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Atlanta
Falcons Jamal Anderson (32) gets by San Francisco 49ers Jeff Posey, left,
during the first quarter, in Atlanta, Sunday, Sept. 3, 2000. (AP Photo/Ric
Feld) |
ATLANTA (Ticker)
- Jamal Anderson and the Atlanta Falcons may be back. The San Francisco
49ers are not.
Anderson's presence rekindled the
offense and Morten Andersen kicked five field goals as the Falcons defeated
the overmatched 49ers, 36-28, in the season opener for both teams.
Anderson was second in the NFL in
rushing in 1998, when the Falcons went 14-2 and made their first Super
Bowl appearance. But in the second game of last season, the star running
back tore his ACL and was sidelined for the season.
So was Atlanta's offense. Without
Anderson's ground game, the Falcons were predictable and sputtered to a
5-11 record.
Anderson saw limited time in the
preseason as he continued his rehabilitation. But coach Dan Reeves took
off the wraps today and Anderson responded with 82 yards on 24 carries
and 20 yards on his lone catch.
Four of Andersen's field goals came
before the offense found its stride. Chris Chandler threw touchdown passes
of 44 yards to Terance Mathis in the second quarter and 48 yards to Shawn
Jefferson in the third. Chandler completed 16-of-31 passes for 264 yards
without an interception.
Ashley Ambrose returned an interception
36 yards for a score and the Falcons survived a half-hearted rally by the
49ers as Anderson helped run out the clock.
This was a game that the Niners used
to win all the time with a late comeback, usually engineered by Joe Montana
or Steve Young. But neither of those greats is at quarterback for San Francisco
for the first time since 1980 and Jeff Garcia -- like many of his young
teammates - still is learning the game.
Garcia was 23-of-36 for 253 yards
and three touchdowns, two to Fred Beasley, who also ran for a score. But
the Niners played from behind for most of the final three quarters and
lost its fourth straight visit to Atlanta, including a 1998 playoff game.
| FINAL |
1st
|
2nd
|
3rd
|
4th
|
Total
|
| San Francisco |
7
|
7
|
7
|
7
|
28
|
| Atlanta |
6
|
16
|
14
|
0
|
36
|
.....
| SCORING
SUMMARY |
| 1st
Quarter |
| SFO |
TD |
FRED BEASLEY 4 YD PASS
FROM JEFF GARCIA (WADE RICHEY KICK), 4:35. Drive: 8 plays, 74 yards in
4:35. Key plays: Garcia 10-yard pass to Rice to San Francisco 37; Garcia
19-yard pass to Owens to Atlanta 40; Garcia 24-yard pass to Garner to Atlanta
6. SAN FRANCISCO 7-0 |
| ATL |
FG |
MORTEN ANDERSEN 43 YD, 7:00. Drive:
6 plays, 20 yards in 2:25. Key plays: Vaughn 57-yard kickoff return to
San Francisco 45; Anderson 3 carries for 19 yards. SAN FRANCISCO 7-3 |
| ATL |
FG |
MORTEN ANDERSEN 44 YD, 13:13. Drive:
10 plays, 37 yards in 4:37. Key plays: Chandler 17-yard pass to Mathis
on 3rd-and-12 to San Francisco 49; Chandler 20-yard pass to Anderson to
San Francisco 28. SAN FRANCISCO 7-6 |
| 2nd
Quarter |
| ATL |
FG |
MORTEN ANDERSEN 24 YD, 5:19. Drive:
11 plays, 53 yards in 5:30. Key plays: Chandler 22-yard pass to Jefferson
to San Francisco 37; 5-yard offsides penalty on 49ers' Young on 3rd-and-4
to San Francisco 19. ATLANTA 9-7 |
| ATL |
FG |
MORTEN ANDERSEN 44 YD, 9:22. Drive:
6 plays, 22 yards in 2:51. Key plays: Dwight 15-yard punt return to San
Francisco 48; Chandler 16-yard run to San Francisco 29. ATLANTA 12-7 |
| ATL |
TD |
TERANCE MATHIS 44 YD PASS FROM CHRIS
CHANDLER (MORTEN ANDERSEN KICK), 12:48. Drive: 5 plays, 62 yards in 2:24.
Key plays: Chandler 17-yard-pass to Jefferson on 3rd-and-9 to San Francisco
44. ATLANTA 19-7 |
| SFO |
TD |
FRED BEASLEY 1 YD RUN (WADE RICHEY
KICK), 13:53. Drive: 6 plays, 80 yards in 1:05. Key plays: Garner 13-yard
run to San Francisco 33; Garcia 13-yard pass to Owens to Atlanta 38; 37-yard
pass interference penalty on Falcons' Buchanan in the endzone. ATLANTA
19-14 |
| ATL |
FG |
MORTEN ANDERSEN 48 YD, 15:00. Drive:
7 plays, 52 yards in 1:07. Key plays: Chandler 6-yard pass to Kozlowski
on 3rd-and-6 to Atlanta 27; Chandler 25-yard pass to Jefferson to San Francisco
48; Chandler 12-yard-pass to Jefferson to San Francisco 36. San Francisco
5-yard offsides penalty to San Francisco 31. ATLANTA 22-14 |
| 3rd
Quarter |
| ATL |
TD |
SHAWN JEFFERSON 48 YD PASS FROM
CHRIS CHANDLER (MORTEN ANDERSEN KICK), 0:54. Drive: 2 plays, 60 yards in
0:54. Key plays: Dwight 48-yard kickoff return to Atlanta 40; Anderson
12-yard run to San Francisco 48. ATLANTA 29-14 |
| SFO |
TD |
FRED BEASLEY 4 YD PASS FROM JEFF
GARCIA (WADE RICHEY KICK), 5:50. Drive: 11 plays, 80 yards in 4:56. Key
plays: Garcia 10-yard pass to Rice on to San Francisco 30; Garcia 18-yard
pass to Rice to Atlanta 46; Garcia 10-yard pass to Rice to Atlanta 33;
Garner 10-yard run on 3rd-and-3 to Atlanta 16. ATLANTA 29-21 |
| ATL |
TD |
ASHLEY AMBROSE 36 YD INTERCEPTION
RETURN (MORTEN ANDERSEN KICK), 9:35. ATLANTA 36-21 |
| 4th
Quarter |
| SFO |
TD |
TERRELL OWENS 6 YD PASS FROM JEFF
GARCIA (WADE RICHEY KICK), 12:10. Drive: 3 plays, 26 yards in 1:06. Key
plays: Norton recovery of J Anderson fumble at Atlanta 26; Garcia 11-yard
pass to Rice to Atlanta 15; Garcia 9-yard pass to Garner to Atlanta 6.
ATLANTA 36-28 |
| Team
Stats |
SFO |
ATL |
TOTAL FIRST
DOWNS
FIRST DOWNS (Rushing-Passing-by
Penalty)
4TH-DOWN Conversions (Att-Comp)
3RD-DOWN Conversions (Att-Comp)
TOTAL OFFENSIVE NET YARDS
(Plays-Average)
NET YARDS RUSHING
(Plays-Average)
NET YARDS PASSING
(Att-Comp-Int)
(Average)
Sacks (#Yards)
FIELD GOALS (Made-Attempts)
PENALTIES (#Yards)
FUMBLES
TOUCHDOWNS
(Rushing-Passing-Returns)
TIME OF POSSESSION
TIMEOUTS REMAINING |
23
6-16-1
0-0
11-4
339
61-5.6
92
24-3.8
247
36-23-1
6.9
1-6
0-0
7-42
0
23
1-3-0
27:28
2 |
22
6-13-3
0-0
0-0
359
63-5.7
95
32-3.0
264
31-16-0
8.5
0-0
5-0
4-51
1
22
0-2-1
31:39
3 |
| INDIVIDUAL
LEADERS |
San Francisco rushing
Charlie Garner 15-62, Jeff Garcia
2-22, Fred Beasley 5-10, Terry Jackson 1-0, Jerry Rice 1--2.
Atlanta rushing
Jamal Anderson 24-77, Chris Chandler
4-12, Bob Christian 3-5, Shawn Jefferson 1-1.
San Francisco passing
Jeff Garcia 23-36 for 253 yards,
1 INT.
Atlanta passing
Chris Chandler 16-31 for 264 yards,
0 INT.
San Francisco receiving
Terrell Owens 7-72, Jerry Rice 5-59,
Charlie Garner 3-45, Greg Clark 4-27, J.J. Stokes 1-25, Fred Beasley 3-25.
Atlanta receiving
Shawn Jefferson 7-148, Terance Mathis
3-72, Jamal Anderson 1-20, Bob Christian 1-12, Reggie Kelly 2-10, Brian
Kozlowski 1-6, Chris Chandler 1--4.
Interceptions
Atlanta (Ashley Ambrose 1 for 36).
Kickoff Returns
San Francisco (Kevin Williams 4
for 67, Travis Jervey 1 for 18).
Punt Returns
San Francisco (Kevin Williams 1
for 0). Atlanta (Tim Dwight 2 for 21).
Opponent's fumbles recovered
San Francisco (Ken Norton 1).
San Francisco Tackles (tackles-assists-sacks)
Ahmed Plummer 6-2-0, Winfred Tubbs
6-1-0, Junior Bryant 5-0-0, Lance Schulters 4-1-0, Monty Montgomery 4-0-0,
Pierson Prioleau 4-0-0, Zack Bronson 3-1-0, Bryant Young 3-1-0, Jason Webster
1-2-0, Ken Norton 2-0-0, Julian Peterson 2-0-0, Jeff Posey 1-1-0, John
Engelberger 1-0-0, John Keith 1-1-0, Anthony Parker 1-0-0, Edward Thomas
2-0-0.
Atlanta Tackles (tackles-assists-sacks)
Keith Brooking 6-3-0, Ronnie Bradford
6-2-0, Ray Buchanan 7-0-0, Marty Carter 4-0-0, Patrick Kerney 2-2-0, Ashley
Ambrose 3-0-0, Gerald Mcburrows 3-0-0, Jessie Tuggle 3-0-0, Henri Crockett
2-1-1, Elijah Williams 1-2-0, Chuck Wiley 3-0-0, Shane Dronett 1-0-0, Travis
Hall 1-0-0, Ed Jasper 1-0-0, Shawn Swayda 1-0-0, Darrick Vaughn 1-0-0,
Johndale Carty 2-0-0, Terry Cousin 2-0-0, Jeff Kelly 2-0-0. |
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