NFL Exhibition Roundup : Home Fans See Why 49ers Won the Title

Backup fullback Harry Sydney ran for one touchdown and caught a pass from Joe Montana for another as the San Francisco 49ers cruised to a 35-17 preseason victory over the Broncos at Denver Saturday night.

Tailback Terrence Flagler keyed two scoring drives in his third consecutive impressive showing for the 49ers (2-1), playing at home for the first time since winning the Super Bowl last January.

John Elway, scheduled to start at quarterback for Denver (1-2), sat out the game because his left knee brace was missing. He wears it as a precautionary measure to protect the knee, which has been operated on three times since high school.

Third-stringer Ken Karcher, who’s vying with Gary Kubiak for the No. 2 job behind Elway, directed the Broncos on a 72-yard drive in the first quarter for the early lead. His 27-yard pass to Pat Kelly put Denver in scoring position and Rafael Septien, the regular kicker in the absence of holdout Rich Karlis, kicked a 26-yard field goal for a 3-0 lead.

The 49ers struck back behind Montana with touchdowns on their next three possessions for a 21-3 lead. Montana completed 13 of 19 passes for 124 yards and a touchdown in one half of action, and has now completed 67% in the preseason.

Flagler’s 74-yard kickoff return set the 49ers up for a short scoring drive, capped by Roger Craig’s one-yard sweep into the end zone for a 7-3 lead.

Flagler gained 35 yards in three carries on the 49ers’ next possession before Sydney raced over the left side for the score. Flagler, a 1987 first-round draft pick limited by injury to nine career carries, rushed 10 times for 65 yards and is averaging 6.4 yards per attempt in the preseason.

Montana then went five for five to engineer a 61-yard march, with the last pass to Sydney for a six-yard touchdown.

A dozen 49ers regulars from their Super Bowl team, including seven defensive starters, did not play. Eight players remain holdouts and nose tackle Michael Carter headed a list of four injured regulars.

New England 17, Seattle 12--Defensive back Jim Bowman returned a third-quarter fumble 21 yards for a touchdown, giving the Patriots a victory in St. Louis’ first NFL game since the Cardinals left for Phoenix after the 1987 season.

The Seahawks drove to the New England six-yard-line in the final minute, but Jeff Kemp threw four incomplete passes to turn the ball over to the Patriots with 16 seconds left.

Houston 26, Miami 10--Backup quarterback Cody Carlson threw two touchdown passes and the Oilers held the Dolphins to 200 yards of total offense at Jacksonville, Fla.

Miami (0-2) managed only 29 yards rushing and 171 passing. The Dolphins had 68 yards total offense in the second half, including five yards rushing.

Pittsburgh 24, Cleveland 21--Dwight Stone caught a 43-yard touchdown pass and ran 42 yards on a reverse late in the fourth quarter to set up the game-winning touchdown and lead the Steelers at Cleveland.

Todd Blackledge, the Steelers’ third quarterback, threw the winning touchdown to Weegie Thompson on fourth-and-goal from the Cleveland 4 with 1:29 to play.

The game was a preview of the teams’ regular-season opener Sept. 10 in Pittsburgh.