Fear Has Settled in on 49ers

Suddenly, something new fills the air above Nob Hill and Fisherman’s Wharf. Suddenly, fog is out and doubt is in, the mighty 49er dynasty cast adrift like the runaway Fuji blimp that threatened to turn Ram Sunday into Black Sunday.

“When we lose one, it’s like a death in the family,” says San Francisco tight end Jamie Williams. “We kinda take it hard.”

So does the city. On most days, it prefers its proper designation, The City, but during this week of civic mourning, in lieu of black arm bands, all letters are at half-mast.

The city has been shaken and this time, not by Mother Nature. The city has seen the Falling of the Forty-Niners, for the first time in a full year, but worse than that, the team failed to go down nobly, as the local gentry would have imagined it.

There was no Joe Montana gallantly firing away until time ran out.

There was no Ronnie Lott lunging after his man in the end zone, gripping a pulled hamstring as the winning pass eluded him by inches.

There was no comeback, no overtime, no one-point loss to an opponent deemed worthy of the feat, such as Sir Phil Simms and the esteemed New York Giants.

No, this loss was as ugly as the quagmire that passed for the field at Candlestick Park. This loss was about Captain Montana throwing three interceptions; about 49er ballcarriers fumbling three times; about Lott getting beat for a pivotal 53-yard completion; about the Red & Gold defense surrendering a 95-yard scoring drive in the mud and the rain late in the fourth quarter--a total system shut down in the clutch.

Moreover, this was a loss to the riffraff and the rabble, to the black sheep of the division, to the louts from down south--the Rams, owners of a pregame record of 3-7 and the kind of defense Montana usually dunks into his morning coffee.

Deep-fried and glazed, with a hole in the middle.

Against this defense, which would rank last in a league without the Detroit Lions, the 49ers committed six turnovers, converted three of 10 third-down attempts, scored two touchdowns and were held to 291 yards--nearly 90 shy of their weekly average.

Not quite sure how to react--the Niners hadn’t lost since Nov. 19, 1989--the city has overreacted. Sunday morning, it was God, country and 49er football. By Monday morning, it was Faith No More.

Some postgame headlines:

Why Can’t They Run?

49ers’ Ground Game Worries Seifert

Secondary Isn’t Too Impressive, Either

The sure sign of panic in San Francisco: When they start second-guessing Montana. Tuesday, one newspaper printed its weekly 49er report card and graded Montana out at D-, wondering why St. Joe didn’t scramble when “he could have run for a two-yard TD in the third quarter but (instead) threw incomplete and the 49ers didn’t score.”

Next, an appointment awaits with the team they call the Giants, which, this year, is both a nickname and a description. It will be 10-1 vs. 10-1 in front of the Monday Night Football cameras.

The 49ers keep saying they aren’t worried, but why do we keep hearing nervous talk?

Offensive lineman Harris Barton says, forebodingly, “The Giants play better defense than the Rams, I can tell you that right now.”

Coach George Seifert labels the week ahead, the limbo between defeat and the Giant struggle, as “kind of a glum situation.” He warns, too, of pressure. “You don’t want to be the team that winds up with two losses in a row.”

The concern is justified. Say this for the Rams: They’ve finally found their purpose in life. They’re not going to the playoffs and they’re not going to get the No. 1 draft choice, but they have served as a valuable barometer in trying to gauge the weather next Monday night.

Rams 28, 49ers 17.

Giants 31, Rams 7.

Those are the clues as to what’s in store--and good clues they are. The Giants should beat the 49ers for the same reason the Rams split their games with the NFL’s elite. It involves moving the football on the ground and only one of the teams involved can do it with power, consistency and precision.

They might be Giants.

New York’s rushing offense has the big (Ottis Anderson) and the short (Dave Meggett) of it, plus a mid-sized rookie (Rodney Hampton) who’s a threat inside and out. Against the Rams, three running backs scored for the Giants.

With San Francisco, the problem is Montana. The 49ers now depend so heavily on their quarterback that their running game is a victim of neglect. After 11 games, San Francisco ranks dead-last in average gain per rushing attempt (3.3) and 24th in average rushing yards per game (88.6). Against the Rams, the 49ers netted 66 yards on the ground--44 in 13 carries by Roger Craig, with Montana outgaining his fullback, Tom Rathman, 15 yards to seven.

Do the 49ers have enough ground force to overtake another Super Bowl? “I don’t know,” Seifert says. “I think it’s a good question.” It wasn’t raised before because 10-0 teams tote few questions. “You win ballgames,” Seifert says, “and you may have a tendency to overlook some things.”

In San Francisco, they’re not overlooking anymore. In San Francisco, the two-time defending Super Bowl champion 49ers have lost to the Rams.

Once that happens, you begin to fear that anything is possible.