49ers Hold Tight; Bills Slip Away : Montana Too Much for Vikings

Some of the NFL’s best players were on the other side of the scrimmage line. But they might as well have been high school students.

By the time they caught up with the San Francisco 49ers’ fast-moving, fast-throwing veteran quarterback, Joe Montana, the ball was in flight.

And before halftime Sunday, Montana had thrown four touchdown passes on his way to a 41-13 rout of the Minnesota Vikings before a record 64,585 on a cool, calm day at Candlestick Park.

“We were never in the ballgame,” Minnesota Viking Coach Jerry Burns said.

His starting quarterback, Wade Wilson, said, “They pretty much dominated us.”

San Francisco tackle Bubba Paris, noting that Montana was not sacked by a team with two Pro Bowl players--Keith Millard and Chris Doleman--in the pass rush, said: “This is one of the most satisfying wins we’ve had in a long time, especially for the offensive line.”

In knocking Minnesota out of the playoffs for the second consecutive year, the 49ers won for the 15th time in 17 starts since September and advanced to next Sunday’s NFC championship game here. They will play either the Rams or New York Giants, who play today.

The Vikings came to town with a defense that was ranked No. 1 through all 16 weeks of the regular season. And it wasn’t nearly enough.

The strength of the Minnesota defense is a four-man rush that can’t bother quarterbacks who consistently throw the ball in two or three seconds--as Montana did repeatedly--to swift receivers running short crossing patterns. Their ability to play the game on the run separates the 49ers from the rest of the league.

Earlier in the day, with a more conventional offense, the Cleveland Browns won by throwing to good receivers who were usually stationary at the catch, or sometimes coming back toward the passer. Most NFL teams play the game that way.

In the 49er offense, by contrast, everybody runs--Montana and all his receivers.

Montana can throw with more accuracy while running than any other passer. And the San Francisco offense keeps his receivers on the run as the ball comes in. Then off they go.

Playing offensive football on the move gives 49er receivers two advantages. It keeps them a step or two ahead of the defense. And it enables them to gain yardage quickly after the catch.

Montana, 33, who completed 17 of 24 passes for 241 yards, won it with unexpected ease on a day when the Vikings were ready to play--or so everybody from Minneapolis said.

Montana ended all resistance before halftime with two scoring passes to flanker Jerry Rice and others to split end John Taylor and tight end Brent Jones on plays of 72, eight, eight and 13 yards.

The long one was a four-yard pass to Rice followed by a 68-yard broken field run.

Halfback Roger Craig gained 95 of his 125 yards before halftime as the 49ers drove 72, 74, 21 and 51 yards to their first-half points.

Leading at halftime, 27-3, they added two touchdowns in the fourth quarter after intercepted passes. Their defensive leader, free safety Ronnie Lott, scored with his interception, going 68 yards.

Playing what seemed to like exhibition-season football, Minnesota’s coach, Burns, used all three of his quarterbacks. Starter Wilson, yanked after the first half, was succeeded in the third quarter by Tommy Kramer--who threw the interception to Lott--and in the fourth by Rich Gannon.

Gannon first threw the interception that led to San Francisco’s final points, then led the Vikings to their only touchdown.

As usual, the Vikings were playing an old-fashioned, downfield passing game that contrasted strikingly with the 49er offense. For one thing, Minnesota’s long passes made it simple for the 49ers to double-cover the Vikings’ two wide receivers, Anthony Carter and Hassan Jones, who as a pair rank close to San Francisco’s Rice and Taylor.

Burns also benched halfback Herschel Walker for much of the second half while the Vikings were playing catch-up.

As the game began, the Vikings had come out doing many of the right things with Wilson and Walker driving 70 yards with their first possession. But, closing in on the 49er goal line, they turned conservative.

Moreover, they got three points at the end of a 7 1/2-minute drive.

But in the next 23 seconds, on Montana’s next pass, they fell behind, and stayed behind.

The Vikings finished the regular season at 10-6 and won the NFC Central Division title for the first time since 1980. They were preseason Super Bowl favorites for some, and speculation was that Burns would be fired if Minnesota did not reach the game.

Burns said after the Cincinnati game (in which Minnesota won the division title) that it was “the biggest game I’ve ever won in 38 years of coaching” because “heads might have rolled” had the Vikings lost.

General Manager Mike Lynn ended that speculation after the game Saturday, saying that Burns would return as head coach in 1990 for his fifth season.