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2C – Daily News – Friday, September 24, 2010 49ers defense not satisfied San Francisco 49ers SANTA CLARA (AP) — The San Francisco 49ers are achieving their goal of fielding a top NFL defense, but ringleader Patrick Willis and his crew are far from satisfied with the results two weeks into the season. The All-Pro linebacker is off to a typically strong start and his team- mates have played well around him. But the defense hasn’t played quite well enough to lead San Francisco to its first victory. The 49ers (0-2) face the undefeated Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday. ‘‘It hasn’t been perfect, but for the most part we’ve been OK,’’ Willis said Thursday. ‘‘But there’s been some errors on our part, too. We can be a lot better.’’ The 49ers were pretty good Mon- day night against New Orleans and the league’s No. 1 offense. The Saints managed just 231 yards entering the final minute before driving to the win- ning field goal. The Saints had to rely on reigning NFL passing champion Drew Brees to take them down the field because the 49ers stuffed them on the ground. New Orleans averaged 2.1 yards per carry and had just one first down rushing. That has been typical of the 49ers, who have become one of the league’s toughest teams to run against. San Francisco is allowing just 63.5 yards on the ground. The 49ers will need to set the tone again with their rushing defense against the Chiefs, who have started with two victories primarily because of what their offense has done on the ground. Halfbacks Jamaal Charles and Thomas Jones have combined for 263 yards rushing for the league’s fifth- ranked rushing attack. They’ve carried an offense that ranks 30th in the NFL overall. Each rushed for more than 1,000 yards last season, and they’ll be run- ning this week into the heart of a San Francisco defense looking to prevent the 49ers’ first 0-3 start since 2004. ‘‘Every week our defense prides itself on trying to stop the run first,’’ Willis said. ‘‘They have speed and power back there, but it’s going to be a game. We’re going to go out and play our football.’’ Willis, the NFL’s leading tackler two of the past three seasons, is on a similar pace this year with 21 tackles through two games. He again is thriv- ing behind nose tackle Aubrayo Franklin, who ties up blockers in the middle of San Francisco’s 3-4 defen- sive scheme so Willis and fellow inside linebacker Takeo Spikes can roam free and make plays. Franklin, designated as San Francis- co’s franchise player in March, didn’t join the 49ers until the end of August this year after missing all offseason team workouts while he sought a new contract. But Franklin has made up for lost time since his return. ‘‘I’ve knocked the rust off and I’m back in there now,’’ said Franklin, who had a career season last year with 88 tackles. ‘‘It’s just like where we left off last year. We’re playing off each other and everything and playing within the scheme. We haven’t allowed much rushing, but we haven’t won a game yet either. So I can’t brag on that.’’ The 49ers may have a new starter next to Willis on Sunday. Spikes left the Saints game in the second half with a knee contusion and did not return after making five tackles. Spikes did not practice Wednesday or Thursday and his status for the Chiefs is uncer- tain. San Francisco got a lift from rookie NaVorro Bowman, who filled the void left by Spikes by contributing five tack- les and aggressive play. There was no drop in performance when Bowman entered the game, and the third-round draft pick has worked with the first unit in practice this week. The 49ers currently have no other inside linebackers on their roster. ‘‘I’m confident and ready to go and I want to show these veterans that this young guy can really step up and do what I have to do,’’ Bowman said. ‘‘They take a lot of pride in the run defense here, and I believe I can fit in and do a lot of things to help this team win.’’ Gradkowski calm but eager for new start Oakland Raiders ALAMEDA (AP) — Bruce Grad- kowski’s excitement over being named starting quarterback for the Oakland Raiders didn’t last long. Having seen the team already make one change after only six quarters, the journeyman backup realizes there isn’t much job security. Gradkowski on Thursday worked through his second full practice since coach Tom Cable picked him to replace Jason Campbell as the Raiders starter. The promotion capped a 10-month stretch during which Gradkowski suf- fered a pair of season-ending knee injuries, tore a pectoral muscle then watched as Oakland cut former No. 1 draft pick JaMarcus Russell, traded for Campbell and immediately named him the starter on the eve of training camp. Despite getting reassurance from Cable otherwise, Gradkowski isn’t tak- ing anything for granted. ‘‘No matter what coach said, you just never know,’’ Gradkowski said. ‘‘Winning’s the name of the game, and if I’m not getting it done I’m sure he’s going to try to find someone else who will. You just have to respect that.’’ It’s the quickest non-injury related quarterback change the Raiders have made since relocating to Northern Cal- NELSON (Continued from page 1C) Nelson and general man- ager Larry Riley didn’t immediately return phone calls seeking comment. Riley was Nelson’s assistant coach until the 2008-09 sea- son, when he took over per- sonnel decisions while the Warriors phased out top bas- ketball executive Chris Mullin. The Warriors waited until the final days before camp to make a major change under new owners Lacob and Peter Guber, who bought the club for a record $450 million in July from Chris Cohan, the long-reviled owner who’s blamed by Bay Area fans for the franchise’s absence from the playoffs in 15 of the past 16 seasons. Nelson was hailed when Mullin hired his former coach to return to Golden State in 2006, and Nelson immediately led the War- riors into the postseason, where the eighth-seeded club upset the top-seeded Dallas Mavericks in 2007. Golden State then won 48 games but barely missed the playoffs after the 2007-08 season. Golden State won just 55 games over the past two sea- sons while dismantling the core of the 2007 and 2008 teams led by Baron Davis and Stephen Jackson. Nel- son was criticized for stick- ing with his style of run-and- run offense and little defense, while some young players got extensive min- utes and others never got off the bench. ifornia in 1995. Aaron Brooks was replaced by Andrew Walter in Week 2 during the 2006 season after injuring his throwing shoulder. This is nothing new to Gradkowski. He came off the bench to replace Rus- sell midway through last season and led the Raiders to wins over Cincinnati and Pittsburgh in his first three starts before suffering the season-ending knee injuries in Week 14. That made him somewhat of a folk hero in Oakland, where fans had grown bitter because of Russell’s poor perfor- mances and lackadaisical attitude. In four starts, Gradkowski passed for 844 yards and six touchdowns with one interception. His 89.7 rating as a starter was easily tops among the three quar- terbacks Oakland used last season. Just as quickly as his popularity with the Raiders was taking off, Grad- kowski was injured. The misfortune continued in the offseason when Grad- kowski tore a pec muscle while lifting weights, shelving him for most of the Raiders’ offseason workouts. That was followed by a groin injury early in camp that cost Gradkowski two weeks, giving Oakland more rea- son to go with Campbell as the starter. ‘‘Last year was last year, and you’ve got to get it done this year,’’ Grad- kowski said. ‘‘Coach Cable sat us down and told us the news, and I was excited. But the excitement ends right The sale is expected to be ratified by the NBA later this year, but Lacob and Guber already are heavily involved in running the Warriors. Nelson is a three-time NBA coach of the year, but he’s also the only coach with more than 1,000 career vic- tories who hasn’t been enshrined in the Basketball Hall of Fame. His teams won at least 50 games in 13 seasons, but he also went through several lows — notably a tumul- tuous 59-game stint with the Knicks in 1995-96. Nelson began his career as coach and general manag- er of the Bucks in 1976, making the playoffs nine times in his 11 seasons. He took over the Warriors in FOOTBALL Week 4 Schedule Today’s games Shasta at Corning, 7:30 p.m. Red Bluff at Chico, 7:30 p.m. Central Valley at Lassen, 7:30 p.m. Chester at Tulelake, 7:30 p.m. Colusa at East Nicolaus, 7:30 p.m. Durham at Trinity, 7:30 p.m. Enterprise at Mazama, 7 p.m. Etna at Lost River, 7 p.m. Foothill at Anderson, 7:30 p.m. Las Plumas at Orland, 7:30 p.m. Lindhurst at Wheatland, 7:30 p.m. Marysville at Gridley, 7:30 p.m. Maxwell at Fall River, 7:30 p.m. Mt. Shasta at Willows, 7:30 p.m. Pierce at Live Oak, 7:30 p.m. Pleasant Valley at Oroville, 7:30 p.m. Portola at Williams, 7:30 p.m. Quincy at Hamilton, 7:30 p.m. University Prep at Hoopa Valley, 7:30 p.m. Weed at Burney, 7:30 p.m. Winters at Amador, 7:30 p.m. Today’s 8-man games Butte Valley at Big Valley, 7 p.m. Greenville at Champion Christian, 7 p.m. Dunsmuir at Happy Camp, 6 p.m. Elk Creek at Westwood, 7 p.m. Saturday’s games Sutter vs Klamath U.at Eugene, Ore., 11 a.m. W.Valley vs Astoria at Eugene, Ore., 2:30 p.m. Yreka at Cottage Grove, 6 p.m. Saturday’s 8-man games Mercy at Loyalton, 1 p.m. Princeton at Herlong, 1 p.m. there. I really haven’t done nothing in my mind.’’ While Gradkowski answered ques- tions about the quarterback change at a podium adjacent to one of the team’s three practice fields, Campbell politely declined to be interviewed when approached inside the Raiders locker room. ‘‘I can’t talk to you guys,’’ Camp- bell said. ‘‘I would but (the Raiders) asked me not to.’’ Campbell, whom owner Al Davis compared to two-time Super Bowl winner Jim Plunkett shortly after the April trade from Washington, has a 61.9 completion percentage this season but passed for only 267 yards and led just one touchdown drive in 1 1/2 games. He was also sacked six times, a key issue given Oakland’s pass-protec- tion problems. Cable cited the energy Gradkowski brought to the Raiders’ huddle as a factor in making the change and said the quarterback’s han- dling of his own health issues over the last year increased his popularity in the locker room. ‘‘What it does more than anything, it earns the respect of your teammates, to battle through all those things and still stand tall,’’ Cable said. ‘‘He didn’t panic. He was very disappointed ... but the thing about Bruce is whatever curveball you throw at him, he just takes it and keeps pushing.’’ 1988 and immediately installed the uptempo offense that led to the ‘‘Run T-M-C’’ era of exciting hoops led by Tim Hardaway, Mitch Richmond and Mullin. But Nelson clashed with No. 1 overall draft pick Chris Webber and eventual- ly left the Warriors during the 1994-95 season. After a short stint on Broadway, he took over the struggling Mavericks in 1998 and transformed them into a playoff team by his fourth season, surviving a bout MLB West Division Texas A’s American League WL Pct GB 84 67 .556 — 76 75 .503 8 Angels 75 77 .493 9.5 Seattle 58 94 .382 26.5 East Division WL Pct GB New York 92 61 .601 — Tampa Bay 91 61 .599 .5 Boston 84 68 .553 7.5 Toronto 77 75 .507 14.5 Baltimore 61 91 .401 30.5 Central Division WL Pct GB x-Minnesota 92 60 .605 — Chicago 80 72 .526 12 Detroit 77 75 .507 15 Kansas City 63 89 .414 29 Cleveland 62 91 .405 30.5 x-clinched division ————————————————— Thursday’s results Texas at Oakland, late Kansas City 4, Cleveland 2 Tampa Bay 10, New York 3 Toronto 1, Seattle 0 Today’s games Texas (Tom.Hunter 12-4) at Oakland (Cramer 2-0),7:05 p.m.,CSNC Boston (Beckett 5-5) at New York (Pettitte 11-2), 4:05 p.m., MLBN Kansas City (Hochevar 6-5) at Cleveland (Tomlin 4-4), 4:05 p.m. Minnesota (Liriano 14-8) at Detroit (Verlander 17-8), 4:05 p.m. Baltimore (Guthrie 10-14) at Toronto (Cecil 13-7), 4:07 p.m. Seattle (J.Vargas 9-11) at Tampa Bay (Niemann 10-7), 4:10 p.m. Chicago (F.Garcia 11-6) at Los Angeles (Pineiro 10-7), 7:05 p.m., WGN Wednesday’s late results Tampa Bay 7, New York 2 Texas 2, Los Angeles 1, 12 innings with prostate cancer along the way. Dallas reached the West- ern Conference finals in 2003, losing to the San Antonio Spurs. His parting with the Mavericks in March 2005 eventually turned acri- monious, with Nelson and owner Mark Cuban eventu- ally getting involved in liti- gation over Nelson’s com- pensation. MLB West Division National League WL Pct GB Padres 85 66 .563 — GIANTS 86 67 .562 — Colorado 82 69 .543 3 Dodgers 73 79 .480 12.5 Arizona 61 91 .401 24.5 East Division WL Pct GB Philadelphia 92 61 .601 — Atlanta 86 67 .562 6 Florida 76 76 .500 15.5 New York 74 78 .487 17.5 Washington 65 88 .425 27 Central Division WL Pct GB Cincinnati 86 67 .562 — St. Louis 78 74 .513 7.5 Houston 73 80 .477 13 Milwaukee 71 81 .467 14.5 Chicago 69 83 .454 16.5 Pittsburgh 53 99 .349 32.5 ————————————————— Thursday’s results San Francisco 13, Chicago 0 Milwaukee 8, Florida 3 St. Louis 9, Pittsburgh 2 Washington 7, Houston 2 Colorado at Arizona, late San Diego at Los Angeles, late Today’s games San Francisco (Lincecum 14-10) at Col.(J.Chacin 9-9),5:10 p.m.,CSNB St. Louis (Wainwright 19-11) at Chicago (Gorzelanny 7-8), 11:20 a.m. Atlanta (T.Hudson 16-8) at Washington (Zimmermann 0-2), 4:05 p.m. Houston (Myers 13-7) at Pittsburgh (Ja.McDonald 4-5), 4:05 p.m. New York (Dickey 11-7) at Philadelphia (Blanton 7-6), 4:05 p.m. Florida (A.Miller 1-3) at Milwaukee (M.Rogers 0-0), 5:10 p.m. Los Angeles (Kershaw 12-10) at Arizona (Enright 6-5), 6:40 p.m. Cincinnati (Arroyo 16-10) at San Diego (C.Young 1-0), 7:05 p.m. Wednesday’s late results Arizona 8, Colorado 4 San Diego 3, L.os Angeles 1 NCAA Thursday’s Top 25 result No. 19 Miami 31, Pittsburgh 3 Today’s Top 25 game No. 4 TCU at SMU, 5 p.m., ESPN SAN FRANCISCO (0-2) at KANSAS CITY(2-0) Sunday, 10 a.m., FOX OPENING LINE — 49ers by 1 RECORD VS. SPREAD — San Francisco 1-1; Kansas City 2-0 SERIES RECORD — 49ers lead 6-4 2006 PASS (10) PASS (14) PASS (30) PASS (25) LAST MEETING — Chiefs beat 49ers 41-0, Oct. 1, 49ERS OFFENSE — OVERALL (11), RUSH (19), 49ERS DEFENSE — OVERALL (4), RUSH (t6), CHIEFS OFFENSE — OVERALL (30), RUSH (5), CHIEFS DEFENSE — OVERALL (24), RUSH (9), STREAKS, STATS AND NOTES — 49ers have lost last three times they’ve visited Arrowhead Stadium ... Chiefs one of three 2-0 teams that started last year 0-2. ... 49ers-Chiefs game in 1994 matching Joe Montana vs. Steve Young drew second-largest crowd in Arrowhead history, 79,907. Chiefs won 24-17. ... 49ers offensive coor- dinator Jimmy Raye served same capacity with KC, 49ers defensive coordinator Greg Manusky played linebacker for Chiefs and 49ers special teams coach Kurt Schotten- heimer was longtime assistant in Kansas City. Offensive line coach Mike Solari coached offensive line in KC. ... 49ers, like Chiefs last week, coming off Monday night game at home and crossing time zones to play in hostile environment. Chiefs overcame obstacles to beat Cleveland last week. ... Mike Singletary facing AFC West team for first time as San Francisco coach. ... It will be a match of 3-4 defensive alignments. ... 49ers at Atlanta next week for third road game in four weeks. ... 49ers RB Frank Gore set club record last week with 21st 100-yard game. ... Chiefs looking for consecutive home wins for first time since Dec. 31, 2006 and Sept. 23, 2007. OAKLAND (1-1) at ARIZONA(1-1) Sunday, 1:15 p.m., CBS OPENING LINE — Cardinals by 4 RECORD VS. SPREAD — Oakland 2-0, Arizona 1-1 SERIES RECORD — Raiders lead 5-2 LAST MEETING — Raiders beat Cardinals 22-9, Oct. 22, 2006 LAST WEEK — Raiders beat Rams 16-14; Falcons beat Cardinals 31-7 PASS (22) PASS (5) RAIDERS OFFENSE — OVERALL (9), RUSH (3), RAIDERS DEFENSE — OVERALL (9), RUSH (29), CARDINALS OFFENSE — OVERALL (15T), RUSH (13), PASS (18) CARDINALS DEFENSE — OVERALL (27), RUSH (31), PASS (21) STREAKS, STATS AND NOTES — Raiders out- gained Rams 404-210 last weekend, averaging 5.1 yards per play. ... RB Darren McFadden is second in NFL in rushing after two games with 240 yards in 48 attempts. Arizona ranks next-to-last in rushing defense after surren- dering 221 yards to Falcons. ... Game features two of league’s top punters, Shane Lechler of Oakland and Ben Graham of Arizona. Lechler has had a punt of at least 50 yards in every game since start of 2008 season. ... Raiders are 3-0 vs. Cardinals with one game in St. Louis and two in Arizona, the last in 2002. Oakland never has played in the Cardinals’ University of Phoenix Stadium. ... Each team’s victory this season came against St. Louis Rams. ... Raiders QB Jason Campbell benched, and Bruce Grad- kowski will start. Gradkowski replaced Campbell last week and led Raiders to 13 points in 16-14 win over Rams. ... Oakland had 404 yards against Rams. ... Oakland WR Darrius Heyward-Bey set career bests against St. Louis with six receptions for 80 yards. ... Arizona is one of three teams to play first two games on road (Miami and Baltimore are the others). ... Tim Hightower’s 80-yard TD run was third-longest in Cardinals’ history and longest since John David Crow’s franchise record 83-yarder in 1958. ... Arizona was 0 for 8 on third-down conversions against Atlanta. ... Rookies (Stephen Williams, Max Komar and Andre Roberts) hold three wide receiver spots behind Cardinals starters Larry Fitzgerald and Steve Breaston. ... Fitzgerald needs three catches to move into second on Arizona’s career receiving list with 536. Anquan Boldin holds record at 586. ... Under coach Ken Whisenhunt, Arizona is 5-1 at home against AFC foes. ... Seven rookies played for Cardinals against Atlanta. ... Rookie ILB Daryl Washington had 10 tackles against Fal- cons. PGA PGA-Tour Championship At East Lake Golf Club, Atlanta Yardage: 7,319;Par: 70 (35-35) First Round Leaders Geoff Ogilvy Luke Donald Paul Casey Jim Furyk K.J. Choi Kevin Na 32-34 — 66 -4 33-33 — 66 -4 33-33 — 66 -4 33-34 — 67 -3 33-35 — 68 -2 34-35 — 69 -1 Hunter Mahan 32-37 — 69 -1 Phil Mickelson 36-33 — 69 -1 Jason Day 33-36 — 69 -1 MLS WESTERN CONFERENCE WL T Pts GF GA x-Galaxy 15 5 5 50 38 19 Salt Lake 13 4 8 47 38 16 FC Dallas 10 2 13 43 33 21 Colorado 10 7 7 37 32 24 QUAKES 10 7 6 36 25 23 Seattle 10 9 6 36 30 29 Chivas USA 7 13 4 25 25 31 Houston 6 14 5 23 32 44 EASTERN CONFERENCE WL T Pts GF GA Columbus 13 7 5 44 33 27 New York 12 8 5 41 32 27 Kansas City 9 9 6 33 28 27 Toronto FC 8 10 7 31 24 28 Chicago 6 9 8 26 28 31 New England 7 14 4 25 26 43 Philadelphia 6 12 6 24 27 39 D.C. 5 17 3 18 17 39 ————————————————— Today’s game New York at Los Angeles, 8 p.m., ESPN2