"For a player with legitimate Pro Bowl aspirations, Vernon Davis had an uneven game Sunday.

He had a single-game high in receiving yards with 111 on six receptions and established a 49ers team record for a tight end with his 10th touchdown catch of the season.

However, three dropped passes marred his day and remain an unfinished part of Davis' all-around game as one of the league's better tight ends.

"We made some mistakes," Davis said. "In a game like this, you can't make mistakes. It's critical. It cost us the game."

By any measure, though, Davis is having a career year with highs in receptions (63), yards (781) and touchdown receptions. One more productive game and he should pass Eric Johnson for the most receiving yards by a 49ers tight end in a single season. Johnson had 825 yards in 2004.

Timely promotion: Coach Mike Singletary announced during the week that outside linebacker Ahmad Brooks would start in the nickel defense as a pass rusher. That usually means coming into the game on third down and applying heat to the quarterback.

Brooks responded by making four tackles and registering one of the 49ers' five sacks of Matt Hasselbeck.

"I thought I did all right," Brooks said. "Could have (done) a little better. We did good as a group, but there's always something we could have done better. More playing time will always be better, but we've got a good group of outside linebackers. We're all doing it for each other. We've all got the same goals.""