NFL Recap (San Francisco-New Orleans)
Posted: Sun October 11, 1998 at 5:50 p.m. EDT
SAN FRANCISCO 31, NEW ORLEANS 0
NEW ORLEANS (Ticker) -- The San Francisco 49ers are
back to normal. For that matter, so are the Saints.
Steve Young matched
an NFL record with his fifth consecutive 300-yard game and added three
touchdown passes for the fifth straight game as the 49ers (4-1) had a
tougher time overcoming their own mistakes than the New Orleans Saints in a
31-0 laugher.
Young completed 21-of-40 passes for 309 yards, matching the NFL record
set by former teammate Joe Montana in 1982. In the process, he became the
20th quarterback in league history to throw for 30,000 yards when he hooked
up with Terrell Owens
on a 27-yard completion in the second quarter.
"Records are great, but I think it is about performing and keeping
steady throughout the year," said Young. "We have a standard and we want
to keep it. It seems kind of trite, but that is the key and I feel good
about that."
The seemingly ageless Young, who celebrated his 37th birthday today,
had scoring passes to Owens, tight end Greg Clark and running back Garrison Hearst as he
shredded the overmatched Saints defense much like he did his first four
opponents.
"Wasn't it Steve Young's birthday or whatever? He always comes to
play," said 49ers tight end Irv Smith. "I'm sure it's
a good feeling for him to have a win on his birthday. Steve's not just a
quarterback, he is a great quarterback. When you're with someone who
throws the ball like Steve does, it makes your job that much easier."
The defense threw its first shutout since a 23-0 whitewashing at New
Orleans last season and did not allow the Saints (3-2) to surpass 100 total
yards on offense until their final possession. San Francisco hounded
quarterback Danny
Wuerffel all day, recording eight sacks and pressuring him countless
other times. Defensive end Chris Doleman had four
sacks and passed Lawrence Taylor for fifth on the all-time list.
"They beat us all over the place today," said Wuerffel. "I felt
really good coming into the game. I thought we had a good plan. I think
everybody had a good attitude. I really expected to go out and play the
game, but they came in, they played hard, they beat all over us."
Wade Richey contributed three field goals, and the special teams unit
would have added a touchdown had rookie R.W. McQuarters' 56-yard
punt return for a score not been negated by a penalty.
Coach Steve Mariucci made the offer of a day off next week to his
team, something the players jumped on today.
"I walked into the players meeting room the other day, I want to say
it was Wednesday. I asked, 'Does anybody want Monday off?' They were kind
of hesitant. I said, 'You win this game, we get it off.'"
"Kenny Norton looked me right in the eye in the meeting, he said,
'We'll see you on Wednesday.' They had that look in practice all week. I
thought they were wired and real tight. Boy did our defense respond, and
last night we talked about, starting today, to be the best darn defense in
the NFL."
New Orleans has looked more like the team that went 6-10 last season
as opposed to the one which started the season with three victories. About
the only positive for the Saints was setting a league record with their
54th consecutive game with at least one sack.
"I don't know there is much we can say. We weren't very good, I'm not
going to belabor the point," said Saints coach Mike Ditka. "We just got
beat just about everywhere you could get beat by a better football team
today. Does it make me feel good? No. Does it make those guys in that
room feel good? No. We just did a lot of bad things out there
offensively, defensively and even on special teams."
The Saints have been outscored, 87-7 in their last three games against
San Francisco, which leads the all-time series, 41-15-2. The Niners have
won 12 of their last 14 games against New Orleans.
After a three-and-out to start the game by New Orleans, Young guided
the 49ers on an 82-yard drive. He had a 35-yard strike to Rice and added
an 18-yard run that set up a one-yard scoring toss to Clark, who was open
in the back of the end zone.
The Saints failed to get another first down on possession No.2, and
McQuarters had a 26-yard punt return to give the 49ers the ball at the New
Orleans 49. But New Orleans held tough, getting the ball back when
defensive linemen Joe
Johnson and La'Roi
Glover stuffed Hearst on a 4th-and-1 from the New Orleans 5.
Yet another three-and-out gave San Francisco the ball back, but not
before McQuarters' return was wiped out on a penalty by wide receiver Iheanyi Uwaezuoke. The
Niners marched 41 yards on 11 plays before Richey booted a 42-yard field
goal, his longest of the season to that point.
New Orleans finally got a first down when Wuerffel hooked up with Keith Poole on a 13-yard
pass. But the Saints were forced to punt three plays later. San Francisco
came up empty this time as Richey shanked a 45-yard field goal wide left.
While the Saints were misfiring, Young was picking apart the defense.
Another scoring drive, this one an eight-play, 79-yarder, was culminated by
a Richey field goal with 1:50 left in the first half. This drive was aided
by a 19-yard pass interference penalty on former 49er Tyronne Drakeford, which
was compounded by a 15-yard unsportsmanlike penalty on safety Chad Cota.
Any chance the Saints had to get back in the game were snuffed by
defensive end Roy
Barker, who intercepted a pass by Wuerffel. at the New Orleans 18. Six
plays later, Young saw Owens with a large cushion on the right side and
fired a quick out that resulted in a touchdown to make it 21-0 with 10
seconds left.
The 49ers then crushed the morale of New Orleans, taking the
second-half kickoff 76 yards in eight plays, capped by a middle screen to
Hearst, who ran untouched into the end zone from 33 yards. A 43-yard field
goal by Richey with 5:04 left in the third quarter completed the scoring.
"The defense was on the field a lot," said Saints linebacker Mark Fields. "I know
there are no excuses. If our offense is not getting it done, then we have
to step up and get it done. We need to make the big play in all phases of
the game, special teams, offense, defense, we didn't get the job done."
Hearst finished with 71 yards rushing on 22 carries and caught another
two passes for 66. Owens had six receptions for 94 yards, while Rice, who
turns 36 Tuesday, had six for 79.
Wuerffel was just 9-of-20 for 95 yards as the Saints totaled 167
yards, 119 in their final two possessions.
© 1998 Sportsticker Enterprises, LP
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