NFL PLAYOFFS : NFC Semifinals : It Figures to Be the 49ers’ Game

Don’t let anyone tell you the San Francisco 49ers weren’t concerned about the National Football League playoffs this week.

Until Thursday, in fact, there was some doubt whether the players would be able to keep their bonuses guaranteed by owner Edward DeBartolo Jr. for winning the NFC’s Western Division title.

You talk about pressure. Lest you forget, Ram cornerback LeRoy Irvin, after a recent 48-0 drubbing by the 49ers, called bonus money “the great motivator” as he finished polishing the handles of his new ice bucket, a Christmas gift from his club’s owner, Georgia Frontiere.

Irvin’s financial record and report makes the following correlation:

--San Francisco’s 13-2 record equals a $10,000 bonus.

--The Rams’ 6-9 record equals one bad team on the rocks.

Well, the 49ers heaved a sigh of relief after Commissioner Pete Rozelle’s decision Thursday to fine DeBartolo a cool $50,000 and let the players keep the dough.

So inspired, it’s now time to bring on the Minnesota Vikings.

Yes, there are good reasons for the 49ers to be less concerned with the Vikings in today’s NFC divisional playoff game at Candlestick Park:

--In their last three regular-season games, the 49ers have outscored opponents, 124-7. Should the 49ers fear any team?

--Had it not been for a Dallas win over St. Louis, the Vikings wouldn’t have qualified for the playoffs.

--The 49ers led the NFL in 13 individual or team categories this season.

--The 49ers are 5-0 in playoff games at Candlestick Park.

--The 49ers have Jerry Rice. “Rice can eat people alive,” Viking defensive coordinator Floyd Peters said this week.

--The 49ers will start Joe Montana at quarterback. The Vikings will start Wade Wilson.

“Joe Montana is the best quarterback in football today,” 49er Coach Bill Walsh says flatly. “He’s not continually hyped like (Denver quarterback John) Elway, but his stats are every bit as good, if not better.”

No such quotes could be found concerning Wilson.

--The 49ers had the NFL’s best regular-season record.

--The city loves its 49ers. By contrast, the Vikings, tailback Darrin Nelson said last week, still get hate mail from their fans.

All the numbers favor the 49ers. So do the experts. But the Vikings proved in last week’s 44-10 upset of the New Orleans Saints that they are at least capable of ending great seasons.

New Orleans cab drivers reported that Bourbon Street had never been as quiet as it was last Sunday night.

Minnesota has become a team of so many big-strikes and belly-flops. They leave it up to you to figure out which team shows up at your playoff game.

The confusion begins at quarterback with Wilson and Tommy Kramer, who seem to alternate by the series now. Kramer has a delicate throwing arm, the result of a shoulder nerve injury, but is a veteran and a leader. Wilson has quicker feet and has been more effective off the bench.

So, of course, this week Minnesota Coach Jerry Burns waited until Friday to announce that his best reliever, Wilson, would start against San Francisco.

“In my opinion, this is not as big a deal as you reporters make it out to be,” Burns said Friday in Tucson, where the Vikings have been working all week. “I’ve talked to both quarterbacks and reiterated to them that I’ve got complete confidence in both of them. But I’ve made the decision to start Wade Wilson. If we win, my decision will be justified. If we lose, you will have your opinion.”

The indecision seems to bother everyone but the Vikings.

“The guys don’t get into a decision like that,” Minnesota running back Allen Rice said after last week’s game. “Hey, it’s been like that all year. It’s simple: You run a route and if they throw it to you, you catch it. I think we have a luxury with two quarterbacks.”

The Vikings, remember, were 8-4 during the regular season if you don’t count three strike losses.

With either Kramer or Wilson, the Vikings are certainly unpredictable and potentially explosive, traits that tend to scare opposing coaches, even reputed geniuses of the game.

Also, for what it’s worth, the Vikings defeated the 49ers the last two times the teams met. In 1986, Chuck Nelson’s 28-yard field goal in overtime beat the 49ers in Candlestick, 27-24. The season before, in Minneapolis, it was the Vikings over the 49ers, 28-21.

It seems, too, that Burns has at last decided to turn loose his team’s version of Jerry Rice.

That would be wide receiver Anthony Carter, so convinced he’d been kept on ice too long before last Sunday’s game that he went out and proved it against the Saints.

Carter almost single-leggedly leveled New Orleans with an 84-yard punt return for a touchdown in the second quarter. He added 6 receptions for 79 yards, including a 10-yard touchdown catch.

Carter led the NFL in average yards per catch this year, but had 27 fewer receptions than the great Rice.

But with Carter’s newly expanded role on offense, this could be the wide-receiver matchup of the season.

“I think he should have been the MVP,” Carter said of Rice. “But it’s not going to be a two-man game. It’s going to be a 22-man game.”

The Vikings can only hope to catch the 49ers counting their money.

NFC Notes Starting outside linebacker Jesse Solomon of the Vikings is expected back today after missing last week’s game with a knee strain. Solomon tied safety Joey Browner for the team lead in tackles this season with 121.

Attention Joe Montana: Viking defensive tackle Keith Millard is looking for you. Last week against the Saints, Millard created havoc with New Orleans guard Brad Edelman and the Saints in general. Millard finished with six tackles, one sack and a forced fumble. Millard was also held three times for penalties.

The 49er defense did not allow opposing quarterbacks a 300-yard passing day or runners a 100-yard rushing game all season. . . . The Vikings and 49ers have met only once before in the playoffs, in 1970. Minnesota won that game in Bloomington, Minn., 17-14.