KC wins exhibition opener – Chiefs 17, Niners 14, OT
San Francisco ? Given a second chance to win Saturday night’s exhibition opener, Kansas City kicker Lawrence Tynes didn’t disappoint.
After neither team managed to score in the final 17 minutes of regulation, Kansas City’s Reggie Stephens intercepted a wobbly pass by San Francisco’s Brandon Doman at the 49ers’ 20-yard line in overtime. Tynes, who bounced a 42-yard field-goal attempt off the right upright with 1:05 left in regulation, easily made a 29-yard kick Saturday night to give the Chiefs a 17-14 victory.
Kansas City receiver Johnnie Morton (80) misses a pass in the end zone while defended by Ahmed Plummer. The Chiefs played their first exhibition game Saturday, winning 17-14 at San Francisco.
Kansas City won its exhibition opener against San Francisco (0-2) with a solid defensive performance, but Terrell Owens made a thrilling broken-field run before the game was six minutes old. The 49ers’ All-Pro receiver scored on a 71-yard touchdown reception.
After catching a short slant from Jeff Garcia, Owens beat cornerback Ray Crockett around the corner, shoved Jerome Woods with a vicious stiff-arm, bulled past Eric Warfield and dragged three defenders across the goal line.
“I think everybody is getting more comfortable with each other, and everybody wants to improve on some things from last week,” Owens said. “I was just feeling it, and I got in there.”
Owens made his second straight Pro Bowl last season after catching 93 passes for 1,412 yards and an NFL-best 16 TDs even while complaining he was underutilized in the 49ers’ offense. During the summer, he played basketball briefly with the Adirondack Wildcats of the USBL.
Garcia completed 6-of-9 passes for 118 yards in two series of work. Garrison Hearst rushed for 24 yards, and Kevan Barlow caught three passes for 42 yards.
Quarterback Trent Green and defending NFL rushing champion Priest Holmes played just one series for the Chiefs, whose first-string offense drove 66 yards in 10 plays for a score on the game’s opening possession.
“If you look all the way around, you’ll see Eddie (Kennison) had a catch, Johnnie (Morton) had a catch, Priest had a catch,” Green said. “That’s when we’re most effective when we can spread the ball around and not focus on one or two specific people.”
While Green went 4-for-5 for 40 yards, including a 4-yard TD slant to Dante Hall, Holmes had five rushes for 26 yards 18 on an end run deep into San Francisco territory.
Tight end Jason Dunn made an acrobatic 15-yard reception on a third-down play, drawing cheers from holdout Pro Bowl tight end Tony Gonzalez, who was on the Chiefs’ sideline in a possible indication that he’s close to signing.
The Chiefs had no intention of showing off a high-flying passing offense against the 49ers’ third-stringers, as Steve Spurrier’s Washington Redskins did while racking up 434 yards passing in San Francisco’s 38-7 exhibition loss in Japan.
Both teams got performances from their backup quarterbacks that were less than impressive.
Todd Collins was inconsistent, and 49ers linebacker Jamie Winborn launched him airborne with a crushing hit that knocked Collins’ helmet off and appeared to cause a fumble, though officials ruled it an incomplete pass after a review.
Tim Rattay went 10-for-19 for 152 yards, throwing two interceptions in extensive playing time for the 49ers, who hope he’ll assert himself as a reliable backup before the regular season.
Rattay led a scoring drive in the third quarter, but otherwise struggled. The 49ers obviously designed a game plan intended to give Rattay more experience with long downfield throws, but he connected on few.
The Chiefs capitalized on one of Rattay’s interceptions for a short TD drive, with Jonathan Quinn hitting running back Josh Roth for a 5-yard TD pass.