The San Francisco 49ers confirmed Monday that left tackle Joe Staley will be sidelined for a significant period of time with a knee injury suffered in Sunday’s 18-14 loss to the Indianapolis Colts. Staley suffered sprains to two ligaments — the MCL and PCL — in his right knee and will be sidelined for six weeks. Staley had an MRI exam on his knee to determine the damage.

For all of the money that San Francisco 49ers cornerback Nate Clements is making, the word “demotion” doesn’t automatically come to mind. After all, he was signed to a huge, $80 million contract back in 2007, which usually demands that you are consistently good – something that he hasn’t exactly been as he has been burned on occasion in pas coverage.

The end result? Clements has been “demoted”, at least temporarily. But it gets worse for Clements as he is also going on the shelf as he suffered a broken scapula (shoulder blade) during San Francisco’s loss to the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday. How long he will be out of commission is speculative, but I would assume at least 2-3 weeks based on the nature of the injury.

In the meantime while Clements heals, Tarell Brown (the CB Clements was demoted for) will replace him in the lineup. Which seems to suit the team – especially head coach Mike Singletary – just fine. Using Brown instead of Clements seemed to work as he “held” the Colts’ speediest wide receiver Pierre Garcon to 4 catches for 53 yards.

I expect the so-called “demotion” of Clements to be temporary; however, depending on how well Brown does could very well change the minds of the 49ers’ coaching staff. The next few weeks should tell the tale.

Most folks at first glance, knowing that the San Francisco 49ers were going to visit Lucas Oil Stadium to take on the Indianapolis Colts, probably wrote this game off as another notch in the Colts’ belt. Yet, it didn’t exactly happen like that.

True enough, quarterback Peyton Manning got his numbers, but it took a 22-yard touchdown pass from running back Joseph Addai early in the fourth quarter which allowed Indianapolis to remain undefeated as they edged the San Francisco 49ers 18-14.

And interestingly enough, I am not convinced that the Colts deserved to win this game as their running game was non-existent and even Manning, despite his numbers was not his usual accurate self, at times. It certainly was promising for San Francisco early in the first quarter as Frank Gore broke loose for a 64-yard TD run, giving the 49ers a 7-0 lead.

A 38-yard field goal by Matt Stover would put the Colts to within 7-3 as both teams entered the second quarter. Stover would add another field goal 10 seconds into the period to narrow it further to 7-6; But with 33 ticks left on the clock, 49ers QB Alex Smith connected with tight end Vernon Davis on a 8-yard TD pass, extending San Francisco’s lead to 14-6, yet Manning led a lightning-quick drive which allowed Stover to convert a 31-yard Fg with 1 second left in the half, allowing the Colts to go to their locker room down by only 14-9.

The third quarter was uneventful, with the only scoring being yet another Stover FG which got the Colts to within 2 points at 14-12. The winning score for Indianapolis was of an unconventional nature, courtesy of a 22-yard TD pass from Addai to Reggie Wayne with 14:53 remaining in the game making it 18-14 Colts. And as usual, the Colts defense, namely their secondary, shut down Smith and the 49ers passing attack the rest of the way, sealing the victory.

Manning, despite going 31-of-48 for 347 yards with no TD’s or interceptions, was not exactly efficient; meanwhile, Smith went 19-of-32 for 198 yards with a TD and an INT. Addai accounted for the vast majority of the Colts’ rushing yardage as he gained 62 yards on 20 carries while Gore rushed for 91 yards and a score.

Wayne had a career day for the Colts as he caught 12 passes for 147 yards and a TD while Dallas Clark caught 8 passes for 99 yards; Austin Collie chipped in with 6 catches for 66 yards while Pierre Garcon caught 4 for 53 yards. Rookie Michael Crabtree caught 6 balls for 81 yards to lead all 49ers receivers while Isaac Bruce caught 4 passes for 51 yards.

Indianapolis (7-0) hopes to keep their undefeated streak alive when they host the Houston Texans while San Francisco (3-4) returns home to host the Tennessee Titans – also next Sunday.

In a results-driven league such as the National Football League, you’re only as good as your last performance, regardless of the position you have, whether as a player or coach. Apparently, the San Francisco 49ers feel the same way as the league as on Monday, team head coach Mike Singletary on Monday announced Alex Smith as the team’s starting quarterback.

Actually, I am not in the least bit surprised as if you watched the game Sunday between the 49ers and Houston Texans, then you probably saw QB Shaun Hill struggle mightily. You also probably saw when he was replaced by Smith in the second half and nearly led his team to the win.

More importantly, according to Singletary, this is not a “flavor of the month” situation; assume that message as one which means that Hill will be sitting for awhile until circumstances dictate otherwise.

Early on at Reliant Stadium, where the Houston Texans hosted the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday, it appeared that their game would be a rout. Steve Slaton had his running legs back and Matt Schaub was exacting damage to the 49ers’ secondary – all of this in the first half. But after replacing starting quarterback Shaun Hill with Alex Smith, the 49ers nearly pulled the proverbial rabbit out of the hat, with Houston squeaking by San Francisco 24-21.

Things were clicking for Houston early on as they drew first blood on a Steve Slaton 1-yard rushing touchdown, making it 7-0; the second quarter would be more productive as Houston hit paydirt twice – once on a 9-yard touchdown pass from Matt Schaub to Steve Slaton and a 42-yard TD pass from Schaub to tight end Owen Daniels – increasing the Texans’ lead to 21-0. But that wouldn’t last for very long going nito the second half as San Francisco brought in Smith to open the third quarter.

The 49ers would finally get on the scoreboard, courtesy of a 29-yard Smith-to-tight end Vernon Davis tocuhdown pass, narrowing their deficit to 18. The 49ers would find the end zone again, this time early in the fourth quarter as Smith and Davis connected again – this time on a 14-yard TD strike – narrowing the gap to 21-14.

After a Kris Brown 50-yard field goal which padded Houston’s lead to 24-14, San Francisco would strike again 3 and 1/2 minutes later as Smith and Davis hooked up for another score- this time a 23-yard TD pass – which would put the 49ers down by only 3. But a late rally by Smith ended prematurely as he was intercepted by Texans safety Eugene Wilson.

Schaub had a decent game as he went 20-of-30 for 264 yards and a pair of TD passes; Hill stunk, going 6-of-11 for 45 yards while Smith was markedly better, going 15-of-22 for 206 yards with 3 TD’s and an interception. Slaton led the Texans rushing attack with 67 yards and a rushing score while Frank Gore led the 49ers with 32 yards on 13 carries.

Daniels led all Houston receivers with 7 receptions for 123 yards and a score while Andre Johnson caught a pair for 62 yards. Vernon Davis was the receiving target of choice for San Francisco as he caught 7 passes for 93 yards and 3 TD’s while newly-signed Michael Crabtree made a good impression for a player with little practice time, catching 5 passes for 56 yards; Josh Morgan caught 4 passes for 62 yards.

The Texans took a big hit as Johnson suffered what appeared to be a chest injury early in the foruth quarter and did not return. The 49ers will have some thinking to do as they go into next week deciding whether to continue starting Hill or go with the hot hand with Smith at QB. Houston (4-3) hope to continue their winning ways as they travel to Buffalo to take on the Bills next Sunday while San Francisco (3-3) travels to Indianapolis to take on the undefeated Colts – also next Sunday.

What was good news Thursday for people who want to bring pro football back to Los Angeles could wind up being even better news for those California cities that already have NFL teams. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed legislation that will make it easier to build a 75,000-seat football stadium in the city of Industry, by exempting the venue from state environmental laws. If the governor signed that legislation for the Industry project, he would be compelled do the same for potential stadium deals in the Bay Area and San Diego, provided the planners of those projects promised the same type of jaw-dropping job numbers.

Michael Crabtree’s surprising knowledge of terminology, formations and pass routes explains why he could see more playing time than once expected Sunday. That was the word Thursday from 49ers offensive coordinator Jimmy Raye. “From where we originally started and what I said early on to you about starting him with a small package and playing 11 personnel package, we determined that it was (best) … to let him go at ‘X’ in terms of practice and see how much he could retain and what kind of physical conditioning he was in and make the decision based on his availability that way,” Raye told reporters.