid- ering there were no organized team activities or minicamps because of the lockout. People questioned Harbaugh's plan when he took a chance on re- signing quarterback Alex Smith. They questioned his strategy when he kept a 55-yard field goal on the board rather than accepting a late- game penalty that would have given San Francisco a first down deep in Dallas territory in that lone loss. Smith, the 2005 No. 1 overall draft pick, has been steady through all the sacks and struggles by his offensive line. Smith had perhaps his best game yet as a 49er on Sunday, completing 21 of 33 passes for 291 yards and two touchdowns without an interception. Harbaugh's conscientious tute- lage with the QB has helped. In the second-half comeback, Smith went 13 for 17 for 201 yards and touchdown passes to Joshua Morgan and Vernon Davis. Gore's 12-yard TD run with 3 minutes left became the game-winner. These are the kinds of close calls the 49ers failed to pull off in recent years. ''I don't know if the feeling's any different. It was definitely a step for us, though, for sure. I think actually doing it,'' Smith said. ''I think this team has had a great attitude and something about it. And then, to actually do it, though. I've been part of games where you get down and then you get close but never actually finish it off like that. Especially against a team of that caliber, a good football team that was at home, in a must-win situation, to pull it out was a big step.'' A step this team couldn't take before Harbaugh arrived. Patriots deal Raiders dose of reality ALAMEDA (AP) — A meeting with Tom Brady and the New England Patri- ots showed the Oakland Raiders how far they still need to go to be mentioned among the AFC's elite teams. A week after bullying the New York Jets in an emo- tional victory in the home opener, the Raiders were dealt a dose of reality in a 31-19 loss to the New Eng- land Patriots that exposed plenty of issues that still need to be addressed if Oak- land wants to end a run of eight straight non-winning seasons. ''We're going to fix it, and we have just the men to do it,'' coach Hue Jackson said Monday. ''What we got to do is go out and do it, and do it consistently, play in and play out. There's flashes of brilliance of this football team, whether it be offense or defense or special teams. And then all of sudden, sometimes things don't go the way we want them to. What we got to do is become a very consistent football team, and I think we can, and I think we will.'' The Raiders (2-2) have alternated wins and losses this season, going from a season-opening win in Den- ver to a second-half collapse in Buffalo to the impressive victory over the Jets to the latest loss to the Patriots. Now Oakland is in for another tough test this week with a trip to Houston to play a 3-1 Texans team fresh off a victory over defending AFC champion Pittsburgh. ''We just finished the first quarter of the season,'' cor- nerback Stanford Routt said. ''We've got 12 more. All the challenges from here on out, they're just going to get big- ger and they're going to get more important.'' But Jackson's bold expectations haven't changed since the day he was hired last January to replace Tom Cable, even though some issues that he has vowed to solve are still problems — most notably penalties. ''We're going to win the AFC West,'' he said. ''We're going to do everything we can to get in the playoffs and go challenge for a Super Bowl. I am not backing down from that.'' The Raiders have strug- gled defensively, tied for second worst with 28.3 points per game allowed through four games. The offense has been much bet- ter but had its own problems against the Patriots. The Raiders gained a season-high 504 yards of offense but were held to a season-low 19 points because they couldn't finish off enough drives with touchdowns and committed a pair of costly turnovers that ultimately doomed them. Oakland came into the game as the top team in foot- ball on drives that reached at least the opponent's 30-yard line, scoring nine touch- downs and two field goals on 11 drives. They weren't nearly as efficient against the Patriots, which proved costly against such a dynam- ic offense. An illegal block penalty on left tackle Jared Veldheer stalled the opening drive after it reached the New England 13, forcing the Raiders to settle for a field goal. The biggest blunder came late in the first half after the Raiders had driven to the New England 6 trail- ing 14-10. On second down, Campbell stepped up in the pocket and threw a ball straight to safety Patrick Chung with no receiver in the area in what he could only describe as a ''bone- headed'' play. The Raiders trailed 24-10 the next time they had the ball and drove deep into New England territory again. On a second-and-10 from the 15, Campbell threw a pass to Jacoby Ford near the goal line. Original- ly, cornerback Kyle Arring- ton was called for pass inter- ference. As the ball was being spotted at around the 2, the officials changed their call, saying it was incidental contact and no penalty. That drive also ended in a field goal when Jackson decided to kick on fourth-and-3 from the 8. ''It definitely was a big moment, a big change in the game because it could have been a potential touchdown instead of just three points,'' Ford said. ''You'd be look- ing at a totally different game. But it just kind of swings that way sometimes. Nothing we can do about it. WNBA Finals Minnesota 1, Atlanta 0 Game 1: Minnesota 88, Atlanta 74 Wednesday: Atlanta at Minnesota, 5 p.m. Friday: Minnesota at Atlanta, 5 p.m. Sunday: Minnesota at Atlanta, 1 p.m. Oct. 12: Atlanta at Minnesota, 5 p.m. Oakland got down to the 30 on the next drive before Campbell was intercepted by defensive lineman Vince Wilfork and the game was essentially over at that point. ''We know we can be a legit and an elite offense in this league,'' Campbell said. ''We've done it. Not just one week here and there. We've done it week in and week out. ... We just weren't able to finish a couple drives in the red zone, as in the inter- ception, but we definitely feel like we have the ability and we have what it takes to get to the next level.'' Notes: Raiders TE-FB Richard Gordon left the game with a broken hand and RB Michael Bush injured his ankle. Both players returned to the game and will be monitored this week, Jackson said. ... Starting FB Marcel Reece could return this week after missing this past game with an ankle injury. NASCAR Sprint Cup Points Leaders 1. Kevin Harvick 2. Carl Edwards 3. Tony Stewart 4. Kurt Busch 5. Jimmie Johnson 6. Brad Keselowski 7. Matt Kenseth 8. Kyle Busch 9. Jeff Gordon 10. Dale Earnhardt Jr. 11. Ryan Newman 12. Denny Hamlin 2,122 2,122 2,113 2,113 2,109 2,108 2,108 2,107 2,103 2,088 2,081 2,054 Remaining Schedule Oct. 9 — Hollywood Casino 400, Kansas City, Kan. Oct. 15 — Bank of America 500, Con- cord, N.C. Oct. 23 — Good Sam Club 500, Tallade- ga, Ala. Oct. 30 — TUMS Fast Relief 500, Ridge- way, Va. Nov. 6 — AAA Texas 500, Fort Worth, Texas Nov. 13 — Kobalt Tools 500, Avondale, Ariz. Nov. 20 — Ford 400, Homestead, Fla. Bucs rally to beat Colts TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Josh Freeman threw for 287 yards and a touchdown, LeGarrette Blount ran for 127 yards and a score, and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers beat the Indianapolis Colts 24-17 on Monday night. Freeman, who ran for a touchdown early in the game, scrambled for a huge first down on the winning drive as the Buccaneers (3-1) won their third consecutive game. The Colts fell to 0-4 for the first time since 1998, Peyton Manning's rookie season. Manning has watched all four games, unable to play because of a neck injury. Curtis Painter started this one, filling in for injured back- up Kerry Collins and played better than most expected. Painter threw for 281 yards and two touchdowns, both long ones to Pierre Garcon. He wasn't nearly as effective down the stretch. TEXAS (Continued from page 1B) But the Rangers bullpen nearly let a three-run lead slip away. Johnny Damon, Ben Zobrist and Casey Kotch- man singled to load the bases against reliever Darren Oliv- er in the seventh. Damon scored when pinch-hitter Sean Rodriguez grounded out, and the Rangers escaped further damage when the second pitcher of the inning, Alexi Ogando, induced pinch-hitter Sam Fuld to hit a roller to second base. The Rays weren't fin- ished. Jennings led off eighth with his second homer, trim- ming Texas' lead to 4-3. Mike Adams walked Upton, who was caught stealing, and then walked Longoria and Matt Joyce to get him- self into trouble again. The Rangers wiggled off the hook when Michael Gonza- les struck out Damon and Feliz came on to fan Zobrist with the tying and go-ahead runs in scoring position. The Texas closer got Zobrist on a check-swing on an 82 mph curve, one pitch after the Rays hitter fouled off a 100 mph fastball. ''That was one intense DET (Continued from page 2B) over the plate. Tigers manager Jim Ley- land altered his lineup slight- ly from Game 1 against Sabathia, putting Santiago at second base instead of Ryan Raburn and batting him sec- ond. Santiago has hit .292 against Sabathia (7 for 24) in the regular season, while Raburn is 4 for 23 against the New York ace. Sure enough, in the bot- tom of the fifth, with one out and a man on second, Santi- ago hit an RBI double to left- center to make it 3-2. Detroit added another run off Sabathia in the sixth. Jhonny Peralta followed Don Kelly's bunt single with a double to left that appeared to bounce off a pole in the fence, caroming strangely to the left while the runner came around to score. After walking Jorge Posada with two outs in the seventh, Verlander stood behind the mound briefly to gather himself. It didn't work — he then hit Russell Martin in the ribs with one of his triple-digit fastballs, putting runners on first and second. Gardner lined a 3-2 pitch MLS AFC WESTERN CONFERENCE WL T Pts GF GA x-Galaxy 18 3 10 64 46 23 x-Seattle 16 6 9 57 51 33 x-Salt Lake 15 10 6 51 43 32 FC Dallas 13 11 7 46 36 34 Colorado 11 9 12 45 42 40 Portland 11 13 7 40 38 44 Chivas USA 8 12 12 36 40 39 QUAKES 611 14 32 33 40 Vancouver 4 16 10 22 29 50 EASTERN CONFERENCE WL T Pts GF GA Kansas City 11 9 12 45 47 40 Philadelphia10 7 14 44 41 34 Columbus 12 12 8 44 38 41 Houston 10 9 13 43 40 40 New York 8 7 16 40 47 42 D.C. 9 10 11 38 46 46 Chicago 7 8 16 37 40 40 Toronto FC 6 13 13 31 33 56 N. England 5 14 12 27 35 51 NOTE: Three points for victory, one point for tie. x- clinched playoff berth —————————————————— Today's game Los Angeles at New York, 5 p.m. Thursday's game Real Salt Lake at Vancouver, 6:30 p.m. Saturday's games San Jose at New England, 4:30 p.m. Philadelphia at Seattle FC, 7 p.m. ballgame,'' Washington said. ''And we needed everything that we got from everyone today.'' Price lost at home to Cliff Lee and the Rangers twice in last year's ALDS and was coming off a disappointing outing against the Yankees in which he allowed six runs in four innings of a game that the Rays needed to win to ensure they stayed alive for the wild-card berth on the final night. Although Tampa Bay ral- lied to grab the playoff spot, it didn't discourage ques- tions about whether the Rays could count on him in a big game. The 26-year-old lefty was 0-5 with a 5.40 ERA in eight career starts against Texas before Monday, yet insisted he didn't lack confidence to get the job done in Game 3. The Rangers had chances against him early, stranding runners in scoring position in the first, second and sixth innings. Michael Young lined to first baseman Kotch- man, who made a diving catch to end the first. Nelson Cruz and Mitch Moreland grounded out after Napoli singled and stole second base in the second. Price escaped the sixth by retiring Hamilton and Young on groundballs. from Verlander to left-center. By the time Jackson raced over to retrieve the ball and unleashed a mediocre throw back to the infield, both run- ners were on their way home for a 4-all tie. NFL AFC West WL T Pct PF PA Chargers 3 1 0 .750 91 85 RAIDERS 22 0 .500 111 113 Denver 1 3 0 .250 81 111 Kansas City 1 3 0 .250 49 126 East WL T Pct PF PA Buffalo 3 1 0 .750 133 96 N. England 3 1 0 .750 135 98 N.Y. Jets 2 2 0 .500 100 95 Miami South 0 4 0 .000 69 104 WL T Pct PF PA Houston 3 1 0 .750 107 70 Tennessee 3 1 0 .750 88 56 Jacksonville 1 3 0 .250 39 85 Indianapolis 0 4 0 .000 61 108 North WL T Pct PF PA Baltimore 3 1 0 .750 119 57 Cincinnati 2 2 0 .500 80 74 Cleveland 2 2 0 .500 74 93 Pittsburgh 2 2 0 .500 64 72 NFC West WL T Pct PF PA 49ERS 31 0 .750 94 75 Seattle 1 3 0 .250 58 97 Arizona 1 3 0 .250 86 87 St. Louis 0 4 0 .000 46 113 East WL T Pct PF PA Washington 3 1 0 .750 83 63 N.Y. Giants 3 1 0 .750 102 87 Dallas 2 2 0 .500 99 101 Philadelphia 1 3 0 .250 101 101 South WL T Pct PF PA N. Orleans 3 1 0 .750 127 98 Tampa Bay 3 1 0 .750 84 77 Atlanta 2 2 0 .500 90 105 Carolina 1 3 0 .250 89 102 North Green Bay 4 0 0 1.000148 97 Detroit WL T Pct PF PA 4 0 0 1.000135 76 Chicago 2 2 0 .500 94 98 Minnesota 0 4 0 .000 77 96 —————————————————— Week 4 results Sunday's results New England 31, Oakland 19 San Francisco 24, Philadelphia 23 Atlanta 30, Seattle 28 Baltimore 34, N.Y. Jets 17 Chicago 34, Carolina 29 Cincinnati 23, Buffalo 20 Detroit 34, Dallas 30 Green Bay 49, Denver 23 Houston 17, Pittsburgh 10 Kansas City 22, Minnesota 17 New Orleans 23, Jacksonville 10 N.Y. Giants 31, Arizona 27 San Diego 26, Miami 16 Tennessee 31, Cleveland 13 Washington 17, St. Louis 10 Monday's result Tampa Bay 24, Indianapolis 17 Week 5 schedule Sunday's games Oakland at Houston, 10 a.m. Tampa Bay at San Francisco, 1:05 p.m. Arizona at Minnesota, 10 a.m. Cincinnati at Jacksonville, 10 a.m. Kansas City at Indianapolis, 10 a.m. New Orleans at Carolina, 10 a.m. Philadelphia at Buffalo, 10 a.m. Seattle at N.Y. Giants, 10 a.m. Tennessee at Pittsburgh, 10 a.m. N.Y. Jets at New England, 1:15 p.m. San Diego at Denver, 1:15 p.m. Green Bay at Atlanta, 5:20 p.m. Monday's game Chicago at Detroit, 5:30 p.m. Open: Baltimore, Cleveland, Dallas, Miami, St. Louis, Washington