Niners Struggle In Victory

Are the San Francisco 49ers that good, or are the NFL champions as close to disaster as they looked in beating New Orleans 24-22 on Sunday?

A case could be made for either as the 49ers opened defense of their Super Bowl title with more mistakes than they usually make in a half-season.

Steve Young, who missed the end of the first half with a neck sprain, threw for 260 yards and two touchdowns, one a classic 50-yarder to Jerry Rice, and Tim McDonald returned an interception 52 yards for a touchdown.

“It’s kind of like (my head) was stuck right in the middle,” Young said of the injury, caused when Renaldo Turnbull hit Young on the blind side, snapping his head back as he hit the ground in the second quarter. “I couldn’t move it much.

But the 49ers also were lucky - the key to the win was a fumbled snap on New Orleans’ first extrapoint attempt that kept the Saints in a hole throughout.

San Francisco didn’t clinch the game until Tyronne Drakeford sacked Jim Everett and stripped him of the ball on fourth-and-10 at the Saints’ 40 with just over a minute left. Drakeford almost took it in for a score, but fumbled at the 3, where the 49ers recovered.

After taking a 17-9 lead after the first half, the 49ers were forced to fight off the Saints in the second half.

“We start off slow almost every year and then get stronger as we go along,” said 49ers receiver Jerry Rice, who had six catches for 87 yards, including the 50-yard touchdown. “But we definitely have some things that we have to clean up.”

Raiders 17, Chargers 7

Back in Oakland, the Raiders took advantage of two second-half turnovers, one by Natrone Means and the other by Andre Coleman on a muffed punt. Jeff Hostetler threw a 5-yard touchdown pass to Tim Brown and rookie Napoleon Kaufman ran 16 yards for a score. Cole Ford added a 46-yard field goal.

Stan Humphries had a 39-yard touchdown toss to Shawn Jefferson for the Chargers, who were tormented by defensive end Pat Swilling. The five-time Pro Bowl player forced a fumble and seemed to spend as much time as Humphries in the San Diego backfield.

About the only reminder of the Raiders 13-year sojourn to Los Angeles was Magic Johnson, who led cheers on the Raiders sideline.

The Raiders won nearly 80 percent of their games at the Oakland Coliseum in 1966-81 before consistent sellouts. They won just 63 percent of their games at the often half-empty Los Angeles Coliseum.

“It was like back in college days, people were really fired up,” said Hostetler, who was 14 of 26 for 136 yards. “It was something special.”

Falcons 23, Panthers 20 (OT)

At Atlanta, Carolina scared Atlanta before Morten Andersen kicked a 35-yard field goal at 6:17 of overtime. In the extra session, Lester Archambeau stripped Frank Reich of the ball and recovered on the Panthers’ 31 to set up the game-winner.

The Panthers were trying to become only the second expansion team to open with a victory, the first coming in 1961, when the Minnesota Vikings upset Chicago 37-13.

Oilers 10, Jaguars 3

At Jacksonville, Fla., Houston’s Chris Chandler threw a 4-yard touchdown pass to Haywood Jeffries in the first quarter and Jacksonville managed only 151 yards before a crowd of 72,363.

For the Jaguars, Steve Beuerlein was 7 of 17 for 60 yards before he was replaced by former University of Washington quarterback Mark Brunell, who was 3 of 9 for 15 yards.

Dolphins 52, Jets 14

At Miami, Dan Marino threw for three touchdowns and Troy Vincent scored on a 69-yard interception return as Miami racked up its largest point total since a 55-14 win over the St. Louis Cardinals in 1977.

The Jets, with 22 new players on their roster under first-year coach Rich Kotite, suffered their worst defeat since a 45-3 drubbing by Miami in 1986.

Redskins 27, Cardinals 7

At Washington, the Redskins lost Heath Shuler for possibly a month with a shoulder injury, but found rookie receiver Michael Westbrook, who scored on a 58-yard reverse.

Shuler was knocked out of the game on a hit by defensive end Clyde Simmons late in the first half. Gus Frerotte replaced him and threw for two touchdowns, including a 73-yarder to Leslie Shepherd that put the Redskins up 20-7 in the third quarter.

Bears 31, Vikings 14

At Chicago, Erik Kramer threw for three touchdowns and erased the memory of a poor outing against Minnesota last year that put him on the bench.

Patriots 17, Browns 14

At Foxboro, Mass., former Washington State quarterback Drew Bledsoe had a solid outing and rookie Curtis Martin scored from a yard out with 19 seconds left to lift New England.

Bledsoe started his third pro season by completing 30 of 47 passes for 302 yards and had help from a vastly improved running game. Martin, a third-round pick from Pittsburgh, gained 102 yards on 19 carries.

Buccaneers 21, Eagles 6

At Philadelphia, Trent Dilfer began his second year with two touchdown passes as Tampa Bay spoiled the coaching debut of Philadelphia’s Ray Rhodes.

Ricky Watters, the Eagles’ most expensive free agent, had 37 yards on 17 carries and his fumble set up Tampa Bay’s second touchdown, in the fourth quarter.

Rams 17, Packers 14

At Green Bay, Wis., Isaac Bruce blocked a second-quarter punt and caught a touchdown pass five seconds later as the new-coach, new-city, new-philosophy St. Louis squad surprised Green Bay before a stunned record crowd of 60,104 at Lambeau Field.

Steelers 23, Lions 20

At Pittsburgh, the Steelers won but probably lost All-Pro cornerback Rod Woodson for the season with a knee injury and quarterback Neil O’Donnell for at least two weeks with a broken finger.

Former Seattle Seahawks kicker Norm Johnson kicked a 31-yard field goal as time ran out.

Broncos 22, Bills 7

At Denver, John Elway passed for 317 yards, helping set up five Jason Elam’s field goals, as Denver won in Mike Shanahan’s debut as Broncos head coach.

Bengals 24, Colts 21, (OT)

At Indianapolis, Bracey Walker had two of Cincinnati’s three interceptions off Indianapolis’ Craig Erickson, and Doug Pelfrey kicked his fifth field goal 2:36 into the extra period in Cincinnati’s win.