NFL Recap (NY Giants-San Francisco)
Posted: Tues December 1, 1998 at 2:13 a.m EST
SAN FRANCISCO 31, NY GIANTS 7
SAN FRANCISCO (Ticker) -- Garrison Hearst ran for
166 yards and a touchdown and Steve Young threw for two
scores as the San Francisco
49ers put on an offensive clinic en route to a key 31-7 victory over
the anemic New York
Giants.
San Francisco (9-3) piled up 467 yards of offense, 300 in the first
half, when it led just 14-7. The 49ers improved their playoff position,
all but eliminated the Giants from postseason contention and got back
within a game of the Atlanta Falcons for the
NFC West lead.
The win was overshadowed by the loss of standout defensive tackle Bryant Young, who suffered
a fractured tibia and fibula of the right leg with seven minutes left.
Young was removed from the field on a stretcher with the leg immobilized.
"He is one of our great players," said San Francisco coach Steve
Mariucci. "One of the leaders, one of our class acts. Someone is going to
have to pick up the slack and not just on the field."
"He's the rock and my heart goes out to him," said Steve Young. "It
puts the onus on everybody to play harder."
The 49ers have won a club-record 15 consecutive regular-season home
games and 12 of their last 14 overall on Monday night. Mariucci, in his
second year, is 14-0 at home in the regular season, surpassing former Oakland Raiders coach
John Madden for the best home start by an NFL coach.
Hearst boosted his season rushing total to a career-high 1,105 as he
posted his second straight 1,000-yard season as a Niner. He capped his
third 100-yard game of the season with a 70-yard touchdown run with 3:09 to
play.
"We needed to try to get two first downs," said Hearst. "That play
came open and I was able to get upfield. We knew we needed to come out and
run the ball. Our offensive line came out and took charge and they gave us
some room to run."
The Giants (4-8) scored on their first possesion of the game but were
unable to muster any offense thereafter. Kent Graham, again
starting for Danny
Kanell, was erratic throughout as he completed 21-of-40 passes for 237
yards and an interception.
"I feel like I'm progressing from week-to-week," said Graham. "What I
can take away from this game is that we were able to move the ball down the
field, but we weren't able to finish the drives the way we would like."
New York trailed by just seven points at the half but failed to score
over the final 54 minutes. The Giants also missed a pair of makeable field
goals and were inept in the red zone.
"I'm obviously disappointed in the end result," said Giants coach Jim
Fassel. "Look at the final score. I thought we played better than that.
These guys played hard. I don't have any qualms about that, but we gave up
some big plays."
The 49ers have won four straight and seven of their last eight against
the Giants. San Francisco leads the all-time series, 12-11, but the
long-time NFC rivals have split six playoff meetings.
The Giants, who have limited big-play capability, used a 48-yard pass
from Graham to Ike
Hilliard to set up an 11-yard scoring run by Gary Brown with 9:21 left
in the opening quarter. Hilliard, in his second year, had a big night with
six catches for 141 yards.
"We were able to hit on a deep pass early and it's not as if we got
away from it altogether," said Hilliard. "Sometimes circumstances dictate
that the offense must try other things. We were able to run the ball well
much of the time tonight."
Steve Young knotted the contest just under seven minutes later when he
threw a short out to Terrell Owens, who broke
it up the left sideline 79 yards for the tying score. Owens finished with
five receptions for a career-high 140 yards.
"With the versatility we have this year, if Steve distributes the ball
like he did tonight, I think we are unstoppable," said Owens. "We're
getting in a rhythm right now. We came in and proved ourselves this week
and we just have to keep it up."
Jerry Rice had
three catches for 25 yards after spending most of the week defending his
comments regarding the lack of attention he's been getting on offense.
Young did throw 10 passes Rice's way during the course of the game.
"I feel I've been around for 14 years, why can't I have my own
opinion?," Rice asked. "It just got blown out of context. When I said, 'I
feel if you're not having a good time, maybe it's time to move on', I just
meant that if I'm not having a good time, maybe someone up there is trying
to tell me something.
"I wasn't trying to do anything to hurt the team or to motivate them,"
he added. "I'm not saying it's coming to an end. From now on, I'm just
going to smile and enjoy myself."
The 49ers then took their first lead of the game when Young found
little-used tight end Irv
Smith with a one-yard touchdown pass. Utilizing the two-minute offense
to perfection, Young moved the team 90 yards in 13 plays.
A costly penalty on Giants rookie Shaun Williams on a punt
return led to the 49ers' third touchdown. After rookie R.W. McQuarters brought
back a punt 26 yards, Williams was whistled for a 15-yard unnecessary
roughness penalty. Five plays later, little-used backup Terry Kirby
carried a host of tacklers in from the 7.
Wade Richey, who earlier missed a pair of field goals, converted a
39-yard attempt just under five minutes into the fourth quarter to extend
the 49ers' lead to 24-7.
McQuarters had a huge game defensively for the 49ers, recording eight
unassisted tackles from his right cornerback position.
© 1998 Sportsticker Enterprises, LP
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