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Woeful offenses on display as Falcons host Niners

Nov 4, 2007 - 11:54 AM San Francisco (2-5) at Atlanta (1-6) Sunday 1:00 pm EDT

ATLANTA (Ticker) - Points could be hard to come by Sunday, when the San Francisco 49ers visit the Atlanta Falcons.

A pair of putrid offenses will be on display at the Georgia Dome as both San Francisco and Atlanta have failed to reach the century mark in points. The only other team not to score 100 points this season is the winless St. Louis Rams.

Having scored just 88 points and averaging 12.6 on the season to rank 31st in the league, the Niners' offensive struggles could be attributed to ineffective play at quarterback and a disappointing campaign from running back Frank Gore.

Alex Smith, who missed two games with a shoulder injury, has just a 68.1 rating. He has thrown for 200 yards just once in four contests this season.

A season after rushing for 1,695 yards and amassing 2,180 total yards, Gore looks like he will come nowhere close to reaching those numbers. He has rushed for 435 yards, failing to reach 100 in any game this season.

Last Sunday, Gore aggravated a right ankle sprain in the second half in a 31-10 home loss to New Orleans.

San Francisco enters with a five-game losing streak.

Things aren't much better for the Falcons, who average just 13.6 points to rank 30th in scoring. They have managed just 39 points during their three-game losing streak.

With Byron Leftwich sidelined with an ankle injury, Joey Harrington will return as the Falcons' starter at quarterback this weekend. Harrington started the first six games this season before Leftwich got the call in a 22-16 loss at New Orleans two weeks ago.

One bright spot for the Falcons, who are coming off their bye, has been the play of Roddy White. The third-year wide receiver already has established career highs in catches (33) and yards (530).