49′ers Dunn in by Falcons 20-16 at the Georgia Dome

In a game of two of the worst teams in the league, the Atlanta Falcons made their fans that actually showed up for the game happy Sunday with a 20-16 win over the San Francisco 49’ers at the Georgia Dome. The game was poorly attended, and was blacked out locally in the Atlanta area, the first time a home game has been blacked out since 2001. The storyline of the contest was Warrick Dunn finally getting off on the Falcons running game, going over 100 yards for the first time in 2007. He ran for 100 yards on 27 carries with a score.

Neither team went over 300 yards on offense, with the Falcons with 286 yards and San Fran with 251. The 9’ers were without leading rusher Frank Gore, who sat out the game with an ankle injury. The 49’ers were not able to generate much offense, as Alex Smith threw for just 149 yards on 17-for-38 passing. He was sacked twice and threw three picks. He and the 49’ers passing game averaged just 3.9 yards per pass play. The 49ers haven’t scored 20 points in a game since their season-opening win over Arizona

Joey Harrington was not exactly stellar for the Falcons, as he threw for 138 yards on 14-for-25 passing, but while his counterpart Smith threw three picks, he threw for just one. The Falcons running game and defense saved Harrington, as he got 155 yards on 39 carries (4.0 yards per carry) from the running game and the defense didn’t allow the 49’ers any rhythm.

Nevertheless, the Falcons improve to 2-6 on the season, and next week will play at a Panthers team that been struggling on offense. The 49’ers (2-6) have lost six in a row, and will play at Seattle on Monday night November 12th.