SANTA CLARA, Calif.
— Long black hair swinging
from his helmet, 303-pound
defensive lineman Mike
Purcell intercepted Dustin
Vaughan’s pass and returned
it 37 yards for a touchdown to
help the San Francisco 49ers
beat the Dallas Cowboys 23-6
in the second exhibition game
for both teams.
Purcell, a practice-squad
player in 2013 and for all but
the final two games last season,
provided the highlight
again after his six-tackle day
in an Aug. 15 exhibition opening
loss at Houston.
San Francisco linebacker
NaVorro Bowman had three
tackles in as many plays in his
return for the first time since
his devastating left knee injury
in the NFC Championship
game in January 2014 at
Seattle
Dallas quarterback Tony
Romo’s day was done after
one three-and-out series.
The Cowboys then turned to
Brandon Weeden, who left
with a possible head injury.
The Cowboys were expected
to be cautious with
Romo and Co. at Levi’s Stadium,
where the troublesome
grass held up after causing
concern for Coach Jason Garrett
and owner Jerry Jones.
Craig Dahl also added an
interception for San Francisco
against third-stringer
Vaughan. Quinton Patton
blocked a fourth-quarter punt
by Tom Hornsey and scooped
it up in the end zone for a
49ers touchdown.
Dallas avoided a shutout
when fourth-string quarterback
Jameill Showers threw
an 8-yard touchdown pass
to Nick Harwell in the waning
moments. Showers finished
8 of 17 for 80 yards but
also threw an interception.
Vaughn was 7 of 16 for 84
yards and 2 interceptions.
Running backs Joseph Randle
and Darren McFadden
(Arkansas) also saw their first
exhibition action, with Randle
rushing for 30 yards on seven
carries. McFadden had just
four yards on three carries.
Rookie Randy Gregory drew
praise from Cowboys Garrett
after sacking San Francisco
quarterback Colin Kaepernick
for a 14-yard loss on the
quarterback’s second and final
series. Kaepernick was 2 for 5
for 13 yards in the game.
“That was the bright spot
of the game. We were in some
compromising positions on
defense, bad field position
and scoring opportunities for
them,” Garrett said. “We kept
them out of the end zone, had
some timely sacks, and that
was impressive.”
Dallas........................0 0 0 6 — 6
San Francisco ..............3 10 3 7 — 23
First Quarter
SF—FG Dawson 25, 7:33.
Second Quarter
SF—FG Dawson 33, 14:19.
SF—Purcell 37 interception return (Dawson kick),
7:28.
Third Quarter
SF—FG Acosta 38, 7:54.
Fourth Quarter
SF—Patton blocked punt recovery in end zone (Acosta
kick), 12:46.
Dal—Harwell 8 pass from Showers (pass failed), 4:11.
Attendance—70,178.
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING—Dallas, Randle 7-30, G.Johnson 3-24,
Showers 2-19, Hill 3-16, Malena 3-10, McFadden 3-4,
Vaughan 1-(minus 1). San Francisco, Hayne 8-54,
Hyde 7-39, M.Davis 8-34, Gaskins 10-20, Kaepernick
1-9, Thompson 2-2, Gabbert 2-(minus 3).
PASSING—Dallas, Weeden 2-5-0-7, Vaughan 7-16-2-
84, Showers 8-17-1-80, Romo 1-1-0-(minus 1). San
Francisco, Kaepernick 2-5-0-13, Thompson 3-6-0-37,
Gabbert 6-6-0-21.
RECEIVING—Dallas, Swaim 4-57, Porter 3-30, Jenkins
2-40, Escobar 2-16, Dunbar 2-3, Harwell 1-8,
Whitehead 1-6, G.Johnson 1-5, McFadden 1-3, Malena
1-2. San Francisco, Patton 3-2, B.Anderson 2-32,
Simpson 1-9, M.Davis 1-7, McDonald 1-7, Hyde 1-6,
Bell 1-5, Grimble 1-3.
MISSED FIELD GOALS—Dallas, Bailey 43 (WR).
TITANS 27, RAMS 14
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Marcus Mariota
turned in a clean performance in
his home debut, Tennessee cornerback
Perrish Cox returned an interception 24
yards for a touchdown and the Titans
beat St. Louis to spoil Rams Coach Jeff
Fisher’s return to town.
A week after Mariota was sacked,
threw an interception and lost a fumble
that was returned for a touchdown, the
No. 2 pick overall out of Oregon was
5 of 8 for 58 yards with no turnovers.
Titans teammate Dexter McCluster
dropped Mariota’s pass in the end
zone, while Rams safety Mark Barron
couldn’t hold a would-be interception
off the rookie.
Tennessee’s defense looked much improved
against an offense that ranked
28th in the NFL last year. With Cox’s
interception, the Titans (1-1) finally
stopped an opponent on the opening
drive for the first time in six preseason
games.
Nick Foles had a rough outing in three
series for the Rams (0-2), going 3 of 7
for 18 yards and an interception.
St. Louis ....................0 0 7 7 — 14
Tennessee ................. 10 10 0 7 — 27
First Quarter
Ten—Cox 24 interception return (Succop kick), 8:03.
Ten—FG Succop 27, :34.
Second Quarter
Ten—Coffman 3 pass from Mettenberger (Succop
kick), 4:28.
Ten—FG Succop 32, :03.
Third Quarter
StL—Givens 80 pass from Keenum (Palardy kick),
5:38.
Fourth Quarter
Ten—Coffman 56 pass from Tanney (Meyer kick),
1:45.
StL—M.Brown 54 pass from Mannion (Palardy kick),
:39.
Attendance—61,548.
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING—St. Louis, Watts 6-53, M.Brown 4-23,
B.Cunningham 6-16, Pead 3-11, Mason 3-6, Keenum
2-4. Tennessee, Sankey 6-45, Cobb 8-26, Andrews
5-24, McCluster 2-13, Fluellen 6-4, Mariota 1-1, Tanney
1-(minus 1).
PASSING—St. Louis, Foles 3-7-1-18, Keenum 7-16-0-
164, Mannion 6-7-0-93, A.Davis 1-2-0-21. Tennessee,
Mettenberger 7-9-0-91, Tanney 7-9-0-105, Mariota
5-8-0-59, Whitehurst 1-1-0-12.
RECEIVING—St. Louis, M.Brown 4-78, Watts 3-46,
Bailey 2-34, Britt 2-15, Givens 1-80, Marquez 1-21,
Bayer 1-11, Dam.Williams 1-9, Cook 1-3, Pead 1-(minus
1). Tennessee, Green-Beckham 4-40, Supernaw
3-24, Coffman 2-59, Wright 2-15, Nicks 1-40, Stevens
1-35, Turzilli 1-12, Long 1-11, Ford 1-9, Cobb 1-8,
Richardson 1-8, McCluster 1-5, Hunter 1-1.
MISSED FIELD GOAL