The San Francisco 49ers had a strong first half against the San Diego Chargers, showing some offensive congruity and defensive integrity to take a 14-7 lead into halftime at Qualcomm Stadium.
Alex Smith had a very nice showing in the first half, finishing 8/10 for 45 yards. He orchestrated an impressive opening drive; an eight minute, 14 play march for 80 yards that concluded with a one yard Anthony Dixon touchdown run. Smith would later have another 7 play drive with the same result, another Dixon 1-yard TD, turning the offense over to his rookie counterpart from there. Colin Kaepernick unfortunately struggled, throwing two interceptions in his playing time, going 1/4 for 11 yards on the field.
The Niners defense was stout as well, aside from a Ryan Matthews 53 yard touchdown run, going completely untouched from the line of scrimmage. Rookie Aldom Smith showed some serious skill with 5 tackles in the first half, two of which were sacks, with three hits on the quarterback all together. Novarro Bowman and Alex Joespeh recovered two fumbles, one from quarterback Billy Volek and another by Jordan Todman. Volek only took a few snaps going 1/3 for five yards.
Hopefully they can keep the momentum rolling the the second half, and take some confidence into the first week of the season.
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