Sep 11, 2007, 6:01 GMT
San Francisco, CA - Arnaz Battle's one-yard touchdown run with 22 seconds left in the contest gave San Francisco a 20-17 victory over Arizona in the season opener for both teams at Monster Park.
Battle, who fumbled a 22-yard pass reception into the end zone that San Francisco recovered in the end zone prior to his score, ended a 12-play, 86- yard drive that started with 2:58 left in the contest.
Alex Smith, who orchestrated the game-winning drive and had a key 25-yard scramble, completed 15-of-31 passes for 126 yards and also ran for 36 yards for the 49ers (1-0), who wore their 1981 throwback uniforms to pay tribute to Hall of Fame coach Bill Walsh, who passed away earlier this summer after a lengthy bout with leukemia. Walsh was the architect of the great 49er teams of the 1980s.
Frank Gore carried the ball 18 times for 55 yards and a score while wide receiver Darrell Jackson, who played the last seven seasons with Seattle, made his debut for San Francisco with four catches for 36 yards and came up with Battle's fumble.
Holding a four-point lead, Arizona ran the clock down to just 2:58. Starting on their own 14-yard line after a punt, Smith moved the 49ers into Cardinals territory after completing four straight passes. With Arizona then applying heavy pressure, Smith threw a deep pass that Jackson dropped in the end zone.
After another incomplete pass that set up 4th-and-1, Smith scrambled for 25 yards down the left sideline to the Arizona 20. Two plays later, Smith and Battle connected for a 22-yard pass that Battle fumbled into the end zone as San Francisco recovered with just 26 seconds left. Arizona's Eric Green had a chance to pounce on the ball for Arizona, but didn't come up with the ball. Since Battle had to recover the loose ball because a team can't advance a fumble in the final two minutes of a game, the ball was placed at the one-yard line.
After a timeout, Battle made up for his mistake by easily scoring from one yard out on an end-around.
'We play games to the very end,' 49ers coach Mike Nolan said. 'Last year, four out of our seven wins came when we came back after halftime being down. It was one of those types of games today. I was pleased with that.'
Shawntae Spencer then sealed the victory for the Niners by picking off Matt Leinart's first pass attempt following Battle's TD.
'I think a lot of time we hurt ourselves,' Leinart said. 'We can't afford to go three-and-outs. We can't afford to not move the chains. It's just disappointing. I have to get better.'
Anquan Boldin finished with four catches for 22 yards and a touchdown while Edgerrin James ran for 92 yards and a touchdown for the Cardinals (0-1), who played their first game under new head coach Ken Whisenhunt
Leinart threw for just 102 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions on 14- of-28 passing in the loss.
'I was disappointed that we didn't play better offensively,' Cardinals coach Whisenhunt said. 'I thought we ran the football in spurts at times pretty good. But one of the things that I thought we had been good at was throwing the football. Until I see the film, I don't know if there were guys open and we just missed it or they did a good job of covering us and just shut us down.'
After San Francisco was forced to punt on the opening possession of the contest, its defense came up with a huge play on Arizona's first drive that set up a touchdown.
On Leinart's first pass attempt of the game, Walt Harris stepped in front of Larry Fitzgerald and intercepted the ball and ran it down to the Arizona six- yard line. Two plays later, Gore found an opening up the middle and walked into the end zone with 11:21 on the clock.
Early in the second quarter, Neil Rackers booted a 35-yard field goal to end a 13-play, 53-yard drive to get the Cardinals on the board.
On the ensuing possession for the 49ers, Arizona's defense came up with a big play as Karlos Dansby and Bertrand Berry both hit Smith and knocked the ball loose, allowing Antonio Smith to recover for the Cardinals on San Fran's 36- yard line.
Arizona's offense then capitalized off the turnover as James ran off left tackle and into the end zone from seven yards out to give his team a 10-7 lead with 9:10 left in the second quarter.
The 49ers closed out the first half with an 11-play, 51-yard drive that ended with Joe Nedney splitting the uprights with a 33-yard field goal to tie the game.
With the game tied at the half, San Francisco grabbed a 13-10 lead early in the third quarter. Starting the drive on Arizona's 33-yard line after an eight-yard punt return and 15-yard low block penalty on the Cardinals, the Niners settled for a 30-yard field goal by Nedney after not being able to find the end zone.
Both teams traded punts and battled for field position the remainder of the third quarter.
Trailing by four points, it wasn't until about midway through the fourth quarter that the Cardinals threatened to score. A 15-yard face mask penalty on Leinart by the 49ers put Arizona on San Fran's 37. Later in the drive, Leinart scrambled for 20 yards and an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on Mark Roman for taunting put the Cardinals on the five and in position to take the lead. Leinart then fired a bullet to Boldin over the middle of the end zone for a 17-13 lead with 6:40 remaining.
Game Notes
Walsh, who was the honorary team captain for San Francisco for the game, was added to the 49ers ring of honor at halftime and honored his memory with a video and pictorial tribute...The Niners defeated the Cardinals for the first time in the last five games...The victory was Nolan's first against Arizona. He came into the game 0-4 against the Cardinals...San Francisco cornerback Nate Clements, who inked a lucrative free agent contract in the offseason, registered two tackles...Arizona center Al Johnson left the game in the third quarter with a sprained knee and did not return.
© 2007 The Sports Network
Game Notes.
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