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Hill throws, runs for touchdowns in first NFL start
Quarterback Shaun Hill celebrates as the final first down is made in the fourth quarter, allowing the 49ers to run out the clock. third quarterback was the charm for the San Francisco 49ers. Shaun Hill passed for 197 yards and a touchdown and ran for another score in his first NFL start, and the 49ers beat the Cincinnati Bengals 20-13 last night. Frank Gore rushed for a season-high 138 yards and Darrell Jackson had a season-high eight catches for 86 yards in a surprisingly effective San Francisco offense led by Hill, a six-year backup who only threw his first NFL passes last week after Trent Dilfer suffered a concussion. With Alex Smith also sidelined, Hill was the only quarterback left in San Francisco -- and he improbably sparked the league's worst offense to the team's first home victory since opening week. Hill went 21 of 28 with a TD pass to Vernon Davis nine seconds before halftime.
Cincinnati's Carson Palmer threw his 100th career touchdown pass, a 52-yarder to Chris Henry in the first half, to become the fifth-fastest passer in NFL history to reach the mark. Palmer passed for 252 yards, but he couldn't rally the Bengals (5-9) to a tying score after Chad Johnson dropped a difficult fourth-down catch in the end zone with 2:14 left. Hill, whose last start was for in NFL Europe in 2003, completed nine of his first 10 passes for 84 yards on the 49ers' first two drives. San Francisco (4-10) totaled 337 yards, its second-best offensive game all year. San Francisco's successes were Cincinnati's woes in one of the Bengals' most embarrassing losses in coach Marvin Lewis' five seasons. Cincinnati, which hasn't won consecutive games this season, is assured of its first losing record since 2002. The franchises met in two Super Bowls, with the 49ers winning both. Both teams are out of playoff contention this season, and the vibe was appropriately muted early on in chilly Monster Park for the Bengals' first visit since 1996. But after spending most of the season last in many offensive statistical categories, the 49ers looked downright competent from their opening 76-yard drive. Hill finished it with a 3-yard bootleg, outrunning safety John Busing to the corner of the end zone. The touchdown gave San Francisco its first lead at home since its opening victory over Arizona. Cincinnati went ahead 10-7 when Henry got behind two defenders for his TD catch late in the first half. But Hill rallied the 49ers on another long drive capped by a 17-yard throw to Davis in coverage. Davis celebrated by jumping into the crowd as the 49ers took their first halftime lead of the season. Joe Nedney added two field goals in the third quarter and the San Francisco defense stayed strong, but 49ers coach Mike Nolan passed up a chance to kick a 42-yard field goal with 6:15 to play, instead failing on a fourth-down conversion attempt. The Bengals' T.J. Houshmandzadeh set the franchise season record with his 101st reception on a fourth-down conversion as Cincinnati moved to the San Francisco 24-yard line. But Johnson couldn't hold on to a fourth-down pass, failing to gather the precise pass to his body as he fell out of bounds. The call was upheld on video review, and Gore sealed it with a 10-yard run on third-and-9 for the 49ers' final first down. Columbus Dispatch http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/bengals/stories/2007/12/16/bengals_16.ART_ART_12-16-07_C8_I18PTET.html?sid=101 |
