Bruce Gradkowski solidified his backup quarterback spot for the Oakland Raiders with his arm. David Carr did the same for the San Francisco 49ers with his toughness and legs.
Gradkowski threw for 202 yards and two touchdowns after Jason Campbell left with an injury, and Carr led a late touchdown drive that gave the 49ers a 28-24 preseason victory Saturday night.

San Francisco’s first defense allowed three touchdowns, and the team committed 10 penalties, but it still managed to squeak out a third consecutive preseason win.

“We did not play very smart, and a little bit sloppy,” 49ers coach Mike Singletary said. “Winning the game was nice, but it also was a reminder to our guys of all the work we still have to do.”

The Raiders also have work to do. Coach Tom Cable was upset about poor tackling on defense and special teams and an offense that stalled for a long stretch in the first half.

“There’s too many ups and downs in this football game for us to be who we need to be to succeed,” Cable said. “A lot to learn from it, and that’s a good thing. I’m glad it happened now as opposed to a few weeks from now.”

It’s also fortunate that Campbell has two weeks before the season opener to recover from the stinger that knocked him out in the second quarter.

He was down for about 5 minutes before leaving in the passenger seat of a cart. He watched the second half from the sideline.

“It felt a lot worse at the time that it happened, but … they don’t think it’s going to be really, really serious,” Campbell said. “But at the same time it’s something we’ve got to take care of before the season starts.”

Gradkowski once again proved more than capable as a backup. After breathing life into Oakland’s offense last season when he took the reins from JaMarcus Russell, Gradkowski was once again relegated to backup status after the Raiders acquired Campbell during the offseason.

Gradkowski didn’t play in the first two preseason games because of a groin injury and was in danger of falling behind Kyle Boller on the depth chart. But he completed 14 of 22 passes and led Oakland to scores on his first three drives Saturday. He threw touchdown passes to Louis Murphy and Zach Miller and set up a 57-yard field goal by Sebastian Janikowski.

“It felt like just where I left off,” Gradkowski said. “It was exciting. It feels so great to be out there and playing and competing. We have a really good football team and we’re excited about it.”

The 49ers put together a 16-play, 80-yard drive to win it. The biggest play might have been Carr’s 5-yard run on third-and-3. Carr leaped in the air and was spun around like a helicopter after being hit by a defender one week after Nate Davis went down shy of the marker on a similar play.

“I’m trying to inspire my team,” Carr said. “That’s all I’m trying to do. They did a great job the first 12 plays of that drive. I’m just trying to finish it off. It was a spur-of-the-moment play.”

Anthony Dixon then scored on third-and-goal from the 1 to give the 49ers the lead with 1:44 remaining. Carr’s pass to Nate Byham for the two-point conversion made it 28-24.
Todd Watkins dropped a deep pass inside the 5 on fourth down to end Oakland’s hopes at a comeback.

Frank Gore ran for 58 yards on two carries in his first action of the preseason for the 49ers, Alex Smith threw a touchdown pass to Josh Morgan, and rookie Phillip Adams scored on an 83-yard punt return as San Francisco remained undefeated in the preseason.

Campbell got off to another strong start, completing four passes for 67 yards on the 81-yard touchdown drive. Darrius Heyward-Bey had two of his three catches on the drive, fullback Marcel Reece had a 34-yard reception and Michael Bush scored on a 1-yard run. Oakland didn’t have another first down until the final minute of the first half.

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Gradkowski then hit Murphy on a seam route behind safety Reggie Smith for a 74-yard touchdown that cut San Francisco’s lead to 17-14 at the half.

In between the two touchdowns, the Raiders had four consecutive three-and-outs as the offense struggled to get into any kind of rhythm. Patrick Willis had two tackles behind the line of scrimmage against Darren McFadden and an 11-yard sack against Campbell. Travis LaBoy later beat left tackle Mario Henderson for a sack and knocked Campbell out of the game.

The 49ers’ offense also started well, getting a 49-yard run from Gore on his first carry of the preseason. Gore ran over Michael Huff and Stanford Routt on the play, showing he needs little work in preseason games.

“After a month of training camp, finally getting to play in a game, I was like a little kid out there,” Gore said. “When my number got called, I took advantage.”

Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press

Brett Favre completed one pass and also got clobbered on a sack that lost Minnesota 10 yards.

Favre’s highly anticipated first game back with the Vikings lasted all of four unspectacular plays and one series in a 15-10 loss to the 49ers in a nationally televised preseason game Sunday at Candlestick Park, the only NFL show of the night.

Favre completed a 13-yard pass to Adrian Peterson on his first play from scrimmage but was sacked by Pro Bowl linebacker Patrick Willis two plays later and the Vikings wound up punting. The 40-year-old quarterback took the field just four days after his first training camp practice of the year. He decided to return for a 20th season and make yet another run at a Super Bowl title.

It’s hard to make much of the small sampling. Not that Favre’s numbers mattered to the Vikings, just thrilled to have him back.

Alex Smith, Favre’s 49ers counterpart, went 9 of 13 for 88 yards in a solid first half. Willis had four tackles playing only nine snaps.

After that single series, Favre headed to the bench and gave way to backup Tarvaris Jackson — who had been in line to be the starter before Jared Allen, Ryan Longwell and Steve Hutchinson flew to Mississippi early last week to recruit Favre back to the Twin Cities. Favre, sporting a 5-o’clock shadow peppered with gray, could be seen laughing on the sideline in the second half.

Smith bounced back a week after stumbling through a subpar outing in which he completed 3 of 9 passes for 37 yards and only two first downs in a win at Indianapolis. David Carr and Nate Davis rallied the Niners to 34 straight points in the 37-17 victory.

He made do for a 49ers offense missing three of its biggest stars: receiver Michael Crabtree, tight end Vernon Davis and running back Frank Gore.

“We just came out against the No. 1 rush defense in the NFL and marched it down the field,” Smith said. “We were moving the chains and getting a bunch of third-down conversions and just took it down the field methodically.”

Smith completed his first four passes for 48 yards and 5 of his first six on the Niners’ opening drive, including a 24-yard strike to backup tight end Delanie Walker that set up a 4-yard scoring run by rookie Anthony Dixon.

After all the drama that surrounds Favre each offseason — will he or won’t he really retire? — he’s back in his No. 4 jersey and told his teammates he’s as committed to this as ever.
And why not keep going?

Favre is coming off a year in which he threw for 4,202 yards and 33 touchdowns and established career highs for completion rate (68.4), quarterback rating (107.2) and fewest interceptions (seven).

He was booed by the crowd Sunday when running onto the field for the first time midway through the first quarter. Favre has been the Niners’ nemesis for years.

In late September last year, Favre hit Greg Lewis on a 32-yard touchdown with 2 seconds left as the Vikings stunned San Francisco 27-24 in Minneapolis. That was the first of six straight road losses — five in a row by a combined 19 points — for the 49ers that helped cost them a playoff trip and a winning season.

Davis, San Francisco’s No. 3 QB and fifth-round pick last year, completed a pretty 60-yard pass to Ted Ginn Jr. in the third quarter with his foot planted at the goal line when he released the ball. The pass set up Joe Nedney’s 28-yard field goal. Davis later had an 18-yard completion to Nate Byham.

Longwell kicked a 40-yard field goal early in the second quarter for the Vikings’ first points. Minnesota rookie quarterback Joe Webb broke loose up the middle for a 48-yard TD run with 1:54 to play, then Webb was sacked by Derek Walker in the end zone for a safety on the final play of the game.

Former Stanford star and Heisman Trophy runner-up Toby Gerhart got his first of his four carries for Minnesota midway through the second quarter, a 3-yard gain. This marked the rookie’s first game back in the Bay Area since the Vikings selected him at No. 51 in the second round of this year’s draft. Gerhart, who rushed for 1,871 yards and 28 touchdowns for the Cardinal last year, also caught two short passes.

The 49ers on Monday reached a one year deal with free agent running back Bryant Westbrook. After the retirement of Glen Coffee the 49ers needed another back in the system.

Colts quarterback Peyton Manning made things look easy Sunday. Sixteen plays, 10 points, take a breather.

Everyone else found out how tough the NFL really can be when you’re not the four-time league MVP — even if it’s only the preseason.

Running back Michael Robinson fumbled on the 49ers’ first play, David Carr was sacked three times and San Francisco receivers struggled to hold onto Alex Smith’s passes.
Fortunately for the 49ers, Manning’s backup, Curtis Painter, played even worse. San Francisco took advantage of Painter’s three interceptions and a botched handoff late in the first half, scoring 34 consecutive points to rally for a 37-17 victory over Indianapolis.

“I think he didn’t play as well as he’d like to, but he needed some help, too,” Colts coach Jim Caldwell said of Painter. “The things that are hidden, dropped passes, the things you need to extend drives, you need guys to do their jobs, and we certainly didn’t play as well as we wanted.”

The game did rekindle some old memories, though.

Manning was in midseason form, going 8-of-10 passing for 91 yards and leading the Colts to scores on their first two drives just minutes after accepting the MVP trophy.

Smith, who finally emerged last season as the quarterback the 49ers expected, was 3 of 9 for 37 yards and managed just two first downs.

Carr, who like Manning and Smith was a No. 1 pick in the draft, finished 9 of 11 for 98 yards with one TD, but he was sacked three times and nearly a couple more — reminiscent of his early days with the Houston Texans.

Then there was Painter, whom Colts fans booed mercilessly after he made his NFL debut in December’s loss to the New York Jets. He was 9 of 19, recovered one fumble, had one tackle and endured even more boos from half-full Lucas Oil Stadium just before halftime.

The 49ers actually had more return yards on Painter’s interceptions (111) than he threw for (64), and, as Caldwell, noted, it wasn’t all the quarterback’s fault.

“I thought we were tough physically and mentally and we ran to the ball,” 49ers coach Mike Singletary said. “I thought the guys did a good job overall.”

Clearly, this wasn’t what the Colts wanted to see. Then again, they have never made preseason games a priority.

Six starters — including Pro Bowl picks Dallas Clark, Dwight Freeney, Bob Sanders and Jeff Saturday — didn’t play Sunday.

Caldwell yanked most of his other starters, along with Manning, after just two series. And the running game that Indianapolis wants to improve produced just 8 yards in the first 25 minutes.

San Francisco wasn’t at full strength, either. Michael Crabtree, Frank Gore and Patrick Willis all sat out, but the 49ers wanted to use the game to get in sync.

San Francisco struggled early. Robinson’s fumble led to Adam Vinatieri’s 21-yard field goal, and Manning took Indianapolis 89 yards on the next series — the last 7 coming on Joseph Addai’s scoring run midway through the first quarter.

“I thought our guys, really, after a slow start, got back on track,” Singletary said. “Overall, I thought the guys did a pretty decent job. We’re on the right road, but we have a long way to go.”

That’s when Painter entered and the Colts’ lead vanished.

Reggie Smith picked off a Painter pass on the left sideline and ran it back 91 yards for a TD to make it 10-7.

“I saw an opportunity,” Smith said. “They were running two short routes and one deep, and the ball bounced up in the air. Right place, right time, came and got it and took it the rest of the way.”

Kyle Williams used the same philosophy when he caught Pat McAfee’s low punt and ran it back 36 yards to set up Robinson’s 3-yard scoring run. Suddenly, with 7:21 to go in the half, the 49ers led 14-10.

It was just the start.

Before the half ended, Painter threw two more interceptions and ran into fullback Mitch King, losing the ball on a fourth-down play at the Indianapolis 41. San Francisco turned that into two field goals for a 20-10 lead, and Carr sealed the outcome with an 8-yard TD pass to tight end Tony Curtis late in the third quarter.

The Colts didn’t score again until Tom Brandstater threw a 3-yard TD pass to Jacob Tamme to make it 34-17 with 10:58 left.

“Obviously, the big thing was turnovers,” Caldwell said. “We’ve got a lot of work to do, so we’ll keep working.”

Going into this season, the San Francisco 49ers were pegged as division favorites. All seemed well. Quarterback Alex Smith finally showed evidence he’s capable of leading an offense. Tight end Vernon Davis stepped up as a leader as well as one of the best at his position. The defense looked dominant at times, and with a young squad, had no where to go but up. Then, something happened. General Manager Scot McCloughan abruptly left the team due to “personal issues” days before the draft. Kentwan Balmer went AWOL. Now, back-up running back Glen Coffee decides he’s had enough and quits.

What is going on within the organization? Everything seemed to be falling into place for this once glorious franchise to turn the corner from its eight year absence from the playoffs. Yet, in the middle of training camp, at the beginning of the pre-season, two players call it quits. Maybe Coach Singletary is working them too hard and the young players feel overwhelmed. That would be a terrible excuse as they’re getting paid a fortune to endure that type of hassle. Here’s what Coffee had to say:

“This has been a tough decision for me to make, but at this time in my life I feel it is best for me that I move on from football. I appreciate what the 49ers, my teammates and coaches have done for me, and I wish them a blessed season and all the best in the future.”

I can imagine Coffee, in the middle of practice, getting chewed out by running backs coach Tom Rathman, then storms out like a Jet Blue flight attendant.  Singletary reportedly did not try to change his mind, and said he appreciated the second year running back up and quitting, instead of “going through the motions.”  I suppose that’s the least a team can ask from their players, a decision.  Are you with us or not?  Although Coffee would not have been able to pull off the shenanigans Brett Favre gets away with.

Fortunately, the two players that don’t want to get paid for playing a game, were not starters.  It’s a disgrace to even call Kentwan Balmer a second stringer.  But with Coffee’s departure, the running back depth is not ideal.  Behind Frank Gore, there’s only Michael Robinson, and 6th round draft pick Anthony Dixon.  Look for the 49ers brass to look for another veteran presence.  Brian Westbrook is a name that comes to mind, but I’m not completely sure that would be  a good idea.  I think he’d be too expensive for the amount of work he’d be required to do.  Also, he’s more injury prone than Gore.

I hope the walkouts stop here.  It would be devastating if one of our stars got the quitter-bug and ruined the chances for an NFC West division crown.  I’m still optimistic about the upcoming season.  The loss of these players is inconvenient, but nothing that will destroy the team.   The team is better off without guys who aren’t motivated.

Mike Singletary isn’t wasting any time. Singletary made it official Monday morning: He already has seen enough of first-round draft picks Anthony Davis and Mike Iupati.

The San Francisco 49ers head coach said the two rookies have won starting jobs on the team’s offensive line just nine days into training camp.

Davis will now run exclusively with the first-team offense at right tackle and Iupati has moved to first on the depth chart at left guard.

It has begun, the 49ers opened their 2010 training camp on Monday. Here is a quick look from the writers who were there.

Matt Maiocco of CSNBayArea.com singles out Brit Miller’s big hit on Parys Haralson as a memorable play from 49ers camp.

Also from Maiocco: a look at how many reps key players received in the afternoon practice. Maiocco: “(Mike) Iupati got 19 valuable reps at left guard with (David) Baas out. Safety Reggie Smith, inside linebacker Scott McKillop and defensive end Demetric Evans worked with the first units in place of (Michael) Lewis, (Takeo) Spikes and (Justin) Smith. … Alex Smith took 19 reps, completing 8 of 15. David Carr had nine reps and completed 2 of 7. (Nate) Davis took six snaps and completed 4 of 6.”

Matt Barrows of the Sacramento Bee says 49ers fans did not boo quarterback Alex Smith’s first pass of training camp — unlike last season.

Also from Barrows: The 49ers want to go deep. Barrows: “So far, Smith and (Ted) Ginn haven’t connected on anything deep, not in practices anyway. But Smith said that’s because the passing game is adjusting to the speed and physicality of practices. Smith’s arm has fully returned from the last surgery he had in 2008, and he says he and Ginn worked hard on building chemistry during the offseason.”

Taylor Price of 49ers.com singles out one play from the morning practice: “Michael Crabtree turned in the play of the practice session with a tremendous over-the-middle grab in which he reached up and snatched Nate Davis’ pass out of the air in front of multiple converging defenders.”

Also from Price: inside linebackers went against guards instead of running backs in Mike Singletary’s nutcracker drill. Scott McKillop: “It was a harder challenge for us, but it will make us better. We’re in a situation where we need to work on leverage and using our hands to separate. It’s going to be difficult but it’s something that will make us a better player.”

More from 49ers.com: a transcript featuring comments from Singletary. On Alex Smith: “I’m hoping he gets more comfortable as we go. I just think that as we’re out here we just have to continue to allow him the snaps that he needs to continue to get better. But he has the control of the offense, it’s just a matter of making sure that he takes the time to really see the whole defense and not just maybe sometimes look at the safety. You’ve got to see the whole thing.”

Daniel Brown of the San Jose Mercury News says Kentwan Balmer thinks improved health could help the 2008 first-round choice produce.

David White of the San Francisco Chronicle says the 49ers are missing nose tackle Aubrayo Franklin.

Phil Barber of the Santa Rosa Press-Democrat says fullback Brit Miller impressed at 49ers practice Monday. Also: “Taylor Mays, already enjoying the improved status of the second-team defense, made a pair of nice plays late in practice. He blanketed TE Joe Jon Finley on a short route, helping disrupt a pass from Alex Smith, and on the next play read a gadget play perfectly and was there to touch down the ball carrier.”

Also from Barber: various 49ers-related notes, including one about Jason Hill making the catch of the morning practice. On Ted Ginn Jr.: “Ted Ginn looked good running one-on-one vs. DBs in a morning drill, beating Tramaine Brock and Karl Paymah twice on various routes — one against Paymah on a deep touchdown throw from David Carr. But he wrapped up his day’s work by dropping an easy ball that LB Keaton Kristick had batted right to him.” If Ginn was consistent, the Dolphins probably would have kept him. The 49ers could use the threat of Ginn’s speed, but it’s an upset if he becomes a polished, consistent receiver.

More from Barber: surprise over the fact that Willis didn’t dominate nutcracker drills the way he dominates during games. Willis’ ability to avoid blocks and make tackles helps make him a special linebacker. The nutcracker drill is all about taking on blocks and overpowering opponents.

The 49ers and Paraag Marathe were busy this morning. The 49ers agreed with the remaining draft picks left unsigned.

Anthony Davis, Mike Iupati, Taylor Mays, and Navorro Bowman will all be in camp. Reports are Davis and Iupati signed five year deals, while Mays and Bowman signed four.

Niners gave first-round pick Anthony Davis a 5-year, $26.5 million contract that includes $15.954 million guaranteed.

The 49ers seemed to be like Dr.Jekyll and Mr.Hyde last season. In this case, Jekyll is desireable while Mr.Hyde is as always self-destructive. They showed you one face, and then put on another, sometimes for the better, other times for the worse. What sort of faces did the 49ers put on?

Looking back we see that the 49ers started the season with one QB Shaun Hill and ended with Alex Smith at the helm. Shaun Hill got them off to a 2-0 start with less than spectacular but manageable statistics. Hill’s best game coming against the horrible Rams where he threw 2 touchdowns but only 152 yards. After an abysmal performance in the week 7 game against the Houston Texans where Hill had completed 6 passes for 45 yards at the half he was benched in favor of Alex Smith. Smith then threw for 0ver 200 yards and 3 touchdowns in the second half. Smith managed to toss 18 touchdowns in only 10 ½ games and throw for 2350 yards. The quarterbacks started out as Hyde but managed to finish as Dr. Jekyll.

They were coming into the season expecting to be a smash mouth football team. It was expected they might run on 1st, 2nd and if need be run again on 3rd down with Frank Gore leading the way for the offense. This approach started out more like Hyde than Jekyll with Gore getting only 30 yards in game 1 against Arizona but broke out against Seattle with 207 yards in a highlight filled game. Reverting back to Hyde’s ugliness Frank Gore was hurt in the game against Minnesota that also turned out to be a soul crushing loss on a miraculous heave by Brett Favre to win the game. The next few weeks without Gore and even after his return the 49ers had moved to more of a spread formation offense with Alex Smith was taking snaps from the shotgun with Frank Gore doing his best to produce. Gore managed to still eclipse 1000 yards rushing to go along with over 400 yards receiving and scored double digits for the first time in his career.

The defense was more Dr.Jekyll for the course of the season but too often during clutch moments or games the defense turned into Hyde as they managed to cough up games with misplays in the final moments against Indianapolis and Minnesota. The defense managed to keep Peyton Manning from throwing a touchdown in a game for the first time in his career only to get beat by a TD toss from Joseph Addai on a fluke play. They completely shut down the Cardinals the second time they played them with 4 sacks, 5 fumble recoveries, 2 interceptions only to get embarrassed by the Atlanta Falcons in a 45-10 drubbing at San Francisco.

This brief review of the 2009-10 season reveals the either/or style of the 49ers they played with last year. There are two sides to every story, here’s hoping the 49ers manage to keep Hyde buried at bay this season.

The San Francisco 49ers received overwhelming approval from voters Tuesday to begin construction of a 68,500-seat stadium in Santa Clara, Calif., about 35 miles south of antiquated Candlestick Park.

An estimated 25,000 registered voters in the hub of Silicon Valley voted yes for the 49ers-backed Measure J by 59.61 percent, giving the storied NFL franchise city funding and access to a parking lot adjacent to Great America theme park – a satellite lot that sits across from the team’s headquarters and practice facility.

While backers of a new San Francisco stadium site at Hunters Point, led by former 49ers president Carmen Policy, vow to maintain their campaign to keep the 49ers in their namesake city, the team spent more than $4 million on a campaign that began in 2006 to win over voters in Santa Clara, and received the backing of the city’s business and political leaders in doing so.

Final estimates indicate the 49ers may have doled out as much as $200 per voter to secure a new stadium site in the South Bay city of 110,000 residents, just north of San Jose.

The plan also received the approval of NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, who promised the 49ers would get top consideration for a future Super Bowl at the new stadium, which is scheduled to be ready for the 2014 season. Construction is set to begin in 2012.

By contrast, the stadium’s opponents in Santa Clara spent about $20,000 in a futile effort to convince voters that the project would drain the city’s already taxed general fund and end up a financial risk rather than a revenue generator.

After more than a decade of failed attempts to find a suitable site in San Francisco to replace aging Candlestick Park, the 49ers chose the Santa Clara location because of its freeway access, fewer roadblocks to construction and the fact that much of the team’s season ticket base lives in Santa Clara County.

While the precinct results trickled in late Tuesday night, 49ers president and CEO Jed York — the face of the Santa Clara stadium initiative — talked about his door-to-door campaign efforts last weekend.

“The most common question was probably, ‘Is the name still going to be the San Francisco 49ers?’ and the answer is yes. We’re the San Francisco 49ers,” York said.

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