49ers Get Defensive, Beat Falcons, 13-3, Tie Saints for Lead

The reputation of the San Francisco 49ers has been built on offense, but on this day Joe Montana and Co. took a back-seat to the defense.

The 49ers shut down Atlanta’s rushing game Sunday and moved into a tie for first place in the NFC West with their third straight victory by avenging an earlier defeat to the Falcons with a 13-3 win.

“They can’t beat you if they can’t run the ball and control it, which is what they like to do,” safety Jeff Fuller said. “If they don’t have it, they can’t score.

“We knew they could not beat us passing the ball. We wanted to make them pass.”

Atlanta (5-9) won the first meeting, 34-17, in San Francisco, but the 49ers (9-5) switched to a four-man defensive front and held the Falcons to 43 yards in 21 rushing attempts, well below their average of 138 per game.

That enabled the 49ers to control the ball for 36:49 to Atlanta’s 23:11. San Francisco had the ball for all but 9:52 of the second half.

The Falcons gained only 177 yards, with quarterback Chris Miller completing 13 of 27 passes for 156 yards. He threw an interception and was sacked 3 times.

“We got beat by a darn good football team today,” Atlanta Coach Marion Campbell said. “They did just enough to win it.”

The 49ers didn’t exactly put on an offensive show, but Montana passed for 230 yards and a touchdown, and Roger Craig set a San Francisco record for single-season rushing.

Montana hit Jerry Rice with a 20-yard scoring pass just before halftime to give the 49ers a lead they never relinquished. It was the first touchdown pass against the Falcons in 18 quarters.

Montana completed passes of 10, 18, 9 and 13 yards to set up the scoring toss to Rice in the right corner of the end zone with 1:04 left in the half. Rice had no trouble making the reception after defender Bobby Butler fell down.

Craig rushed for 103 yards to give him 1,336 for the season, breaking the 49er record of 1,262 set by Wendell Tyler in 1984.

“What’s important now is that we win,” he said. “We can run against anybody. We’ve been running like this all year.”

Atlanta’s only score came on Greg Davis’ 21-yard field goal 8 seconds into the final quarter to make it 7-3. It was set up by Gene Lang’s 50-yard run to the San Francisco 15 on a screen pass.

Floyd Dixon’s 10-yard run on a reverse gave Atlanta a first down at the 3, but the defense held, forcing the Falcons to go for the field goal that cut the lead to 7-3.

The 49ers answered that field goal with a 51-yard drive on their next possession, leading to a 31-yard field goal by Mike Cofer to make it 10-3.

Cofer put the game on ice with 1:48 left on a 23-yard field goal.

Gerald Riggs, Atlanta’s all-time rushing leader, was held to 17 yards in 12 carries, and John Settle--attempting to become the first free agent since the merger with the American Football League in 1970 to rush for 1,000 yards--netted only 16 yards in 8 rushes. It leaves Settle with 929 yards with 2 games to play.

The 49ers drove to the Atlanta 6 on their first possession, but Cofer’s 23-yard field goal attempt was blocked by Greg Brown. Cofer also had a 40-yarder hit the upright and bounce away in the third quarter.

Atlanta countered with a surge to the 49ers’ 25 before Davis’ 42-yard field goal attempt was blocked by Steve Wallace.