Game Story



EAST RUTHERFORD, New Jersey (Ticker) -- Terrell Owens got the
last laugh on the New York Giants.

After being contained for most of the night, Owens caught a key
33-yard pass to help set up the winning 36-yard field goal by
Jose Cortez with six seconds left as the San Francisco 49ers
posted a 16-13 victory in the first-ever Thursday night NFL
season opener.

The day started with a party at Times Square in New York City
for the world's largest  kickoff party to inaugurate the NFL
season. But it ended with a heartbreaking loss for the Giants,
who had tied the game at 13-13 on an electrifying one-yard
touchdown run by Tiki Barber with 1:55 left to cap a 14-play,
77-yard drive.

However, after the ensuing kickoff, Owens ran by nickel back
Jason Sehorn and caught a 33-yard pass over the middle to the
New York 37.

"I caught the one that counted," said Owens, who had just three
receptions for eight yards before the pivotal catch. "I got a
release off Jason Sehorn and made the play."

"It was just a game of one play, but you can't let those things
happen," Sehorn said.

Jeff Garcia followed with a 12-yard pass to J.J. Stokes, who was
pushed out of bounds  by safety Omar Stoutmire with 62 seconds
left.

"They had a good scheme on defense, they really did, so it took
us a long time to get going and we needed a big play in the last
drive by T.O. (Terrell Owens) and J.J. and Jeff and finally got
it done," 49ers coach Steve Mariucci said.

Garrison Hearst rushed for seven yards on the next play to the
New York 18 and the clock ticked down to 27 seconds as Giants
coach Jim Fassel failed to call a timeout.

"I probably should have called one (timeout) sooner, but then I
would have been out of them, I wouldn't have had any," Fassel
said. "I was hoping that we might knock a ball down and stop the
clock."

Hearst ran two more times up the middle for no gain and Fassel
did call a a timeout after each one, but that left just 10
seconds and set the stage for Cortez.

"It was so solid, I knew right away I hit it good and it was
going to be right down the middle," said Cortez, who earlier
kicked field goals of 23 and 33 yards but had one from 25 yards
blocked and was wide left on a 48-yard attempt. "I was glad that
I came back and hit the game-winning field goal."

Cortez took some heat after missing eight of his last 15
field-goal attempts last season and the Niners selected kicker
Jeff Chandler in the fourth round of the 2002 draft.  Mariucci
kept both on the roster after training camp, but Chandler was
inactive for Thursday's opener.

New York's Kerry Collins had the gaudy numbers, completing
28-of-45 passes for 342 yards, but was intercepted three times.
Amani Toomer was his chief target, tying a career high with nine
catches for 134 yards.

Toomer had six of those catches for 95 yards in the first half
when the Giants held a 6-3 lead and added three receptions for
39 yards on New York's game-tying drive.

"We have to take out of this the good which was our last drive
of the game," said Toomer, the only Giants receiver to have
three straight seasons with 70 or more catches. "It was a game
where we didn't get the ball last and that's how it sometimes
works out in the NFL."

The Giants trailed 13-6 and were faced with a 3rd-and-16 at
their own 17 when Toomer beat cornerback Ahmed Plummer for a
23-yard catch.  Later in the drive on 3rd-and-8, Toomer caught
an 11-yard slant between rookie Mike Rumph and Zack Bronson.

Rookie Jeremy Shockey, New York's first-round pick, made a
leaping 20-yard catch to the 15 with 3:39 left. The Giants
converted another third-down play when Barber caught a short
pass over the middle and slid for a first down at the San
Francisco 4.

Barber then ran around left end for a three-yard gain to the 1
at the two-minute warning. On the next play, Barber took a
pitch, bounced off a tackler at the 5, spun outside to his left
and plowed into the end zone.

Rookie Matt Bryant, who was cut last week but re-signed when Owen
Pochman was put on injured reserve, kicked a 29-yard field goal
in the first quarter and a 33-yarder as time expired in the
second quarter to give the Giants a 6-3 halftime lead.

But San Francisco, the NFL's third-ranked offense last season,
finally reached the end zone with 1:51 left in the third quarter
when running back Garrison Hearst caught a nine-yard touchdown
pass on a 3rd-and goal play. Hearst broke a tackle by Giants
middle linebacker Mike Barrow at the 5 and dove into the end
zone.

Fellow running back Kevan Barlow set up the touchdown when he
turned a short pass by Garcia into a 29-yard gain to the New
York 5.

After a long pass by Collins was intercepted over the middle by
Bronson and returned 20 yards to the San Francisco 36, the
Niners drove 49 yards in nine plays to set up a 33-yard field
goal by Cortez, increasing their lead to 13-6 with 8:08
remaining in the fourth quarter.

Linebacker Julian Peterson and safety Tony Parrish had the other
interceptions for San Francisco.

"It's nice to come out of here with a win," Mariucci said.
"We've been in New York now twice in front of a very emotional
sort of crowd on national television and I think our guys
handled it very well, so I'm really proud of them."

The 49ers last played in New York on October 1 for the New York
Jets' first home game following the September 11 terrorist
attacks on the World Trade Center.

A 40-yard American flag was unfurled by representatives of the
Fire Department of New York, the New York Police Department, the
Port Authority of New York-New Jersey, members of the armed
forces and iron and steel workers who helped clear ground zero,
before the game.