49ers a 28-24 Victory

49ers takes brawl in the Bay

Bruce Gradkowski and David Carr left no doubt about who the quarterbacks will be on their teams.

Gradkowski threw for 202 yards and two touchdowns after Jason Campbell left with an injury for the Oakland Raiders, and David Carr led a late touchdown drive that gave the San Francisco 49ers a 28-24 victory Saturday night in the annual Battle of the Bay.

Campbell left the game in the second quarter after being hurt on a sack. Campbell was down for about 5 minutes before leaving in the passager seat of a cart with what the team described as a stinger. There was no word on other information available during the game.

But Gradkowski once again proved more than capable as a back-up. After breathing life into Oakland's offense last year when he took over the reins from JaMarcus Russell, Gradowski was once again relegated to back-up status after the Raiders acuired Campbell in the offseason.

Gradowski did not play in the first two exhibition games because of a groin injury and was in danger of falling behind Kyle Boller on the depth chart. But he completed 14-22 passes and led Oakland to scores on his first three drives. He threw touchdown passes to Louis Murphy and Zach Miller and set up a 57-yard field goal by Sebastain Janikowski.

That wasn't enough to win as the Niners put together a 16-play, 80-yard drive to win it. After a slow start, Carr did just enough to win it on that drive. The biggest play might have been Carr's 5-yard run on third-and-3. Carr leaped in the air and was spun around like a helicopter after being hit by a defenser a week after Nate Davis went down shy of the marker on a similar play.

Anthony Dixon pushed it up the middle on the third-and-goal from the 1 to give the Niners the lead with 1:44 remaining. Carr's pass to Nate Byham for the two-point conversion made it 28-24.

Todd Watkins dropped a deep pass inside the 5 on the fourth down to end Oakland's hopes at comeback.

Frank Gore ran for 58-yards on two carries in his first action of the preseason for the Niners, Alex Smith threw a touchdown pass and rookie Phillip Adams scored on an 83-yard punt return as San Francisco remained undeated in the preseason.

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49ers Defeat Minnesota in Preseason

49ers
Defeat Minnesota in
Preseason

Being back on the field again meant plenty to Brett Favre, no matter if it was only for a few minutes.
No matter that he completed one pass and also got clobbered on a sack that lost Minnesota 10 yards.
Favre's highly anticipated first game back with the Vikings lasted all of four unspectacular plays and one series in a 15-10 loss to the 49ers in a nationally televised preseason game Sunday at Candlestick Park, the only NFL show of the night.
Favre completed a 13-yard pass to Adrian Peterson on his first play from scrimmage but was sacked by Pro Bowl linebacker Patrick Willis two plays later and the Vikings wound up punting. The 40 year old quarterback took the field just four days after his first training camp practice of the year.He decided to return for a 20th season and make yet another run at the Super Bowl.
Alex Smith, Favre's 49ers counterpart, went 9 of 13 for 88 yards in a solid first half. Willis had four tackles playing only nine snaps.
After that single series, Favre headed to the bench and gave way to backup Tarvaris Jackson who had been in line to be starter before Jared Allen, Ryan Longwell and Steve Hutchinson flew to Mississippi early last week to recruit Favre back to the Twin Cities. Favre sporting a 5-o'clock Shadow peppered with gray, could be seen laughing on the sideline in the second half.
Coach Brad Childress had planned to give Favre 10 plays, but that changed when it took so long for the Vikings offense to finally get on the field.
Smith Bounced back stumbling through a subpar outing in which he completed 3 of 9 passes for 37 yards and only two first downs in a win at Indianapolis. David Carr and Nate Davis rallied the niners to 37-17 victory.

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Mike Nolan will return to the 49ers

Mike Nolan will return to the 49ers next season despite going 16-32 in his first three years with the club. Scot McCloughan, their top personnel executive, was formally announced as general manager Wednesday, getting a contract extension and a raise.

San Francisco lost 20-7 at Cleveland last Sunday to complete an embarrassing run of losing for a franchise with five Super Bowl trophies. The 49ers haven't finished better than 7-9 in three seasons under Nolan and McCloughan.

Their third season in San Francisco easily was the most disappointing, with 10 losses in 11 games erasing Nolan's bold hopes for a playoff run. The season also was personally taxing on Nolan, whose father, former 49ers coach Dick Nolan, died one day before a game at Seattle.

Nolan, who didn't get a contract extension, has two years left on a five-year, $8 million deal. The sharpest-dressed coach in franchise history also is the first to return after three straight losing seasons.

Nolan made one inevitable move by firing rookie offensive coordinator Jim Hostler, whose unit finished last in the NFL with 219 points. Nolan is on the lookout for a veteran NFL man to become San Francisco's sixth offensive coordinator in six seasons.

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49er's vs Panthers

The Carolina Panthers pulled off their first home victory over the year with a 31-14 victory over the visiting San Francisco 49ers.

A pair of Trent Dilfer touchdown passes in the third quarter trimmed Carolina's lead to 17-14, but the Panthers then took command of the game, increasing their lead back to ten points with a 1-yard touchdown run by DeShaun Foster that was set up by a muffled punt by returner Michael Lewis.

The fumble recovery squandered a three and out series by the 49ers defense and instead gave Carolina easy field position with a start at the 49ers 11-yardline. Four plays later, Foster dove in for the score, upping the Panthers to a 27-14 edge.

Early in the fourth quarter, the Panthers padded that lead to 31-14 with a 1-yard touchdown pass from Vinny Testaverde to tight end Jeff King, finishing off a 14-play, 83-yard drive.

The 49ers got on the board for the first time early in the third quarter with a 20-yard touchdown pass from Dilfer to Arnaz Battle. The 6-play, 38-yard drive was set up by an interception by safety Michael Lewis on the first defensive series of the second half.

Following a three and out by the defense, a 41-yard punt return by Nate Clements led to a quick 3-play, 35-yard scoring drive capped by a 21-yard touchdown pass from Dilfer to tight end Delanie Walker.

Carolina built a 17-0 halftime advantage, gaining ten of those points off of 49ers turnovers.
The Panthers scored first on a 19-yard John Kasay first quarter field goal, finishing of an 11-play, 51-yard scoring drive that was set up by a Battle fumble near midfield.

Carolina added to their lead with a 10-play, 80-yard drive capped by a 5-yard touchdown pass from Testaverde to a wide open Dante Rosario with 10:03 to go in the second quarter.

The Panthers continued to cushion their lead with a 73-yard interception for a touchdown by Richard Marshall on the following drive.

Damn...;(

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