BATTLE OF BAY AREA Cortez's FG in overtime lifts 49ers to 23-20 win

San Francisco dominated play, despite the closeness of the score.
OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) -- Jeff Garcia and the San Francisco 49ers didn't give Jerry Rice a chance to beat them.
Garcia, San Francisco's smooth-scrambling quarterback, kept the ball in his team's hands for the final 30 plays, more than 15 minutes, and ran for big yards at the most crucial of times.
And Rice? Well, the 40-year-old former 49ers receiver could only watch Sunday as Oakland lost its fourth straight game following a 4-0 start.
"Jeff Garcia, he just kept doing it," Rice said. "That's the worst feeling. When you can't get the ball in the second half, what can you say? We were parked on the sideline."
Jose Cortez kicked a 23-yard field goal 8:41 into overtime as the 49ers (6-2) beat the Raiders 23-20. The kick came after Cortez missed wide left from 27 yards on the final play of regulation.
Didn't score No. 200
Rice faced his former team for the first time in the regular season since he left for the other side of San Francisco Bay to play for Oakland after the 2000 season.
"Tough one today, huh?" Rice said. "It's a tough one to swallow. You've just got to deal with it and move on. I'm just disappointed, not only for me but for the whole team."
Rice did finish as the Raiders' top receiver, catching six passes for 74 yards, but he missed the chance to get his 200th career touchdown against his old team. His first 186 came during 16 seasons with San Francisco.
Yet on the day a close-up photo of Rice in his helmet and Raiders uniform adorned the entire cover of the game-day program, Garcia and Terrell Owens made Oakland's defense look silly.
Garcia was 25-of-36 for 282 yards, completing 17-of-19 after halftime and rushing for 46 yards to keep the 49ers moving downfield. Owens demoralized Oakland's veteran defense, catching 12 passes for 191 yards in his best game of the season.
"I was very emotional in the locker room after the game, but that was relief more than excitement," Garcia said. "Being a Bay area guy and following both these teams my whole life, it has to be my most satisfying win."
And it was the fifth victory in six games for the 49ers, who extended their NFC West lead and claimed Bay area bragging rights for the next four years, since the teams aren't scheduled to meet again until 2006. It was the 49ers' first regular season game in Oakland since 1979.
"It was gritty, it was courageous, it was off the charts," San Francisco coach Steve Mariucci said. "This team was not intimidated by this crowd, nor by the distractions."
Conversion table
On the Niners' final three possessions, Oakland allowed them to convert eight third downs and a fourth-and-1 at the Raiders 45 in overtime.
"You can't win if you can't get off the field," said four-time Pro Bowl cornerback Charles Woodson, who started the game after missing seven weeks with a broken right shoulder.
Rich Gannon was 18-of-28 for 164 yards, ending his NFL-record streak of six straight 300-yard games. Tim Brown caught just one pass, ending his streak of 147 games with at least two receptions.
The Raiders hope they can still salvage their season.
"You can't lose and have confidence," right tackle Lincoln Kennedy said. "You can't say it's a crisis, but right now we're in a four-game slump."