DaytonDailyNews.com

SAN FRANCISCO — Monster Park at Candlestick Point is an old, decrepit and decaying structure.

That makes it a perfect burial ground for the Cincinnati Bengals.

The Bengals succumbed to the San Francisco 49ers 20-13 here Saturday night in a game televised by the NFL Network.

Cincinnati dropped to 5-9 and has now lost for a fifth straight time in this ugly building. San Francisco improved to 4-10 and took a 10-3 lead in the series.

Quarterback Shaun Hill, making the first start of his NFL career, threw for a touchdown and rushed for a TD, and tailback Frank Gore rushed for 138 yards. His 10-yard burst on third-and-9 at the two-minute warning sealed the 49ers' victory.

Carson Palmer threw his 100th career TD pass, and T.J. Houshmandzadeh's fifth catch of the game — with 2:51 remaining — gave him 101 as he break the club's single-season receptions record of 100 set by Carl Pickens in 1996.

The 49ers drew first blood at 12:57 of the second quarter when Hill surprised the Bengals' defense on a naked bootleg.

Resembling Pro Football Hall of Famer Steve Young, Hill faked a handoff to Frank Gore up the middle and sprinted 3 yards around right end, out-racing safety John Busing to the goal line.

The Bengals answered with a 10-play, 63-yard drive that resulted in Shayne Graham's 24-yard field goal.

DeDe Dorsey's 8-yard burst, and Palmer passes of 25 yards to Daniel Coats and 13 yards to Houshmandzadeh gave Cincinnati a first-and-goal opportunity at the 8-yard line.

But Rudi Johnson's 2-yard run and incompletions to Reggie Kelly and Houshmandzadeh forced the Bengals to settle for the field goal and 7-3 deficit at 8:27.

The remainder of the half was pure fireworks.

Palmer unleashed a 52-yard TD pass to Chris Henry, who beat safety Michael Lewis on a right-to-left post pattern at 4:48 for a 10-7 Bengals lead.

Then that ol' bugaboo — the opponent scoring inside 2:00 — struck for the 10th time in 14 games.

This time, Hill fired a 17-yard laser over the middle to tight end Vernon Davis with 0:09 on the clock. Hill's pass was perfectly thrown between linebacker Landon Johnson and strong safety Dexter Jackson over the middle, giving the 49ers a 14-10 halftime lead.

After Joe Nedney's 29-yard field goal push San Francisco's lead to 17-10 and the Bengals went three-and-out, the 49ers were content to play ball control. They kept feeding Gore, and he kept churning, reaching the 100-yard rushing mark in the third quarter.

He put the 49ers in position for Nedney's 38-yard field goal at 0:54 of the third quarter for a 20-10 lead. The drive was helped along by Jackson, who was flagged for a 15-yard unsportsmanlike penalty after head-butting a 49er.

One of the game's finest plays was Palmer's 25-yard completion to Chad Johnson down the right sideline. Cornerback Nate Clements jumped the route and leaped, but the ball sailed over his outstretched arms and into Johnson's hands. The play set up Graham's 35-yard field goal with 11:18 to go to pull Cincinnati within 20-13.

Jackson and defensive tackle Domata Peko shared a sack, and defensive end Robert Geathers added a sack to push his team-high total to 3.5.

Stacy Andrews and Corey Mays started in place of right offensive tackle Willie Anderson and strong-side linebacker Rashad Jeanty, respectively, who were deactivated with knee injuries.

The other inactives were wide receiver Marcus Maxwell, cornerback David Jones, center Dan Santucci, tight end Nate Lawrie and defensive end Frostee Rucker.

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2253 or cludwig@DaytonDailyNews.com

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Next game

What: Browns (8-5) at Bengals (5-9), 1 p.m. next Sunday

Radio: WTUE-FM (104.7)

TV: WHIO (CBS, Channel 7)