49ers Leave Themselves Wide Open for Victory

Jerry Rice thought the San Francisco 49ers were too conservative in their season opener last week and the All-Pro wide receiver made his feelings known before Sunday’s game against the San Diego Chargers.

But Rice had no complaints after catching nine passes for 150 yards and two touchdowns in the 49ers’ 34-14 victory over the Chargers.

Quarterback Steve Young completed 26 of 36 passes for a career-high 348 yards for the 49ers (1-1).

Wide receiver John Taylor had four receptions for 42 yards and a touchdown.

“I think Steve is feeling more comfortable back there,” said Rice, who was held to one catch in last Monday night’s 16-14 loss to the New York Giants. “It’s really starting to show . . . We’ve got the guys. We believe we can catch the ball five or six times a game each, and either score touchdowns or at least open the game up. Things are falling into sync.”

Rice helped break the game open in the third quarter when he scored on a 70-yard pass play.

Rice cut inside rookie safety Stanley Richard and got open over the middle to make the catch at about midfield. Richard lost the foot race to the end zone, and the 49ers led, 24-14, with 1:49 gone in the quarter.

“Covering Rice is always a monumental task,” said Charger cornerback Gill Byrd. “Today, we allowed him to run free. Giving touchdowns away like we did today, there’s no way we can compete at this level.”

Keith Henderson’s six-yard touchdown run with 1:33 left in the third quarter increased the 49ers’ lead to 31-14.

Charger quarterback John Friesz completed 14 of 33 passes for 179 yards and two touchdowns. He had three passes intercepted.

“The first half we did everything that we wanted,” Friesz said. “In the second half, I tried squeezing the ball in there, and that hurt us. The 49ers are tough to beat as it is now, and it doesn’t help when you make mistakes like I did today.”

San Francisco scored two touchdowns in little more than three minutes to take a 17-14 halftime lead. The 49ers missed chances for 10 points because of a blown field goal and a failed fourth-down run near the goal line that brought a cascade of boos.

Friesz had given the Chargers (0-2) a 14-10 lead on a nine-yard touchdown pass to Anthony Miller with 1:55 left in the first half.

But Young drove the 49ers from their own 19 to the San Diego one, where he completed a third-down pass to Taylor for a touchdown with 16 seconds remaining.

Earlier in the quarter, Young and Rice connected on a 32-yard scoring pass play on which Rice made a leaping catch over cornerback Sam Seale.