49ers’ Defense Puts Clamps on Seahawks

When the best play your quarterback makes all night is a tackle, it’s just about time to pack your football away with your other toys and forget about the Super Bowl for another year.

Seattle quarterback Dave Krieg saved a touchdown with a tackle of 49er safety Carlton Williamson in the longest chase scene shot here since “Dirty Harry.”

But he couldn’t save himself or the Seahawks, a preseason Super Bowl favorite that became just another .500 team when beaten by the 49ers, 19-6, in a game that kept San Francisco’s own playoff hopes alive.

While Seattle fell to 6-6 in the AFC West, two games behind the Raiders and Denver Broncos and with games to play against each, the 49ers went to 7-5 in the NFC West, two games behind the Rams with four to play.

Williamson had intercepted a pass at the 49er 12 and returned it 82 yards to the six before being caught from behind by the man who threw it, Krieg.

“I was aware of the quarterback,” Williamson said. “It’s just my legs got a little heavy and I didn’t have the strength to elude him. And I think he thought it was a play he had to make.”

It’s about the only play Krieg could take credit for making. Passing was out of the question. He completed just 2 of 15 throws in the first half, and was sacked four times, the last by 49er linebacker Todd Shell, who knocked Krieg out of the game with a bruised shoulder in the fourth quarter.

The Seahawk offense didn’t score while Krieg was in the game. It didn’t score with Gale Gilbert, the rookie free agent from Cal, in there, either. The only points Seattle got came from its special team, when Sam Merriman blocked a punt and fell on it in the end zone.

“Really bad,” Krieg said after what he called the worst half of his life. “I can’t even think of anything to compare it with.”

Someone mentioned that 49er Coach Bill Walsh said the San Francisco pass rush may have been responsible for his problems.

“That was very generous of him,” Krieg said. “It was just a bad performance from the quarterback position.”

The 49er quarterback, Joe Montana, has had better games himself, throwing three interceptions in the first half. But eventually, he got the 49ers moving with touchdown passes to Freddie Solomon and Dwight Clark, with Clark becoming the 49ers’ all-time leading receiver with a leaping catch of a 22-yard toss in the fourth quarter. It was the 408th catch of Clark’s career, one more than Billy Wilson, a star of the ‘50s.

But Walsh said this game belonged to his defense, which has allowed just three points in its last eight quarters.

“The defense was at its best,” Walsh said, “and defense will win it if we’re going to get back in this thing.”

The 49ers appear unlikely to catch the Rams, with whom they have one game left, to win the division. And to gain a wild-card spot, they are faced with beating the Redskins, whom they play next, and the Cowboys.

“This is the first time we jumped all over somebody this season,” 49er guard Randy Cross said.

For a repeat trip to the Super Bowl, it can’t be the last.

“There’s still an awful lot to be done,” tight end Russ Francis said. “We all realize that. It’s do-or-die again in Washington next week.”

The Seahawks probably ran out of deaths Monday night as they kept shooting themselves in the foot, accumulating more yards in penalties (13 for 93) than they did rushing (75).

Krieg’s alma mater, tiny Milton (Wis.) College, went out of business not long after he left.

Monday night, Krieg had the kind of first half that could shut down a pro football franchise.

He completed three passes in the half, two to his own receivers, one to Williamson.

Krieg completed one pass to his favorite receiver, Steve Largent, but that one was nullified when Largent was called for pushing off. Six minutes into the third quarter, he finally connected with Largent for a 21-yard gain, extending to 119 the number of consecutive games in which Largent has caught at least one.

Krieg’s overthrows were outnumbered only by the passes he threw on the bounce. He fixed Curt Warner with a long stare when Warner failed to catch a little swing pass in the flat. By that time, most Seahawks were averting their eyes.

Krieg’s half ended fittingly: While running for his life from 49er end Fred Dean, Krieg was called for intentional grounding, which moved the Seahawks back to their six.

That was the third straight drive in which Seattle had gone backward, once for a safety, when Warner was tackled in the end zone by 49er end John Harty. The 49ers almost had another safety when Dwaine Board tackled Krieg on the one, one of two sacks recorded by San Francisco in the first half.

The Seahawks still managed a field goal, Norm Johnson connecting from 44 yards away, but those points were taken down to accept a penalty on Tory Nixon of the 49ers who ran into Johnson.

Seattle, mistaking Nixon’s misdemeanor as good fortune, took the penalty and a first down at the 49er 21. Three plays later, they were back on the 30, and this time Johnson, kicking from the 49, was way short.

Only one thing kept Krieg’s embarrassment from being complete: 49er quarterback Montana wasn’t much sharper himself.

After throwing just one interception in his last 225 attempts, spanning six games, Montana threw three in the first half Monday night, two on successive attempts. Seattle cornerback Dave Brown picked off the first one, at the 49er 37. The second came right after Williamson’s long sprint, when Montana attempted to hit tight end Russ Francis in the end zone. But by the time Francis turned around, the ball was in the hands of Seattle safety John Harris.

Montana’s first-quarter statistics: Seven attempts, 1 completion, 2 interceptions, 4 yards.

But in the second quarter, Montana finally got the 49ers moving. He threw for a 33-yard gain to running back Roger Craig, who had broken free from linebacker Greg Gaines. On the next play, Montana connected with Solomon for a 27-yard touchdown play with 12:25 left in the half.

The 49ers threatened again after a 28-yard pass play to rookie Jerry Rice, in which Craig appeared to set an illegal pick. That, along with a face mask penalty on the same play, put the ball on the Seattle 20, but cornerback Terry Taylor outleaped Mike Wilson for Seattle’s third interception.