Sound the hoo-rays, the 49ers beat the Chiefs 17-13 on a tremendous defensive effort by linebacker Julian Peterson. Garcia threw for no touchdowns, scoring came on short runs by Hearst and Barlow but neither had close to 100 yards, and even Terell Owens was fairly quiet (leading receiver and two rushes for 23 yards even so).
Peterson was everywhere today, most especially taking All-World tight end Tony Gonzalez completely out of the game–one catch for six yards. He also was strong on run defense and put enough pressure on KC QB Trent Green so that Andre Carter made a key 4th quarter sack. Props too to fullback Fred Beasley who for the second game in a row did nothing but pick up first downs and throw excellent blocks (well, he does that every week). On five rushes, Beasley had four first downs and 21 yards. The Niners still had problems stopping third and long, particularly Mike Rumph against Eddie Kennison, though by the end the defense had it together enough to make our 17 points stand up.
7-2, baby, a three game lead in the division over Arizona and St. Louis, and next week a road matchup at San Diego, a 6-3 team that couldn’t hold a 27-14 lead with less than six minutes to play today. Seems like we have a really solid shot at no worse than 12-4 and that means the division title since everyone else already has five losses.
BillSaysThis 