The 49ers open 2000 at the Georgia Dome against the Atlanta Falcons, a 1:00 PM ET kickoff to begin year four under Steve Mariucci.
Jeff Garcia is the unquestioned starter after the post-concussion exit of Steve Young last September. Charlie Garner returns as RB1 off a 1,229-yard season; Jerry Rice and Terrell Owens are both on the field together for the first opener since 1996. The interior offensive line was rebuilt across the offseason.[1][2]
Year four of the Mariucci era opens 2,500 miles from Santa Clara in a stadium where the home team spent the previous year losing more games than it won. The 49ers, coming off the 4-12 finish that ended Steve Young's career on a Sunday night in St. Louis, are starting Jeff Garcia for the first time in a season opener. The schedule does not give the staff an easy room.
Opening Sunday begins an NFL year that picks up where the last one stopped: the Rams as defending champions, the Vikings and Bucs as the NFC's second tier, the Titans and Jaguars still leading the AFC. Around the league the early stories are Brian Griese in Denver, Daunte Culpepper in Minnesota, the still-unresolved Jeff George situation in Washington. The 49ers' year-one return after a 4-12 finish puts them in the conference's lower half of the projection.
Through zero games the 49ers reset to last year's profile: 4-12, last in NFC West, minus 158 point differential. Garcia threw for 2,544 yards in 13 starts after taking over in 1999; the projection at his current rate is closer to 3,400 over a full season. Garner posted 1,229 rushing in 1999, 4.2 per carry. Atlanta finished 5-11 with Chris Chandler missing six starts and Jamal Anderson out 14. Vegas opens the Falcons as 3-point home favorites with the total at 43.
| Team | Rec | Strk |
|---|---|---|
| Baltimore Ravens | 0-0 | -- |
| Cincinnati Bengals | 0-0 | -- |
| Cleveland Browns | 0-0 | -- |
| Jacksonville Jaguars | 0-0 | -- |
| Pittsburgh Steelers | 0-0 | -- |
| Tennessee Titans | 0-0 | -- |
| Team | Rec | Strk |
|---|---|---|
| Buffalo Bills | 0-0 | -- |
| Indianapolis Colts | 0-0 | -- |
| Miami Dolphins | 0-0 | -- |
| New England Patriots | 0-0 | -- |
| New York Jets | 0-0 | -- |
| Team | Rec | Strk |
|---|---|---|
| Denver Broncos | 0-0 | -- |
| Kansas City Chiefs | 0-0 | -- |
| Oakland Raiders | 0-0 | -- |
| San Diego Chargers | 0-0 | -- |
| Seattle Seahawks | 0-0 | -- |
| Team | Rec | Strk |
|---|---|---|
| Atlanta Falcons | 0-0 | -- |
| Carolina Panthers | 0-0 | -- |
| New Orleans Saints | 0-0 | -- |
| San Francisco 49ers | 0-0 | -- |
| St. Louis Rams | 0-0 | -- |
| Team | Rec | Strk |
|---|---|---|
| Chicago Bears | 0-0 | -- |
| Detroit Lions | 0-0 | -- |
| Green Bay Packers | 0-0 | -- |
| Minnesota Vikings | 0-0 | -- |
| Tampa Bay Buccaneers | 0-0 | -- |
| Team | Rec | Strk |
|---|---|---|
| Arizona Cardinals | 0-0 | -- |
| Dallas Cowboys | 0-0 | -- |
| New York Giants | 0-0 | -- |
| Philadelphia Eagles | 0-0 | -- |
| Washington Redskins | 0-0 | -- |
Reveal each quarter as you watch, the next quarter stays hidden until you tap it.
| Team | Play | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 49ers | Fred Beasley 4 yard pass from Jeff Garcia ( Wade Richey kick) | 7-0 |
| Falcons | Morten Andersen 43 yard field goal | 7-3 |
| Falcons | Morten Andersen 44 yard field goal | 7-6 |
| Team | Play | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Falcons | Morten Andersen 24 yard field goal | 7-9 |
| Falcons | Morten Andersen 44 yard field goal | 7-12 |
| Falcons | Terance Mathis 44 yard pass from Chris Chandler ( Morten Andersen kick) | 7-19 |
| 49ers | Fred Beasley 1 yard rush ( Wade Richey kick) | 14-19 |
| Falcons | Morten Andersen 48 yard field goal | 14-22 |
| Team | Play | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Falcons | Shawn Jefferson 48 yard pass from Chris Chandler ( Morten Andersen kick) | 14-29 |
| 49ers | Fred Beasley 4 yard pass from Jeff Garcia ( Wade Richey kick) | 21-29 |
| Falcons | Ashley Ambrose 36 yard interception return ( Morten Andersen kick) | 21-36 |
| Team | Play | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 49ers | Terrell Owens 6 yard pass from Jeff Garcia ( Wade Richey kick) | 28-36 |
Chris Chandler threw for 264 yards and two touchdowns, Morten Andersen kicked five field goals, and the Falcons opened 2000 with a 36-28 win over the 49ers at the Georgia Dome. Jeff Garcia went 23 of 36 for 253 yards and three touchdowns, including two scoring throws to fullback Fred Beasley, but threw an interception that Ashley Ambrose returned 36 yards for the back-breaking score in the third quarter.[1][2]
The 49ers lost 36-28 in Atlanta, and the box score reads like a draft of every concern the offseason produced about this team. Five Morten Andersen field goals. A pick-six off a Garcia overthrow in the third quarter. A 19-point Falcons run across the first half that the 49ers never closed in any single offensive possession. Charlie Garner, the offense's most reliable producer a year ago, held to 62 yards on 15 carries by a front that lost its best edge rusher in the offseason.
What the 49ers got from Garcia, Owens and Rice combined was about half what the schedule will require. Three Garcia touchdown passes, two of them to a fullback, is not the distribution this offense was built on. Owens had seven catches for 72. Rice had five for 59. The yards-per-target sheet was the kind that makes a coordinator look at film and ask whether the playbook is still right.
Falcons 36, 49ers 28. Margin: minus 8. Record: 0-1. • Garcia: 23-of-36 for 253, 3 TD, 1 INT (pick-six). • Garner: 15 carries for 62, no TDs. • Owens: 7 catches for 72, 1 TD. • Rice: 5 catches for 59. • Beasley: 2 receiving TDs as the fullback option. • Falcons: Chandler 264 yards, 2 TDs; Andersen 5-for-5 on field goals (43, 44, 24, 44, 48). • Quarter scoring SF: 7, 7, 7, 7. Quarter scoring ATL: 6, 16, 14, 0. • 49ers held to 92 rushing yards on 24 carries.
A 36-28 road loss in Atlanta. The opener tells a longer story than the score suggests.
How it unfolded
Garcia connected with Beasley on a 4-yard touchdown pass on the second 49ers drive to make it 7-3. Atlanta responded with three Andersen field goals to take the lead into the second quarter. Beasley's 1-yard rushing touchdown got the visitors back to 14-19; Andersen's fourth field goal pushed it to 14-22 at the half. The fulcrum was the second possession of the third quarter: Garcia threw a pick that Ambrose returned 36 yards for a 14-29 score, and the 49ers were chasing a two-score deficit the rest of the afternoon.
The turning point
The Ambrose pick-six. With the 49ers driving for a possible third-quarter score that would have made it a one-score game, the interception flipped the play into seven points for Atlanta and the kind of two-touchdown deficit a road team almost never closes against five field goals.
By the numbers
Garcia 23-of-36 for 253 with three touchdowns and the one back-breaking pick. Garner 62 on 15 carries, his second-lowest output as the lead back in a year. Owens 7 catches for 72 and a fourth-quarter touchdown. Rice 5 for 59. Combined Rice and Owens production: 131 yards and one score on 22 targets. Garcia rushed for 22 on three scrambles, the kind of number that says the line gave up pressure on routine dropbacks.
Personnel watch
| Player | C/A | Yds | TD | Int | Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SFO | |||||
| Jeff Garcia | 23/36 | 253 | 3 | 1 | |
| ATL | |||||
| Chris Chandler | 16/31 | 264 | 2 | 0 | |
| Player | Att | Yds | TD | Long |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SFO | ||||
| Charlie Garner | 15 | 62 | 0 | 13 |
| Jeff Garcia | 2 | 22 | 0 | 11 |
| Fred Beasley | 5 | 10 | 1 | 3 |
| Terry Jackson | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jerry Rice #80 | 1 | -2 | 0 | -2 |
| ATL | ||||
| Jamal Anderson | 24 | 77 | 0 | 13 |
| Chris Chandler | 4 | 12 | 0 | 16 |
| Bob Christian | 3 | 5 | 0 | 5 |
| Shawn Jefferson | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Player | Rec | Yds | TD | Long |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SFO | ||||
| Terrell Owens | 7 | 72 | 1 | 19 |
| Jerry Rice #80 | 5 | 59 | 0 | 18 |
| Charlie Garner | 3 | 45 | 0 | 24 |
| Greg Clark | 4 | 27 | 0 | 11 |
| Fred Beasley | 3 | 25 | 2 | 17 |
| J.J. Stokes | 1 | 25 | 0 | 25 |
| ATL | ||||
| Shawn Jefferson | 7 | 148 | 1 | 48 |
| Terance Mathis | 3 | 72 | 1 | 44 |
| Jamal Anderson | 1 | 20 | 0 | 20 |
| Bob Christian | 1 | 12 | 0 | 12 |
| Reggie Kelly | 2 | 10 | 0 | 7 |
| Brian Kozlowski | 1 | 6 | 0 | 6 |
| Chris Chandler | 1 | -4 | 0 | -4 |
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