49ers Show They Still Can Win

For one day in a lost season, the San Francisco 49ers recaptured their winning ways. They did it against an Atlanta Falcons team that also has endured a dramatic fall.

Fred Beasley had two short touchdown runs and Charlie Garner had another while surpassing 1,000 yards rushing for the season as the 49ers beat the Falcons, 26-7, Sunday.

The 49ers (4-9) avoided matching the longest losing streak in club history by ending an eight-game skid.

Bryant Young, who sacked Chris Chandler in the end zone for a safety and had 2 1/2 of the 49ers’ five sacks in his best performance since recovering from a broken leg, said: “We’re two teams going nowhere and it just came down to who wanted it more.”

Atlanta Coach Dan Reeves said: “They beat us about as bad as you can get beaten. I have been beat a lot of times in my life but I don’t think I have ever been beaten where we just didn’t even react to it in any way positive.”

Falcon cornerback Ray Buchanan said: “I didn’t see anything to smile about. This was terrible. This one right here just seemed like to me people were hurrying off the football field to get on the plane. That’s what it felt like to me. I didn’t see no effort, man.”

Quarterback Jeff Garcia led three 49er scoring drives as the 49ers took a 19-0 lead. And after being shaken up because of a blow to the head and missing a third-quarter series, Garcia returned to lead a fourth scoring drive in the 49ers’ first win since Oct. 3.

The Falcons (3-10), who had only 105 yards on offense, played the final quarter without Chandler. He suffered a rib injury when he was sacked by Charles Haley.