Young Tries to Show 49ers There’s Life After Montana : NFL: Quarterback’s rushing and passing statistics are impressive, but team is 1-2, and plays the Rams Sunday.

The 49ers are in a one-win situation and Steve Young is in a no-win situation.

San Francisco lost to the Giants (16-14) and the Vikings (17-14) and the Bay Area media have already declared the glory years officially over. One columnist says the 49er mystique has been reduced to “a variation on a theme of the New England Patriots.”

Never mind both losses were road games. Never mind one opponent was defending Super Bowl champion and the other was loaded with talent. Never mind they lost by a total of five points.

It’s history, 49er fans. You might as well root for the Chargers.

Young is doing everything he can to deflect blame, except come up with the required last-second heroics. Is the shadow of Joe Montana hanging over him? The guy needs a flashlight to walk down the street at noon.

After last Sunday’s loss at Minnesota, it was noted in the San Francisco Examiner that a Young pass hit Jerry Rice right in the numbers for a 19-yard completion, “but a perfect pass in stride” would have allowed Rice to escape tackler Carl Lee and go all the way for a touchdown.

Never mind that Young’s average gain per pass (9.24) is the best in the NFL. Never mind that his quarterback rating (110.2), completion percentage (67.1%) and touchdown passes (six) are second only to Buffalo’s Jim Kelly. Never mind that his 758 yards passing are almost 150 more than anyone else in the NFC. And never mind that he’s the 49ers’ second-leading rusher with 110 yards.

Young will tell you the only statistics that matter for a quarterback are victories and losses. Clearly, he’s playing in a city that embraces the same philosophy. It’s also a city that will forever compare his exploits to the incomparable Montana.

So now Young prepares to start at quarterback for the 49ers against the Rams Sunday and it’s “just another day.”

“In the NFL, you have to do your job,” he said. “I’ve taken it very seriously for a lot of years, whether it was a quarter, a half, a game, two games, whatever it was.

“This is just another one of those scenarios where I’ve got an opportunity to play and I’ve just got to play well.”

There’s no arguing that he’s done that so far, but it hasn’t been enough. And despite Young’s another-day-at-the-office approach and attempts to slough off the comparisons to Montana, the pressure is beginning to show.

Usually one of the most accessible of professional athletes--he once picked up a sportswriter at the airport for an interview--Young sounded a little testy this week.

What do the 49ers need to do to regain their winning ways?

“Obviously, just score some more points,” Young said.

OK.

And Montana, who’s rehabilitating his right elbow and is scheduled to be ready to return for the 49ers’ game Oct. 13 at Atlanta, isn’t making matters any easier for Young.

“Steve is on a big push for himself,” Montana told The (Santa Rosa) Press Democrat. “Any time you have a competition, there is always that certain amount of animosity toward each other. I can say we have only a working relationship. That’s all it is.

“He’s on my team, but as far as I’m concerned, he’s part of the opposition. He wants what I have and I have to approach it that way.”

Young seems as much surprised as hurt by Montana’s remarks.

“Well, (our relationship) has always been competitive and that’s probably good. But to me, it’s much better than that.”

Gee, one big happy family.

In the middle, of course, is Coach George Seifert, who has something to fret about for a change. After all, he’s already experienced a whole season’s worth of defeats. He was 32-5 in his first two years as head coach.

And now, while trying to find out what ails his team, he has had to learn to tap dance, too: “I don’t want to downplay, obviously, what Joe has meant to this team over the years. I mean, we’ve had many, many wins because of the man’s abilities. At the same time, I feel fortunate we have somebody of Steve’s caliber that we believe we can win with.

“And, you know, we’re not playing in some areas maybe as efficiently or as well as we did when Joe was here, but it has nothing to do with quarterbacking as such. I mean, I think we’ve certainly missed Joe, but at the same time we feel good at least we have Steve.”

There are those who dare to point out that Young’s considerable talent as a ballcarrier actually adds to the 49ers’ already potent attack, but Ram defensive coordinator Jeff Fisher says there’s very little difference in preparing for the 49ers whether Montana or Young is at the wheel.

“You have to remember,” Fisher says, “that Joe is awfully mobile, too. The difference is Joe likes to roll right and Young (a left-hander) likes to roll left. You still have to concern yourself with containing them.

“Joe will scramble around and throw down the field. Steve’s more likely to pull it down and run for the first down.”

Young, however, is far less likely to take on linebackers than he was when he played for the L.A. Express or Tampa Bay, four seasons in which the 6-foot-2, 200-pounder rolled up 1,541 yards rushing.

“We want to get the ball into the hands of the really talented people on this team,” Young said. “I think I’m much better at getting the ball out to people now. I don’t want to have the ball at the end of the play.”

Seifert isn’t about to tell him not to scramble for the first down when the opportunity presents itself, though. Young is an accomplished--and at times surprisingly powerful--runner.

“It’s part of Steve’s play and I think you’ve got to be careful as a coach not to discourage it,” Seifert said. “And yet you don’t want it to be to a point where it’s reckless, where the player puts himself in jeopardy. It’s an extremely fine line.”

And it’s only a fine line that separates the Montana-led 49ers and the Young-led 49ers, Fisher insists. If the right one don’t get ya, then the left one will.

“Either way, I mean, they’re averaging more than 350 yards a game,” Fisher said. “Steve’s making good decisions, he’s executing and throwing well. Six touchdown passes in three games? There’s no drop-off there.”

Of course no one expected much of a drop-off and maybe that’s simply asking too much. It’s never easy replacing a legend and it’s especially not easy if you make your debut in the Super Bowl champions’ home park.

Young felt his way through a 12-for-22, 162-yard, one-touchdown, one interception performance in the opener. After that game, it was suggested the anticipated Montana-Young controversy had deteriorated into a Young-Steve Bono controversy.

“It’s an open forum,” Young said. “It’s American to have an opinion like that. I have an internal way of knowing how I’m playing. I can see the improvement, that I’m doing things better than I used to, and I think there’s tremendous satisfaction in seeing that.

“The fans have high expectations. We have high expectations. And we aim to deliver.”

Even Montana has to admit Young has played admirably, and he went so far as to say he expects to be Young’s backup when he first returns. It’s tough to keep a healthy living legend on the bench, but how do you justify yanking one of the league’s most efficient and productive passers?

Seifert knows he will be facing a tough decision next month.

“I think we address that when Joe comes back,” Seifert said. “Right now, Steve is the quarterback and I think everybody on the team accepts that fact. It’s unfortunate what’s happened to Joe, but it’s a fact.”

Meanwhile, be sure to tune in the Rams-49ers game Sunday afternoon and keep your eye on Steve Young. He’ll be the one running around in the shadow.