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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- When Terrell Owens returns to the San
Francisco 49ers on Monday, his teammates will be celebrating
consecutive wins for the first time in more than a year.
|  | | Among Jerry Rice's seven catches Sunday was his 141st career touchdown. |
Charlie Garner rushed for two touchdowns and Jeff Garcia threw
for 220 yards and another score as the 49ers held off a late rally
by Jake Plummer to beat the Arizona Cardinals 27-20 Sunday.
The 49ers won two straight for the first time since the third
and fourth weeks of last season -- and they did it without Owens,
their top receiver. He was suspended from the game by coach Steve
Mariucci because of his midfield touchdown celebrations last week
at Dallas.
"We will welcome him back," Mariucci said. "We're going to
begin again. He will jump right in, and he will help us win
football games this season."
After opening the season with three losses, San Francisco (2-3)
has won twice thanks to an offense that's quietly finding its
stride and a young defense that mostly stifled Plummer and the
Cardinals (1-3).
"Nothing came easy," said Garcia, who stayed patient in the
pocket and completed 22 of 33 passes with no interceptions. "We
weren't able to get into any type of rhythm. We had to work for
everything we got, so there's a measure of satisfaction in that."
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TOM DONAHOE'S BREAKDOWN |
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Both teams ran the ball effectively, but the differences in this game were a couple of fumbles by Arizona -- and San Francisco's ability to control the football.
49ers QB Jeff Garcia (67 percent) has been putting up pretty good numbers each week. Jerry Rice (seven receptions, one TD) continues to add to his Hall of Fame stats.
Cardinals QB Jake Plummer had a strong performance, as did second-year WR David Boston. Still, Arizona is looking for answers. The Cardinals just don't make enough plays on either side of the ball at critical junctures in the game. Most people expected more out of them, but it comes down to making key plays.
The 49ers have quietly been getting better each week. The coaching staff has been doing a good job with a roster that has 26 players with two years or less experience.
Tom Donahoe, ESPN.com's NFL analyst, was formerly the Steelers' director of football operations.
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The 49ers easily replaced Owens thanks to Garcia, who already
endured a quarterback controversy this season with Rick Mirer, but
has 1,122 yards passing, 11 TD passes and just four interceptions.
Jerry Rice had seven catches -- among them his 141st career TD
reception -- for 66 yards, J.J. Stokes caught four passes for 62
yards and Tai Streets had four receptions for 47 yards.
It was another discouraging loss for Arizona. The Cardinals, who
have the NFL's worst rushing offense, again struggled to run the
ball and lost for the seventh time in eight games dating back to
last season.
"We're not on level ground anymore," Arizona cornerback Aeneas
Williams said. "We're 6 feet under. So the first thing we've got
to do is figure out how to get some oxygen down there and get us
back up."
San Francisco went up 24-10 after a methodical 63-yard drive
midway through the third quarter ended with a 1-yard dive by
Garner, who rushed for 77 yards.
Down by 14 with less than four minutes to play, Arizona still
made it interesting. Plummer, who led 11 fourth-quarter comeback
victories in his first three NFL seasons, marched the Cardinals 70
yards in just 80 seconds, with Michael Pittman's 35-yard catch
setting up Thomas Jones' 4-yard TD run with 2:15 left.
After an onside kick failed, San Francisco couldn't run out the
clock, so Arizona regained possession at its own 19 with 17 seconds
left and no timeouts. Plummer completed one pass, but David Boston
dropped a long one at the 49ers 40 as time ran out.
While Garcia excelled, Plummer struggled until late. He misfired
on a number of short passes in the second half and finished
24-of-41 for 239 yards.
"We didn't attack them until late in the game," Plummer said.
"It seems like it doesn't happen for until the game is on the line
and we've got nothing to lose. ... We hate to be in this position.
It's getting old."
Rice caught a 5-yard slant in the first quarter for a score that
added to his own league record for TD catches.
A dull, defensive-oriented first half ended with two touchdowns
31 seconds apart.
Arizona's MarTay Jenkins fumbled a kickoff return late in the
half at the 23, and two plays later, Streets made a spectacular
diving catch at the 1 to set up Garner's 1-yard TD run 49 seconds
before halftime.
But Arizona moved quickly to midfield. Plummer then threw a
short pass to Boston, who romped 56 yards through missed tackles
for a score with 18 seconds left.
Game notes
Richey and Arizona's Cary Blanchard each kicked two short
field goals. Neither kicker has missed a field goal this season.
... The game matched the NFL's two least effective defenses, but
San Francisco didn't play that way. The Niners held the Cardinals
to 283 yards of total offense before Plummer's final drives, and
Arizona couldn't get into the end zone until the final minutes of
each half. ... Niners fans are already preparing for next week,
when San Francisco plays host to cross-Bay rival Oakland. After the
game, fans in the north end zone chanted "Beat the Raiders!"
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ALSO SEE
NFL Scoreboard
Arizona Clubhouse
San Francisco Clubhouse
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