NFL

Niners Look Just Fine in Victory Over Cowboys

Despite injuries and a disappointing preseason, San Francisco looks just fine with 28-17 victory over Dallas to open the season

The 49ers had too many injured stars, especially on defense. Colin Kaepernick didn’t look right in the preseason. The first-team offense didn’t score a touchdown in four exhibition games.

Going into Sunday’s regular-season opener, the 49ers were being picked by many NFL observers to be vulnerable to a steep slide in 2014 following three straight trips to the NFC Championship Game under head coach Jim Harbaugh.

One report before Sunday’s opener against the Cowboys in Texas, by CBS Sports’ John Breech, even reported that Harbaugh had ruffled the feathers of so many players on his roster this summer that he was in danger of losing the locker room.

Dallas Morning News columnist Rick Gosselin wrote this week that the 49ers were ripe for a beating. With so many losses to key players on defense – NaVorro Bowman, Aldon Smith and Glenn Dorsey – Gosselin wrote, “If ever there was a time to play the San Francisco 49ers, it’s now.”

Yet despite all the doom and gloom forecasts, the 49ers picked right up where they left off in 2013, beating the Cowboys 28-17, and proving that a) they may be even better offensively this season and b) the defense can still be good and opportunistic to hold things together until Bowman, Smith & Co. return about midseason.

The Niners took control of the game early. First Chris Culliver returned a fumble 35 yards for a TD after Dan Skuta (filling in for Smith) stripped the ball from Dallas back DeMarco Murray.

On the 49ers’ first offensive possession, they went 80 yards in just four plays to take a 14-3 lead on Colin Kaepernick’s 29-yard pass to tight end Vernon Davis. Then, second-year safety Eric Reid intercepted a Tony Romo pass and returned the ball 48 yards to set up a 2-yard TD pass from Kaepernick to Davis.

Just like that, before the end of the first quarter, it was 21-3, San Francisco.

The 49ers added a fourth score in the second quarter on rookie Carlos Hyde’s first TD run of his career, a 4-yard burst up the middle.

Overall, Sunday’s opener was solid for the 49ers. Running backs Frank Gore and Hyde formed a strong 1-2 punch, the deeper receiving corps seemingly gave Kaepernick many more options downfield and Kaepernick was efficient, completing 16-of-23 throws for 201 yards and two scores while converting 7-of-12 third-down opportunities – looking nothing like the shaky performer he was in August games.

Defensively, the Niners made big plays when they had to and came up with four turnovers – including an interception by linebacker Patrick Willis in the end zone in the first half that snuffed out a potential TD drive.

One game, of course, doesn’t make a season; and, the 49ers Sunday suffered injuries to both starting cornerbacks, Tramaine Brock and Chris Culliver, that could linger into next Sunday, when the 49ers come home to make their regular-season debut at Levi’s Stadium against the Bears.

But this week, there will likely be very few stories written that the 49ers may be on the verge of a big fall this season.

A big opening-game win takes care of that.

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