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Niners get well vs. Redskins

SAN FRANCISCO -- In the 48 hours before Sunday's game, a stomach virus infected nearly a third of the 49ers. Sparsely attended team meetings were cut short and some players wore surgical masks to avoid the bug.

The Redskins had no such excuses for why their offense still looks so sickly.

Terrell Owens scored on a spectacular 38-yard run and the 49ers played stellar defense and in a 20-10 win.

Pro Bowl quarterback Jeff Garcia missed most of the second half with a bad case of the virus and other players were exhausted by halftime. The 49ers went through 20 bags of intravenous fluid before the game and more between halves.

"When you've got so many guys down and out like we did, you've got to stick to a simple game plan," said Garrison Hearst, who rushed for 97 yards. "We did the easy stuff. Just run it straight ahead and beat them head-to-head."

As he did Monday against Philadelphia, Spurrier yanked quarterback Shane Matthews for Danny Wuerffel in the fourth quarter, but neither of his former Florida stars could spark an offense that gained 217 yards.

"It's the whole team -- don't put it all on the quarterbacks," Spurrier said. "Our offensive line didn't play super. ... They had some good coverage and an excellent pass rush."

San Francisco led 7-3 in the second quarter when Owens took a handoff and drifted back, looking to pass. J.J. Stokes couldn't get open so Owens ducked, dodged, reversed his field and headed for the end zone, helped by blocks from Hearst and Garcia. Owens then outran or ran over nearly every defender before walking over the goal line.

The All-Pro receiver also took his first verbal jab of the season at coach Steve Mariucci, with whom he has feuded in the past. Owens didn't like the 49ers' decision to kneel on the final two plays on the Washington 16.

"It's just about killer instinct, period, on both sides of the ball," Owens said. "I don't know what went into that decision."

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