Week #8
Sunday, Oct.22, at Ericsson Stadium, 1:15pm ET
Carolina Panthers
vs
San Francisco 49ers
34
 
16

San Francisco 49ers' Terrell Owens (81) makes a 32-yard touchdown as Carolina Panthers' Eric Davis (25) defends in the second quarter in Charlotte, N.C., Sunday, Oct. 22, 2000. (AP Photo/Chuck Burton)
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) _ Nothing can cure a slumping offense quite like a game against San Francisco's defense.

 Steve Beuerlein threw for 309 yards and three touchdowns as he methodically picked apart the 49ers' young secondary Sunday, leading the Carolina Panthers to a 34-16 victory over San Francisco.

 The win gave Carolina (3-4) a season sweep over the 49ers and improved coach George Seifert to 4-0 against his former team. The Panthers beat the Niners 38-22 in Week 2.

 The Panthers, awful in last week's 24-6 loss at New Orleans, came out clicking against San Francisco (2-6).

 They opened the game with a 16-play drive _ their longest of the year _ and took a 7-0 lead on Beuerlein's 3-yard pass to Isaac Byrd. Beuerlein was 8-for-13 on the drive.

 The Niners got on the board when Jeff Garcia, the league leader in touchdown passes, threw a 16-yard scoring strike to Terrell Owens, the league leader in TD receptions. It was the ninth time the two have hooked up this season for a score, and the 20th touchdown pass for Garcia.

 But Carolina answered with another scoring drive, this one highlighted by a 21-yard pass to Byrd on third-and-14 and a 32-yard completion to Donald Hayes on second-and-20. It was capped by a 2-yard TD pass to Tshimanga Biakabutuka.

 Garcia, who entered the game with 142 passes without an interception and stretched it to 150, was picked off by Mike Minter on the next series. Minter brought it back for a 30-yard score, Carolina's first interception returned for a touchdown since 1998. That gave the Panthers a 21-6 lead.

 Beuerlein, who finished 28-for-44, also threw an 8-yard touchdown pass to Biakabutuka in the third quarter. He spread the ball among seven receivers, and hooked up with Muhsin Muhammad nine times for 127 yards.

 Joe Nedney also added field goals of 30 and 38 yards for Carolina.

 The Niners defense, weakened because linebacker Winfred Tubbs and linemen Bryant Young sat out with injuries, gave up 391 yards. The Panthers also finished with 26 first downs and converted 10 of 14 third downs _ a stark contrast from last week, when they converted just three of 14 third downs and had only eight first downs.

 Charlie Garner, the NFL's rushing leader, finished with just 87 yards. But he was San Francisco's leading receiver with 112 yards on seven catches.

 Garcia, who had come on strong since being benched in the second half of San Francisco's first game against Carolina, finished 25-of-39 for 307 yards and two touchdowns. He also threw a 16-yard TD pass to Jerry Rice and in second quarter.



 
FINAL
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
Total
San Francisco 
0
13
3
0
16
Carolina
7
17
7
3
34
..... 
 
SCORING SUMMARY
1st Quarter
CAR TD ISSAC BYRD 3 YD PASS FROM STEVE BEUERLEIN (JOE NEDNEY KICK), 7:27. Drive: 16 plays, 80 yards in 7:33. Key plays: Beuerlein 9-yard pass to Hayes to Carolina 49; Beuerlein 12-yard pass to Muhammad to San Francisco 39; Beuerlein 10-yard pass to Muhammad on 3rd-and-3 to San Francisco 22; Beuerlein 8-yard pass to Muhammad to San Francisco 9. CAROLINA 7-0
2nd Quarter
SFO TD TERRELL OWENS 32 YD PASS FROM JEFF GARCIA (PAT FAILED), 0:08. Drive: 6 plays, 51 yards in 2:26. Key plays: Garcia 10-yard pass to Owens to Carolina 40. CAROLINA 7-6 .
CAR TD TIM BIAKABUTUKA 2 YD PASS FROM STEVE BEUERLEIN (JOE NEDNEY KICK), 6:09. Drive: 12 plays, 80 yards in 6:01. Key plays: Beuerlein 21-yard pass on 3rd-and-14 to Byrd to Carolina 37; Beuerlein 24-yard pass to Muhammad to San Francisco 35; Beuerlein 32-yard pass to Hayes to San Francisco 13; Beuelrein 11-yard pass to Muhammad to San Francisco 2. CAROLINA 14-6
CAR TD MIKE MINTER 30 YD INTERCEPTION RETURN (JOE NEDNEY KICK), 6:28. CAROLINA 21-6
SFO TD JERRY RICE 16 YD PASS FROM JEFF GARCIA (WADE RICHEY KICK), 9:19. Drive: 6 plays, 80 yards in 2:51. Key plays: Garcia 62-yard pass to Garner to Carolina 28; Garcia 11-yard pass to Garner on 3rd-and-9 to Carolina 16. CAROLINA 21-13
CAR FG JOE NEDNEY 30 YD, 13:56. Drive: 12 plays, 68 yards in 4:37. Key plays: Beuerlein 16-yard pass to Hayes on 3rd-and-5 to Carolina 41; Beuerlein 9-yard pass to Biakabutuka to San Francisco 48; Beuerlein 27-yard pass to Muhammad to San Francisco 21. CAROLINA 24-13
3rd Quarter
CAR TD TIM BIAKABUTUKA 8 YD PASS FROM STEVE BEUERLEIN (JOE NEDNEY KICK), 2:44. Drive: 4 plays, 34 yards in 1:18. Key plays: Uwaezuoke 13-yard punt return to San Francisco 34; Beuerlein 18-yard pass to Hayes on 3rd-and-2 to San Francisco 8. CAROLINA 31-13
SFO FG WADE RICHEY 38 YD, 9:41. Drive: 15 plays, 58 yards in 6:57. Key plays: Garcia 13-yard pass to Garner to San Francisco 41; Garcia 15-yard pass to Rice on 3rd-and-9 to Carolina 43; Garcia 5-yard pass to Garner on 3rd-and-4 to Carolina 32; Beasley 5-yard run on 3rd-and-2 to Carolina 19. CAROLINA 31-16
4th Quarter
CAR FG JOE NEDNEY 38 YD, 6:29. Drive: 10 plays, 47 yards in 4:22. Key plays: Beuerlein 11-yard pass to Muhammad on 3rd-and-4 to midfield; Biakabutuka 12-yard run on 3rd-and-1 to San Francisco 29. CAROLINA 34-16

 
Team Stats SFO CAR
FIRST DOWNS
Passing
3RD-DOWN EFFICIENCY
4TH-DOWN EFFICIENCY
TOTAL NET YARDS
Total plays
Average gain
NET YARDS RUSHING
Rushes
Average per rush
NET YARDS PASSING
Completed-attempted
Yards per pass
Sacked-yards lost
PUNTS-AVERAGE
RETURN YARDAGE
Punts-returns
Kickoffs-returns
Interceptions-returns
PENALTIES-YARDS
FUMBLES-LOST
TIME OF POSSESSION
20
14
5-10
1-3
411
60
6.9
128
18
7.1
283
25-39
6.7
3-24
1-37.0
77
0-0
5-77
0-0
13-82
3-1
26:23
26
19
10-14
0-0
390
72
5.4
98
25
3.9
292
28-44
6.2
3-17
2-42.0
68
1-13
1-19
2-36
6-63
0-0
33:37

 
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
Missed field goals
None. 
San Francisco rushing
Charlie Garner 10-87, Jeff Garcia 2-12, Fred Beasley 3-7, Terrell Owens 1-2, Paul Smith 2-20. 
Carolina rushing
Tim Biakabutuka 19-85, Chris Hetherington 1-4, Brad Hoover 1-4, Steve Beuerlein 2-3, William Floyd 2-2. 
San Francisco passing
Jeff Garcia 25-39 for 307 yards, 1 INT, 2 TD. 
Carolina passing
Steve Beuerlein 28-44 for 309 yards, 0 INT, 3 TD. 
San Francisco receiving
Charlie Garner 7-112, Terrell Owens 6-96, Fred Beasley 4-32, Jerry Rice 3-35, Greg Clark 2-14, Tai Streets 1-6, Jj Stokes 1-4, Justin Swift 1-8. 
Carolina receiving
Muhsin Muhammad 9-127, Donald Hayes 6-90, Tim Biakabutuka 6-42, Wesley Walls 3-22, Issac Byrd 2-24, William Floyd 1-2, Kris Mangum 1-2. 
San Francisco tackles-assists-sacks (unofficial)
Ahmed Plummer 9-2-0, Jason Webster 7-2-0, Artie Ulmer 4-2-1, Ken Norton 4-1-0, Pierson Prioleau 4-0-0, Monty Montgomery 3-1-0, Lance Schulters 3-0-0, Anthony Pleasant 3-0-1, Cedric Killings 3-0-1, Jeff Posey 2-1-0, Chike Okeafor 1-2-0, Brentson Buckner 2-0-0, John Engelberger 1-0-0, Reggie Mcgrew 1-0-0, Nate Hobgood-chittick 1-0-0. 
Carolina tackles-assists-sacks (unofficial)
Mike Minter 8-2-0, Doug Evans 5-3-0, Lee Woodall 6-1-0, Mike Rucker 4-0-1, Lester Towns 3-1-0, Eugene Robinson 2-1-0, Eric Davis 2-1-0, Al Lucas 2-0-0, Gillis Wilson 2-0-0, Reggie White 2-0-1, Sean Gilbert 2-0-0, Dean Wells 1-1-0, Jimmy Hitchcock 1-0-0, Jason Peter 1-0-1, Damien Richardson 1-0-0. 
Interceptions
Carolina (Mike Minter). 
Fumbles lost
San Francisco (Terrell Owens). 
Opponent's fumbles recovered
Carolina (Lester Towns). 
Officials
Referee-Ron Winter, Umpire-Ed Coukart, Head linesman-Tom Johnson, Line judge-Byron Boston, Field judge-Bobby Mcgrath, Side judge-Dave Wyant, Back judge-Perry Paganelli. 
A: 61,350; T: 3:10.
....