Montana’s Actions Do the Speaking

Believe it or not, it hasn’t been easy being Joe Montana this season.

OK, so he’s got two Super Bowl MVP trophies on his mantel and he’s got a beautiful model/actress/wife in Jennifer Wallace. And OK, he does have blue eyes and a cleft in his chin and can hand-pick his commercials just like Bob Hope.

But beneath all that glitter, let’s face it, this has been a rotten year for Super Bowl Joe, quarterback of the San Francisco 49ers.

His team, 3-4 entering Sunday’s game against the Rams, was falling as fast as his efficiency rating.

The media came down too hard on him, he thought.

Some were blaming losses on the birth of Joe’s baby daughter, who had the gall to be born in the middle of the season.

Distractions, distractions.

When would it all end?

As the Rams found out, it was Sunday. Montana savored the moment by possibly taking the longest post-game shower of his career. Take that, deadline writers!

He had just finished doing a slice-and-dice on the Rams, passing for 306 yards and 3 touchdowns in the 49ers’ 28-14 Welcome-Back-To-The-League-Win at Anaheim Stadium.

This was a game to silence the critics, though Montana didn’t give them much of a chance. He lingered in the showers, made a brief appearance for the cameras and then was escorted out by a burly 49er official.

The best of Joe Montana: “The big key for moving the ball today was the play of our offensive line. They were able to control the line of scrimmage from start to finish.”

Super Joe was more inclined to let his stats do the talking. And talk they did.

Montana proved that he can still play the game when he puts his mind to it.

He completed 22 of 30 passes and might have had better stats with a little luck. He had three passes dropped, including a long pass that was beautifully placed in the hands of rookie wide receiver Jerry Rice.

“You can not throw a better long pass than that,” 49er quarterback coach Paul Hackett said.

But, fortunately for the 49ers, there were enough beautiful passes that were caught.

Take Montana’s nine-yard touchdown pass to Wendall Tyler in the first quarter, for instance.

If Montana doesn’t make a perfect pass, Rams’ safety Johnnie Johnson knocks it down.

Tyler said the play was an ad-lib.

“It was a school-yard play,” he said. “I was supposed to turn the play in, but it was like the Harbor Freeway at 5 o’clock. So I kind of hid on the rail, pushed to the corner and made the catch. Joe made a beautiful pass.”

The one Montana made to Roger Craig late in the second quarter wasn’t bad either. It was a 35-yarder that gave the 49ers a commanding 28-0 lead.

The Rams’ Johnson was draped all over Craig on the right sideline, but Montana somehow got the ball to Craig.

“Joe just threw it under the guy’s (Johnson’s) armpit,” Hackett said. “The key was that we were able to take away the line of scrimmage. We did a good job and that gives Joe time to see the field. This was as fine a performance as he’s had this season.”

Keeping the Rams off Montana was probably the key to the game. He was sacked just twice and usually had plenty of time to throw.

But it’ll be Montana who’ll make the headlines today, not any of the linemen. It all comes with being the quarterback.

“We tend to give Joe too much of the credit and too much of the blame,” said Matt Cavanaugh, the 49ers’ reserve quarterback. “Today, it was all working. And when things are working, Joe’s usually the highlight.”