With Frank Gore getting the night off after signing a big deal, Dixon capped San Francisco’s first two drives with 1-yard touchdown runs and the 49ers beat the Chargers 20-17 in an exhibition finale Thursday night.

It was a last chance for rookies and other players on the bubble to impress the coaches before the final roster cutdowns on Saturday.

Then it’s on to opening day on Sept. 11. The 49ers (2-2), under first-year coach Jim Harbaugh, host the Seattle Seahawks. The Chargers (2-2), heading into their fifth year under Norv Turner, host Peterson and the Vikings.

The Chargers’ first-string defense didn’t look impressive against the 49ers’ running game, allowing 54 yards on the ground on San Francisco’s opening drive, which covered 80 yards behind starter Alex Smith. The Bolts have a little more than a week to prepare for Peterson, who set the NFL’s single-game record with 296 yards when the Vikings last played San Diego, in 2007.

“We had a lot of guys missing. We have to get them caught up and get them where they are ready to play at a high level for an extended period of time,” Turner said.

The 49ers had six sacks.

Gore, who rarely plays in exhibitions, sat out a day after signing a $21 million, three-year contract extension.

Smith was in for the first two drives as the 49ers rebounded from an embarrassing 30-7 loss to Houston.

“I don’t know if we had anything to prove,” Smith said. “We definitely wanted to get the taste out of our mouth from last week, though. Get some rhythm, convert on some third downs, move some chains and hopefully put points on the board, and we were able to do that.

“We took the opening drive all the way down and stuck it in and were able to get the ball on the turnover and put that one in, as well. So it was a great start,” said Smith, who was 8 of 10 passing for 45 yards.

San Diego held out offensive stars Philip Rivers, Antonio Gates, Vincent Jackson and Malcom Floyd.

Running back Ryan Mathews, coming off an uneven rookie season, showed his speed with a 56-yard scoring burst in the second quarter. Earlier, he failed to pick up blitzing NaVorro Bowman, who sacked Billy Volek, forced a fumble and recovered. That set up Dixon’s second TD run.

“I was definitely pleased the way the offensive line played,” Harbaugh said. “I thought they played with a lot of urgency and it’s been a challenge for them all week. It was a short week, but a good week.”

Dixon had 45 yards on 11 carries. Rookie Kendall Hunter had 57 yards on 11 carries.

“It was simple,” Dixon said. “I stayed low, lowered my pads, got up in there behind my big boys and we made it happen. It gives you more confidence, and once you get your confidence to a certain level, you can do whatever.”

Rookie Jordan Todman also lost a fumble for the Chargers, who missed the playoffs last year because of special teams gaffes and turnovers. Rookie quarterback Scott Tolzien threw an interception and was sacked five times. He also threw a nine-yard TD pass to Seyi Ajirotutu with 1:21 left.

“I liked getting Ryan going,” Turner said. “It was good to see him break the long run. I thought he hit some good runs up in there, too. Obviously you can’t win in this league if you turn the ball over. I’m disappointed that we had the two turnovers.”

The Chargers, in turn, intercepted 49ers rookie Colin Kaepernick twice.

Kaepernick came on early in the second quarter in place of Alex Smith, who led the first two scoring drives. He was intercepted by rookie cornerback Marcus Gilchrist in the end zone.

Kaepernick was picked off later in the second quarter by Dante Hughes on a tipped ball.

Both teams had turned it over to second- and third-stringers by early in the second quarter.

NOTES: Even though he didn’t play, Gore was in uniform. … Sitting out from the Chargers’ first-team defense were ILB Larry English, T Antonio Garay and OLB Shaun Phillips. … Chargers LBs Travis LaBoy and Takeo Spikes were captains against their former team.

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Now that the exhibition season is over, the San Diego Chargers have just over a week to get ready for Adrian Peterson.
That’s after looking shaky against Anthony Dixon and the San Francisco 49ers.
With Frank Gore getting the night off after signing a big deal, Dixon capped San Francisco’s first two drives with 1-yard touchdown runs and the 49ers beat the Chargers 20-17 in an exhibition finale Thursday night.
It was a last chance for rookies and other players on the bubble to impress the coaches before the final roster cutdowns on Saturday.
Then it’s on to opening day on Sept. 11. The 49ers (2-2), under first-year coach Jim Harbaugh, host the Seattle Seahawks. The Chargers (2-2), heading into their fifth year under Norv Turner, host Peterson and the Vikings.
The Chargers’ first-string defense didn’t look impressive against the 49ers’ running game, allowing 54 yards on the ground on San Francisco’s opening drive, which covered 80 yards behind starter Alex Smith. The Bolts have a little more than a week to prepare for Peterson, who set the NFL’s single-game record with 296 yards when the Vikings last played San Diego, in 2007.
“We had a lot of guys missing. We have to get them caught up and get them where they are ready to play at a high level for an extended period of time,” Turner said.
The 49ers had six sacks.
Gore, who rarely plays in exhibitions, sat out a day after signing a $21 million, three-year contract extension.
Smith was in for the first two drives as the 49ers rebounded from an embarrassing 30-7 loss to Houston.
“I don’t know if we had anything to prove,” Smith said. “We definitely wanted to get the taste out of our mouth from last week, though. Get some rhythm, convert on some third downs, move some chains and hopefully put points on the board, and we were able to do that.
“We took the opening drive all the way down and stuck it in and were able to get the ball on the turnover and put that one in, as well. So it was a great start,” said Smith, who was 8 of 10 passing for 45 yards.
San Diego held out offensive stars Philip Rivers, Antonio Gates, Vincent Jackson and Malcom Floyd.
Running back Ryan Mathews, coming off an uneven rookie season, showed his speed with a 56-yard scoring burst in the second quarter. Earlier, he failed to pick up blitzing NaVorro Bowman, who sacked Billy Volek, forced a fumble and recovered. That set up Dixon’s second TD run.
“I was definitely pleased the way the offensive line played,” Harbaugh said. “I thought they played with a lot of urgency and it’s been a challenge for them all week. It was a short week, but a good week.”
Dixon had 45 yards on 11 carries. Rookie Kendall Hunter had 57 yards on 11 carries.
“It was simple,” Dixon said. “I stayed low, lowered my pads, got up in there behind my big boys and we made it happen. It gives you more confidence, and once you get your confidence to a certain level, you can do whatever.”
Rookie Jordan Todman also lost a fumble for the Chargers, who missed the playoffs last year because of special teams gaffes and turnovers. Rookie quarterback Scott Tolzien threw an interception and was sacked five times. He also threw a nine-yard TD pass to Seyi Ajirotutu with 1:21 left.
“I liked getting Ryan going,” Turner said. “It was good to see him break the long run. I thought he hit some good runs up in there, too. Obviously you can’t win in this league if you turn the ball over. I’m disappointed that we had the two turnovers.”
The Chargers, in turn, intercepted 49ers rookie Colin Kaepernick twice.
Kaepernick came on early in the second quarter in place of Alex Smith, who led the first two scoring drives. He was intercepted by rookie cornerback Marcus Gilchrist in the end zone.
Kaepernick was picked off later in the second quarter by Dante Hughes on a tipped ball.
Both teams had turned it over to second- and third-stringers by early in the second quarter.
NOTES: Even though he didn’t play, Gore was in uniform. … Sitting out from the Chargers’ first-team defense were ILB Larry English, T Antonio Garay and OLB Shaun Phillips. … Chargers LBs Travis LaBoy and Takeo Spikes were captains against their former team.

Final Score: San Diego 34, San Francisco 7

San Diego, CA (Sports Network) – Philip Rivers threw three touchdown passes to Vincent Jackson, and the San Diego Chargers earned their sixth win in seven games with a 34-7 rout of San Francisco on Thursday.

Rivers was 19-of-25 for 273 yards, connecting with Jackson for 112 of them, including a 58-yard touchdown in the first quarter that gave the Chargers (8-6) the lead for good.

San Francisco got its only offense from Brian Westbrook’s three-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter, losing for the third time in five games while picking up just 11 first downs and gaining only 192 yards.

“I can’t say enough about our defense,” said Chargers head coach Norv Turner.

Alex Smith got his second straight start for the 49ers (5-9) after throwing for three touchdowns in Sunday’s 40-21 win over Seattle. But he passed for only 165 yards and an interception in this one.

The 49ers are still above .500 (5-4) since their 0-5 start, but they will remain at least one game behind Seattle and St. Louis for first place in a weak NFC West.

“I felt like we were ready to play, we just did not execute,” said 49ers head coach Mike Singletary. “We gotta coach better and we gotta execute better.”

San Diego, meanwhile, has a chance to tie Kansas City for the AFC West lead if the Chiefs lose in St. Louis on Sunday. Not bad for a team that was just 2-5 on October 24 after losing its third straight game.

“When you got a bunch of guys that love to play, you got a chance (to make the playoffs),” said Rivers. “You got a chance if you’re 2-5, you got a chance if you’re 4-8, you got a chance if you’re 6-6 and all but out.

“Here we sit, with two weeks to go, and we have a chance.”

The home fans at Qualcomm Stadium on Thursday night were able to relax almost from the moment Jackson beat cornerback Nate Clements for a jump ball to give San Diego a 7-0 lead on the first series of the game.

The 6-foot-5 Jackson out-jumped the 6-foot Clements near the right sideline, then bullied his way 10 yards into the end zone on the fourth play from scrimmage in the game.

It was Jackson’s first touchdown since he scored twice in Week 15 last season. But he wasn’t done. He added an 11-yard TD catch in the second quarter and a 21-yarder in the fourth for the first three-touchdown game of his career.

“He’s always been a big-play receiver, but man I have to say this is the best I’ve seen him after the catch,” Rivers said of Jackson. “He seems just to be super comfortable. Not that he wasn’t in the past, but he’s catching the ball and going to score.”

The embattled wideout had five catches while suiting up for his third game since ending a holdout and serving his three-game suspension for violating the league’s substance abuse policy.

“Obviously this team was putting up some big wins when I wasn’t here, but I’m just happy to be here now,” said Jackson. “This team is moving in the right direction and I’m glad to be a part of it.”

Meanwhile, things were pretty ugly for the 49ers.

Their first mistake was taking three points off the scoreboard early in the second quarter after Jeff Reed made a 38-yard field goal. The 49ers accepted a Chargers penalty instead that was called on Antonio Garay for kneeling on the back of a San Francisco lineman in an attempt to block the kick.

Two plays later, Smith appeared to scamper around the left side for a seven- yard touchdown run. But only his body — and not the ball — broke the plane of the goal line when he crashed into the pylon.

On a 4th-and-1 play, Anthony Dixon was stopped behind the line of scrimmage by linebacker Brandon Siler and the 49ers walked away without any points.

On the ensuing San Diego possession, 49ers defensive end Justin Smith was ejected from the game for pushing referee Garth DeFelice out of the way as he argued with a Chargers player.

San Diego then marched 90 yards and got a 25-yard field goal from Nate Kaeding for a 10-0 lead with six minutes remaining in the first half.

The Chargers carried a 17-0 lead into the locker room after Rivers found Jackson wide-open behind a defender for a touchdown in the final two minutes. The 87-yard scoring drive was aided by Kelley Washington’s 36-yard catch and run and a 15-yard unnecessary roughness penalty on the 49ers.

San Francisco return man Ted Ginn Jr. took the second-half kickoff 85 yards up the left sideline for a touchdown that was nullified by a face mask penalty.

The 49ers punted instead, and the Chargers moved 58 yards on the ensuing drive and took a 24-0 lead on Mike Tolbert’s one-yard burst into the end zone.

Tolbert and Ryan Mathews both carried 17 times, with Tolbert picking up 46 yards and Mathews rushing for 56.

San Diego’s next series ended with Jackson’s 21-yard touchdown catch to make it 31-0 five plays into the fourth quarter. Diving at the goal line, Jackson stretched the ball over the pylon and the TD was upheld upon review.

The Chargers then turned Steve Gregory’s 41-yard interception into a 39-yard field goal from Kaeding to make it 34-0, and the 49ers got their only points on Westbrook’s three-yard TD on the ensuing drive.

Westbrook gained just 22 yards on eight carries, while Dixon rushed six times for 33 yards. San Francisco was playing its third game since losing starter Frank Gore to a fractured hip.

Game Notes

San Diego tight end Antonio Gates missed his second straight game with a right foot injury. Wide receiver Malcom Floyd (hamstring) also sat out for the Chargers…Smith was 19-of-29…49ers receiver Josh Morgan had a game-high seven catches for 106 yards…Jackson ended with five catches…The Chargers tied the all-time series at 6-6 with their third straight win…San Diego picked up 24 first downs and gained 374 yards.

By Daniel Brown
San Jose Mercury News

SAN DIEGO — Another game outside the division meant another embarrassment for the 49ers. The San Diego Chargers walloped them 34-7 in the latest demonstration that the 49ers are no match for the NFL’s upper tier.

This time, quarterback Philip Rivers threw three touchdown passes to Vincent Jackson as the Chargers rolled early and often. Add that to a 49ers’ scrapheap that includes blowout losses against Tampa Bay and Green Bay. Over the course of the 49ers’ past three games outside the NFC West, they have been outscored 89-23.

“We have to win games outside our division,” 49ers linebacker Patrick Willis said. “Until we do that, it’s going to be tough every year.”

It was tough again Thursday night, as the 49ers managed only one meaningless touchdown — a 3-yard run by Brian Westbrook — with the game long out of reach.

Only in downy soft NFC West can the 49ers (5-9) still talk about making the playoffs. They are 11/2 games back with games remaining against St. Louis (away) and Arizona (home). The Rams and Seattle are tied for the division lead at 6-7.

“The most frustrating thing is to know we had an opportunity to be sitting in the driver’s seat after tonight and we (poured) it down the drain,” linebacker Takeo Spikes said.

From the start, it was clear the 49ers weren’t facing some NFC West cupcake. Rivers hit Jackson for a tone-setting 58-yard touchdown pass on the Chargers’ opening possession. Jackson ran a go route

against cornerback Nate Clements and simply out-jumped him for the ball before slipping away from Clements’ tackle for the score.

Just over 2 minutes into the game, the Chargers were ahead 7-0.

What looked like the 49ers’ best chance, meanwhile, was just frustration in disguise. The miserable sequence started early in the second quarter, after Jeff Reed kicked an apparent 38-yard field goal.

The referees flagged Chargers defensive tackle Antonio Garay for hopping onto the back of a teammate while trying to block a kick. The leverage penalty gave the 49ers new life, with a first-and-goal from the 10.

Two plays later, quarterback Alex Smith scrambled for the left pylon and dived in for what looked initially like a touchdown. But the Chargers got the play overturned on a replay challenge. The referees ruled Smith down just short of the goal line.

That gave the 49ers a fourth-and-goal from the 1. They botched it, with Anthony Dixon stuffed behind the line for a loss. Coach Mike Singletary said he figured that his offensive line could grind out such a short distance.

But this was not the offensive line’s night. That unit struggled against the Chargers’ top-rated defense. Smith was sacked six times and the 49ers had only 61 yards rushing.

The offensive line was just one on a long list of breakdowns.

“We have to coach better, and we have to execute better,” Singletary said.

With the frustration of the nullified touchdown still fresh, the 49ers’ night went downhill fast. On the Chargers’ next possession, 49ers defensive end Justin Smith was jawing with San Diego tight end Randy McMichael.

As tempers flared, umpire Garth DeFelice stepped in — only Smith didn’t notice it was an official. He made contact with DeFelice and earned a 15-yard penalty and an ejection from the game.

Smith said he didn’t mean to make contact with the official saying, “It was just kind of a natural reaction by me. But rules are rules. “… It’s the first time I’ve ever had to watch a game from the locker room.”

Head referee Clete Blakeman said Smith’s ejection was not, by rule, automatic. The referees ejected Smith because they declared his contact “an intentional act.”

“He shoved him away,” Blakeman told a pool reporter from the San Diego Union-Tribune. “I was there. I saw it. My umpire and I conferred on it, and we both agreed (and) deemed it to qualify as a disqualification.”

Without Justin Smith, and with Spikes and Willis playing with casts on their broken right hands, the 49ers had little chance against the Chargers’ high-powered offense.

Rivers finished 19 of 25 for 273 yards and a 150.5 passer rating before being relieved by backup Billy Volek early in the fourth quarter.

Alex Smith, fresh off a big game against the Seahawks, was 19 of 29 for 165 yards and an interception. Asked for his review of Smith, Singletary said, “I don’t know. I need to look at the film.”

Smith was harassed all night by a relentless pass rush. His favorite target — tight end Vernon Davis — had only one catch for four yards. It came with about 6 minutes left in a blowout.

The 49ers dropped to 1-6 on the road this season and 5-15 on the road since Singletary took over as coach.

The 49ers still hold out hope. As Spikes said, “I still believe.”

But time is running out.

“The bottom line is, we didn’t play well tonight,” Singletary said. “It’s as simple as that.”