49ers Get a Win Over Raiders, 17-9

The Battle of the Bay ended up being a battle of the field goals for nearly three whole quarters, but the San Francisco 49ers offense came alive late for a 17-9 win over the Oakland Raiders.

Both offenses were performing dismally, and Candlestick Park was rollicking with its loudest ever chants of "We want Carr." But Michael Crabtree grabbed a 32-yard touchdown catch on the final play of the third quarter, and Alex Smith ended up with 196 yards passing and two touchdowns.

How ugly was this game? In the first quarter, the two teams accumulated more in penalty yardage (101 yards) than actual offensive yardage (74 yards).

The referees were kept incredibly busy, calling a combined 19 penalties throughout the afternoon.

The Raiders made it inside the 49ers' ten yard line twice in the first half, but both times were forced to settle for field goals and a measly 6-0 lead.

As ineffective as the Raiders looked at that point, the 49ers were far worse. The first booings of Alex Smith began about five minutes into the second quarter, and got particularly bad when Smith missed a wide open Frank Gore on a short pass in the red zone just before halftime.

It wasn't any better for Jason Campbell. Campbell did not complete a single pass in the second or third quarters, and was 8-for-21 for83 yards. It was astonishingly bad offensive football all around.

But the Crabtree touchdown provided the first form of offensive momentum of the afternoon, and Vernon Davis caught a 19-yard touchdown on the 49ers' next possession to put it away.

Frank Gore rushed for 149 yards on the afternoon.

The final score would have been 19-9, but a clear Parys Haralson safety of Jason Campbell early in the fourth quarter was ruled down at the one-yard line.

Joe Kukura is a freelance writer who is happier than a clam in dipping sauce having Giants playoff baseball and NFL football on the same day.

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