Monday Night Football: Navorro Bowman returns INT 89 yards to seal 49ers win (GIF)
By Jack Crosby
If the San Francisco 49ers ever wanted a win at home, it was tonight in the final game inside Candlestick Park. For most of the game, they were on the right track with that, until the Atlanta Falcons decided that they wanted to make that mission as difficult as possible.
With about two minutes left in the fourth quarter, Falcons QB Matt Ryan hit Tony Gonzalez with a two-yard touchdown pass to cut the Niners lead to 27-24. Following that scoring play, Atlanta successfully recovered their onside kick attempt, leaving the folks in San Francisco worried.
They were able to recover the onside kick due to the fact that linebacker Navorro Bowman, who was on the front of the San Francisco hands team, wasn’t able to handle the ball.
Three plays later, the Penn State product redeemed himself, making sure his team got that win.
Bowman initially blitzed on a Falcons pass play, but was picked up and then dropped back into coverage. Matt Ryan let the ball go, it was tipped, and then fell right into the hands of Bowman who returned it 89 yards for the score and the win:
