49ers Dump Raiders In Battle Of The Bay For 1st Win
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- Somebody had to win through all the sloppiness.
Just when fans began booing Alex Smith yet again and begging for backup David Carr, it looked to be another long day for San Francisco's embattled quarterback.
Instead, Smith threw second-half touchdown passes to Michael Crabtree and Vernon Davis and the 49ers finally won their first game, beating the Oakland Raiders 17-9 on Sunday in a penalty-filled game.
Crabtree made a go-ahead 32-yard TD reception on the last play of the third quarter and Smith hit Davis on a 17-yard score with 7:14 remaining. Frank Gore ran for 149 yards, including a 64-yard scramble that set up Davis' third touchdown of the season.
Smith overcame a slow start to go 16 of 33 for 196 yards in his first turnover-free game of 2010, though San Francisco still committed 11 penalties for 143 yards. The Niners, whose 1-5 start is the franchise's worst since Bill Walsh's first team lost its initial seven games in 1979, denied Oakland its first back-to-back victories since 2008.
Sebastian Janikowski kicked field goals of 27, 24 and 40 yards for the Raiders (2-4). Oakland had eight penalties for 60 yards.
Jason Campbell, like Smith a first-round draft pick in 2005, completed 8 of 21 passes for 83 yards and was sacked twice playing in place of the injured Bruce Gradkowski. The Raiders struggled to convert on offense a week after they beat the Chargers to end a 13-game losing streak to San Diego.
Oakland drove inside the Niners 10 on its first two series but settled for field goals. Janikowski kicked a 40-yarder with 8:21 left, set up by two long catches by Zach Miller.
The first regular-season meeting between the rivals since 2006 wasn't anything special - a matchup of teams that each have gone seven straight seasons without a winning record. Oakland has failed in seven tries the past two years when trying for consecutive wins.
After the first drive of the second half, San Francisco had 123 yards in penalties and 137 yards of offense.
Crabtree said during the week he wanted to have a big game against the team that picked Darrius Heyward-Bey instead of him at No. 7 in last year's draft. Crabtree, picked three spots later at 10th, had four catches for 57 yards to Heyward-Bey's three for 19.
Smith faced boobirds for the second straight Sunday at home. This time, they started at the 10:18 mark of the second quarter. It's been a rough go for Smith, who committed seven turnovers in the 49ers' three narrow losses - by eight combined points against New Orleans, Atlanta and Philadelphia.
Coach Mike Singletary nearly benched him last week after a heated conversation on the sideline but Smith talked him out of it. The QB then led two late touchdown drives before throwing a pick on San Francisco's final possession in a 27-24 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles.
On Sunday, Smith was just 2 for 11 before completing a pass to Josh Morgan late in the first half. Joe Nedney then kicked a 25-yard field goal 8 seconds before halftime.
Linebacker Manny Lawson made an athletic, diving catch in front of Miller to get the Niners the ball back early in the second, but they couldn't capitalize.
San Francisco avoided becoming the NFL's only 0-6 team. Buffalo and Carolina are 0-5 but were idle Sunday.
The 49ers were the popular pick to win the NFC West before the season began. This franchise thought for sure it would end a seven-year playoff drought - though that will still be a tough task. The three other divisional teams all have three victories. San Francisco goes to Carolina next week before flying to London to face the Denver Broncos on Oct. 31.
Niners team president Jed York said after the last-second loss to the Eagles that his club would still win the West and make the playoffs.
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