49ers Stay Reserved After Using Chargers to Fuel Playoff Drive

SAN DIEGO —  San Francisco 49ers Coach Bill Walsh walked briskly through a clutter of reporters and took his post in front of the microphone in a businesslike manner after his team’s 48-10 clubbing of the Chargers. He didn’t laugh. He didn’t even smile.

Hadn’t the 49ers won by their most lopsided margin of the season?

Hadn’t the passing game shown glimpses of the Super Bowl years, when Joe Montana threw a 96-yard touchdown pass to Jerry Rice, the longest in 49ers’ history?

And hadn’t Denver defeated the Rams to put the 49ers in second place in the NFC West?

Put a check next to all of the above. So why not a bit of levity, coach?

“The last thing I want to do is talk with a lot of bravado about anything,” Walsh said. “We’re in a desperate situation. We have to win each week.”

Indeed, things have been somewhat uncertain for the 49ers this season. They appeared to be skipping along smartly 4 weeks ago, after a 24-21 victory over Minnesota. But after tripping over Phoenix and stumbling against the Raiders, the playoff hopes seemed to be fading.

But Sunday, the 49ers’ wheels were back in motion. Particularly the ones belonging to Montana and Rice.

Montana completed 14 of 22 passes for 271 yards and 3 touchdowns to lead the 49ers to their second consecutive victory. In Monday night’s victory over Washington, Montana was 15 of 23 for 218 yards and 2 touchdowns.

Montana was replaced by Steve Young with 2:06 remaining in the third quarter. For a change, Young came in because the 49ers were comfortably ahead and not because Montana, or his passes, were hurting.

“Did you see the smiles on Joe Montana’s face?” asked Roger Craig, with a smile of his own. “That’s the way it should be all the time.”

Montana did his share of postgame smiling. But his comments sounded a lot like Walsh’s. This game, he said, is just a start. The playoffs are 3 games away.

“We can’t afford to look too far into the future,” he said. “Everything is kind of up to us. It’s just the time where we have to put things together.”

Things looked in place Sunday. Rice finished with 6 catches for 171 yards and 2 touchdowns. His 96-yard score broke Steve DeBerg and Freddie Solomon’s club record of 93 yards set in 1980.

And Rice’s 41-yard touchdown catch in the third quarter gave the 49ers a 31-7 lead and doused the Chargers’ hopes for good.

Montana might not be as mobile as he once was, but lately he is making up for it by improvising.

On third-and-1 from the Charger 2, Montana rolled right, nearly fell to his knees under heavy pressure and flipped the ball underhanded to Craig, who carried it in for a touchdown. Craig was surprised Montana got the pass off at all.

“I was looking to block and he just shoved it down my throat,” Craig said. “He just got it to me the best way he could.”

Maybe that will be the 49ers’ theme during the final 3 games of the regular season. Get to the playoffs the best way you can.

The next roadblock is the Atlanta Falcons, who beat the 49ers, 34-17, at Candlestick Park in their first meeting this season.

“(Sunday’s game) showed good momentum,” Walsh said, “but it certainly wasn’t an artistic job.”