Overtime Is Prime Time for the 49ers

The San Francisco 49ers had done it all before against Atlanta.

Fall behind by double digits. Rally for the tying score in the final seconds of regulation. Win it in overtime.

Jeff Garcia threw his third touchdown pass of the game to Terrell Owens, a 52-yard play with 6:16 left in overtime Sunday, giving the 49ers a 37-31 victory over the Falcons.

“Whoa!” 49er Coach Steve Mariucci said. “We have been around some crazy games before, but that one takes the cake.”

Actually, it was just a higher-scoring version of Week 1, when San Francisco (4-1) beat the Falcons, 16-13, in overtime.

In that game, the 49ers rallied from a 10-point, fourth-quarter deficit. Jose Cortez kicked a 20-yard field goal with 11 seconds left in regulation to tie it, then booted a 24-yarder on the first drive of the extra period.

Garcia was brilliant again, completing 27 of 41 passes for 332 yards--three yards fewer than he had in the first game against the Falcons.

Owens didn’t have a reception in the first half, but wound up with nine catches for 183 yards.

Rallying from an early 14-0 hole, San Francisco tied the score at 31 when Garcia hooked up with Owens on a 17-yard touchdown pass with 17 seconds left in regulation.

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In overtime, on third-and-five at the San Francisco 48, Owens got Falcon cornerback Ray Buchanan to bite on a fake to the inside, broke a tackle along the sideline from Ronnie Bradford and coasted into the end zone for the winning touchdown.