Alex Smith threw two touchdown passes to lead San Francisco to a 17–9 victory. After giving the winless Panthers a victory in week seven, the team headed to London for an international game with Denver, which they won 24–16. After this, they beat St. Louis in overtime 23–20 and then suffered a home shutout (21–0) for the first time since 1977 while playing Tampa Bay. Next, they beat the Cardinals 27–6 on Monday Night Football before losing to Green Bay 34–16. Despite having only won four games, San Francisco's chances of winning their weak division remained alive and remained so after beating Seattle 41–30 in Week 15. However, the next week saw them blown out in San Diego 34–7. Another defeat in St. Louis finally removed San Francisco from playoff contention and Singletary was fired after that game. With Jim Tomsula as interim coach, the team won a meaningless season ender against Arizona to end 2010 with a final record of 6–10. 2011–2014: Jim Harbaugh era 2011: Rise from Mediocrity In February 2011, Stanford head coach and former NFL quarterback Jim Harbaugh (the younger brother of Ravens head coach John Harbaugh) was hired as head coach. Harbaugh immediately identified Alex Smith as his quarterback despite Smith being a free agent during the 2011 NFL lockout. Days before the lockout started, Harbaugh gave Smith a copy of his playbook. During the offseason in which Coaches and players could not communicate, Smith organized and led team workouts with offensive lineman Joe Staley. Things got off to a good start when San Francisco knocked off the Seattle Seahawks 33–17 in Week 1. They lost in overtime to the Dallas Cowboys 27–24 in Week 2 on a miracle comeback by Tony Romo, but then beat the Cincinnati Bengals 13–8. In Week 4, they gained an upset 24-23 road win against the Philadelphia Eagles to start 3–1. In week five, They crushed the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at home 48–3 on four Smith touchdowns. With their Week 11 victory over the Arizona Cardinals (23–7), the 49ers snapped their eight-year non-winning jinx to secure a winning season. Smith rewarded Harbaugh with his best season yet as a 49er as they finished the 2011 regular season with a record of 13–3 (winning the NFC West), their best since 1997. This would lead them to the playoffs for the first time since 2002. They would go on to defeat