by John Crumpacker, Chronicle Staff Writer , The San Francisco Chronicle

Several weeks later, the only thing that has changed is Smith's grammar.

"Tape doesn't lie," he said in the aftermath of the 49ers' defense-dominated 10-6 victory over the Chicago Bears. "It's what he's been doing all year. When you watch game tape, he's a special player."

The Bears found out how special in the second quarter of Thursday night's game at Candlestick Park. Franklin sensed quarterback Jay Cutler was going to throw over the middle to tight end Kellen Davis on 3rd-and-goal from the 1-yard line, so he drifted toward the goal line and picked off the pass for his first career interception.

The big fellow even gained 10 yards on the return, rumbling his 315 pounds to the 11-yard line to give the offense a little breathing room. As it turned out, that was the first of five interceptions the 49ers collected against the Bears.

"That was huge," Smith said. "If they convert a touchdown, it's a totally different game. We're sitting here with probably another loss. We needed that, big time. Anytime a D-lineman gets a pick, we love it."

Franklin's mother surely will love it, too. Sometime soon, he will ship the ball to his mom, Chantini Carter, in Johnson City, Tenn., for prominent placement in her home.

"It was fun, man," Franklin said. "My first NFL interception. I'm glad they didn't get in the end zone. ... I was blessed to get the pick and I held onto it."

Soon after the ball was in his clutches, however, Franklin realized he was not going to bring it back 99 yards. After 10 yards, "I was looking for someone to pitch it to," he said.

Though the interception was easily the most visible play of Franklin's career, a nose tackle makes his living in the anonymity of the trenches. Franklin spends the majority of his time working to tie up one and sometimes two blockers to free linebackers Patrick Willis and Takeo Spikes to make the tackles.

"Anyone who doesn't realize that he's in the top three nose tackles in the NFL doesn't know expletive about Football," said teammate Jeff Ulbrich, whose season was ended by a concussion. "Patrick's not Patrick without him. Takeo's not Takeo without him."

Along with the interception, Franklin also has a career-high two sacks this season and 24 total tackles. Never before in his six full seasons did he have more than one sack. Franklin, formerly with the Baltimore Ravens, reported to training camp 15 pounds lighter after working with a personal trainer in the offseason.

The hard work is paying off in Franklin's strength and mobility in the middle of the line of scrimmage. Those two sacks came when he shed blockers to get to the quarterback.

"It's the position of the 3-4 nose tackle," Franklin said. "If I can occupy two blockers and keep Patrick and Takeo free, I'm doing the job. Those guys help me, too."

Coach Mike Singletary singled out Franklin in his day-after comments on the Chicago game. Franklin had three tackles in addition to the interception against the Bears.

"Aubrayo Franklin had another great game," Singletary said. "He's been the most consistent player we've had this year. He has that low center of gravity generously listed as 6-foot-1. He's always working on getting his body in position to make plays. ... You have unselfish players who are willing to do their job, get in the gap and hold those guys so the linebackers can get to where they need to go."

It's all there on game tape, which, as Smith has pointed out a time or two, doesn't lie.

Next game at Packers10 a.m. SundayChannel: 2 /680, 107.7"Anyone who doesn't realize that he's in the top three nose tackles in the NFL doesn't know expletive about Football."

Jeff Ulbrich, 49ers linebacker

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