NFL Recap (Carolina-San Francisco)
Posted: Sun November 8, 1998 at 10:10 p.m. EST
SAN FRANCISCO 25, CAROLINA 23
SAN FRANCISCO (Ticker) -- Rookie Wade Richey kicked a 46-yard field
goal with 33 seconds left as the San Francisco 49ers rallied
from a 16-point deficit and blew a lead before stealing a 25-23 victory
from the Carolina
Panthers.
The Panthers (1-8) grabbed a 23-22 lead with 5:43 left when former
49ers fullback William
Floyd bulled in from two yards.
But the 49ers regained the lead behind Ty Detmer, who started for
the injured Steve Young
and marched them back down the field for the winning points. The 12-play,
62-yard drive covered 5:10.
"Definitely the biggest kick of my career," Richey said. "I had a
good week of practice, so I was confident that I was going to make it."
Richey nearly blew the game with a horrendous kickoff. In an attempt
to squib the ball down the field and avoid the dangerous Michael Bates, Richey's
bad kick was grabbed by Anthony Johnson at midfield
and returned it three yards into San Francisco territory with 30 seconds
left.
"That guy made an excellent play on it," Richey said of Johnson.
"That's normally how I kick that ball. I kick the ball right at that guy
and normally what he does is run one way or the other."
The Panthers moved the ball to the to the 39 to set up John Kasay's sixth
field-goal try of the game, from 57 yards. But the ball fell dead at the
goal line as time ran out, leaving Carolina its sixth loss by a touchdown
or less. Carolina could not take full advantage of San Francisco's six
turnovers.
"It's very frustrating," Carolina quarterback Steve Beuerlein said. "We
settled for field goals early, and that made a difference. We needed to
get another eight to 10 yards to get John a decent shot at the field goal."
Kasay kicked three field goals, missed two and had another blocked as
San Francisco (7-2) set up its showdown for the NFC West lead next weekend
at Atlanta. The Panthers had one timeout remaining whe he missed his final
kick, because Carolina coach Dom Capers allowed the 49ers to run off 40
seconds before their go-ahead field goal.
"I figured it was in the best interest of the team to keep both
timeouts so we could throw the ball inbounds and have time to kick a field
goal," Capers said. "But we had a holding penalty that set us back. We
didn't get as much yardage as we'd hoped and we missed the field goal."
The 49ers tied the team record with their 13th straight home win,
including a 12-0 mark under second-year coach Steve Mariucci. Carolina was
the last road team to win in San Francisco, a 30-24 victory December 8th,
1996.
San Francisco is 4-3 against Carolina since the Panthers entered the
league in 1995.
Detmer improved to 10-9 in his career as a starter, though this was
his first start for San Francisco. He completed 22-of-36 passes for 276
yards and three touchdowns with three interceptions as Young rested his
abdominal strain.
"This is a tough (Carolina) defense," Mariucci said. "The quarterback
was going to get hit, so I just didn't feel that Steve was going to get
through this game feeling better than he did yesterday. The most important
part, in the second half he (Detmer) didn't lose his marbles. He kept his
cool and he rallied like a champion and it was a terrific comeback."
Young took less and less snaps during the week of practice and should
be ready for the Falcons game.
"I wanted to play, but I think that now that it's over ... we won,"
Young said. "I feel like I'll be 100 percent. I'm excited to play for a
full game. There's no doubt at all (I'm going to play against Atlanta)."
Terrell Owens
caught four passes for 72 yards and two scores and J.J. Stokes had five for
61 and a touchdown. Jerry
Rice did not find the end zone but caught six passes for 87 yards for
San Francisco.
Beuerlein was 25-of-41 for 265 yards and one touchdown with no
interceptions, but was sacked four times by defensive end Chris Doleman. Raghib Ismail caught seven
passes for 83 yards and Muhsin Muhammed had four for 74 while Fred Lane carried 17 times
for 44 yards for Carolina.
Muhammed burnt Marquez
Pope catches of 33 and 12 yards in the first quarter, sending the San
Francisco cornerback to the bench with a stiff back for the remainder of
the game. Rookie first-round draft choice R.W. McQuarters replaced
Pope.
Former Niner Kevin
Greene had one of Carolina's three sacks.
Kasay started the scoring with a 50-yard field goal midway through the
first quarter and added a 42-yarder 56 seconds into the second to make it
6-0. Steve Beuerlein threw a 20-yard scoring pass to Raghib Ismail less
than three minutes later and Kasay made it 16-0 with a 42-yarder 4:29 left
before halftime.
Detmer began the comeback on the next drive, taking San Francisco 55
yards in two plays over 62 seconds, hitting Owens for a 36-yard scoring
pass.
The score remained 16-7 into the third quarter but the 49ers marched
60 yards in eight plays over the first 3:33 and closed within 16-14 on
Detmer's five-yard scoring pass to Owens.
"I felt good about things other than the three interceptions," Detmer
said. "I was seeing the routes well and then, all of a sudden, things
would go bad. I had a tendency to start forcing the ball. As a backup
quarterback, my job is to keep everything running smooth and under
control."
Detmer hit Stokes with a 29-yard scoring pass to give San Francisco a
22-16 lead 28 seconds before the end of the third quarter.
The drive was set up on a crazy play. Detmer was sacked by cornerback
Lenny McGill and
defensive end Les Miller
recovered the fumble. Miller, thinking he had been touched when he was
down, gingerly continued with the play, though the whistle was not blown,
and Owens ripped the ball out of his hands and ran it back 13 yards to the
Carolina 43.
"After discussing it, we figured out and realized that, no, his knee
was off the ground when he was touched," referee Ed Hochuli said. "And
therefore, it was a legal advance by the Carolina player. Therefore, San
Francisco legally took the ball away and recovered it. The whistle was
never blown until the play was all over and everybody was down."
"It was crazy out there today," Owens said. "I don't know exactly
what happened, but all day, everybody was just looking to make a play. He
(Miller) had the ball and he was still trying to struggle for some yards.
I just reached in there and grabbed it."
Before Floyd's touchdown, Rice had a rare fumble after a catch, and
former teammate Eric
Davis recovered at the San Francisco 42. Carolina went the distance in
10 plays, including a pair of third-down conversions, over 5:03.
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