49ers rough up Rams

By Greg Beacham
Associated Press

SAN FRANCISCO — Though Tim Rattay had a smashing debut as an NFL starter, the San Francisco 49ers' defense was even more impressive.

In his first NFL start, Tim Rattay passed for 236 yards and three touchdowns to lead San Francisco to a 30-10 win. Associated Press

Rattay passed for 236 yards and three touchdowns, and Cedrick Wilson returned the opening kickoff 95 yards for a score in the 49ers' 30-10 victory over St. Louis yesterday.

For the third straight game at Candlestick Park, not much went wrong for the 49ers — even with Rattay filling in for Jeff Garcia, a three-time Pro Bowler out with a sprained ankle.

"You dream about throwing well, but you never know," said Rattay, who was 19 of 29. "The main thing is to win. Whether we handed the ball off 50 times or threw the ball, I wanted to win."

San Francisco (4-5) flattened the Rams with five scoring drives in the first 33 minutes, quickly putting away just the Niners' second win in 10 games against their oldest rivals. St. Louis (5-3) saw its four-game winning streak snapped and fell out of first place in the NFC West.

"They took it to us with the offense and the defense," Rams coach Mike Martz said. "I'm upset with a lot of things in that game. ... It's very disturbing."

While San Francisco's defense dominated the first three quarters, Rattay threw TD passes to Terrell Owens, Tai Streets and rookie Brandon Lloyd.

"For the first time out, he probably performed better than any of us thought," coach Dennis Erickson said. "He's a real solid player who doesn't make mistakes. He's been around here a while, and he understands the offense."

Garcia's streak of 61 consecutive starts ended, but the 49ers didn't miss him at all, thanks to Rattay and a defense that seemed to anticipate every important play.

As the 49ers never hesitate to declare, their defense was built specifically to combat the Rams' downfield passing and team speed.

"We're faster than the Rams," 49ers defensive coordinator Jim Mora said. "Our defense didn't used to be faster, and now it is. That might sound cocky, but it's true. ... I mean no disrespect to them. I love playing against those guys, but as a team, we have more team speed now."

St. Louis quarterback Marc Bulger was 26 of 42 for 378 yards, but he also threw two costly interceptions and fumbled. Torry Holt caught 11 passes for 200 yards but the Rams were doomed by a pitifully slow start. Bulger passed for 181 yards in the fourth quarter, after the game was far out of reach.

With Marshall Faulk in uniform, but not playing for the second straight game, St. Louis sputtered on offense while falling behind 30-3 early in the third quarter.

"It's tough when we're down that much early, because we had to get away from our run game," said Bulger, who was sacked five times despite the absence of top San Francisco pass-rusher Andre Carter. St. Louis had eight rushes for 9 yards.

"I'll take the blame," Bulger said. "The quarterback has to put the ball into the end zone, and we didn't do that today."