Everything but a Cape : 49ers’ Young Seems Superhuman When Running

Hold the memorial service. Contrary to published reports, Superman is not dead. He’s just hiding out in San Francisco.

Clark Kent is playing quarterback for the 49ers. The program lists No. 8 as “Steve Young,” but it’s obviously the Man of Steel in disguise. This guy is faster than a speeding bullet and able to leap tall safeties in a single bound.

Just ask the Rams.

The last time they played their rivals to the north, this “Young” guy ran for two fourth-quarter touchdowns--one a 39-yard dash during which he toyed with and then eluded half the Ram defense--as the 49ers rallied to win on a field goal with one second remaining.

“He’s got more moves than Allied Van Lines,” says Ram defensive coordinator George Dyer, a man not prone to hyperbole. “He’s fast and he can juke you.”

Ram Coach Chuck Knox, who is even less prone to hyperbole, said: “He gives them the impromptu and that’s really what the great quarterbacks have done. And he’s not going to slide into second base. He’s going to try and make you miss and head on down the field. He’s a halfback when he runs the ball.”

“What we’ve got to do is just run right through him like he’s a running back and try to take his head off,” says safety Anthony Newman.

Take his head off? They can barely manage to knock the guy down once in a while. And when he’s not dancing through their secondary and bouncing off would-be tacklers, he’s slinging perfect spirals to his teammates.

“He’s the hottest thing in the National Football League,” Dyer said. “He’s a tremendous passer, but the the running gets the attention because he takes it into his own hands and wins football games. He’s a very gifted guy who brings a real added dimension to the position.

“He’s throwing the ball really well, he’s reading coverages really well, and now you put in the fact that he’s a running back. You can’t sacrifice all of your rush trying to contain him, but you just want to keep him from killing you. We tried to keep him in last time and, obviously, he can beat what you devise.”

Young passed for 247 yards and ran for 60 more in the 49ers’ Oct. 4 victory over the Rams, but they aren’t the only team that would like to yank off his jersey and check for an ‘S’ on his chest.

Does he run like O.J. Simpson? Does he throw like Y.A. Tittle? He does have the highest quarterback rating in the league (109.0) and his team is 8-2. And, last week, Mighty Steve Young really did a number on the Saints. He ran for one touchdown and passed for two more--including the game-winner with 46 seconds left.

It’s not just what he’s doing, but how. He’s developing a flair for the dramatic that’s right out of the comic books, and with his penchant for last-minute miracles, he’s making the folks in San Francisco forget Joe Montana and remember Joe Montana all at the same time.

San Francisco Coach George Seifert thought the Saints might be stealing the 49ers’ offensive signals so he instructed Young to call his own plays on the field and run a no-huddle offense in the closing minutes of last week’s game.

This was not something Young anticipated, but superheroes are often at their best when asked to wing it.

“That was fun, having good communication with all the guys and then calling all the plays on the field in reaction to what’s going on,” Young said. “I don’t think it’s something we’re going to use in every game, but it definitely opened things up for us.”

The 49ers overcame a 13-point fourth-quarter deficit, driving 65 and then 74 yards for touchdowns. The final drive began with four minutes remaining. Young completed two consecutive third-down passes to Jerry Rice and ran for eight yards on third and four from the Saints’ 20.

Three plays later, he tossed an eight-yard touchdown pass to tight end Brent Jones.

“I dropped back and was just kind of holding the ball,” Young said nonchalantly after the game. “They really weren’t sure what was coming, then Brent broke off his route and came open.”

The Saints, like the Rams and the rest of the NFL, are never sure what’s coming when Young has the ball in his hands. Young, however, insists that he does not want any play to end with him holding the ball.

He wants to spread the fun around.

“I don’t go into the game at all thinking run,” he said. “When we’re playing really good offense, I don’t run at all. That’s my goal. Hopefully, it’s a last resort.

“I hope it doesn’t happen because I don’t see someone open when I have good protection. I hope it happens because somehow the protection is broken down or they have everybody covered and now, you can still really hurt the defense. But you’re really helping the defense if you’re doing it the other way around.”

With 422 rushing yards, an 8.6 yard-per-carry average and four rushing touchdowns, it’s hard to imagine how Young could help an opponent when he tucks the ball away and starts breaking tackles.

“There’s no question it puts added pressure on the defense,” Seifert said. “Having been a defensive coach myself, when you’re pressing up the field and trying to get the quarterback, and then you have a man who can run like a halfback, it puts on a lot of added pressure.

“We really didn’t change the offense much for Steve. There’s been four or five plays that we’ve put in during the course of the year to utilize his abilities, but for the most part, the system itself has remained the same.

“But there’s more of an understanding of his style, by the players and the coaches as well.”

Young’s style is forcing some 49er opponents into taking desperate measures. San Francisco’s opening offensive series was designed to keep the Saints’ nickel defense off the field. But New Orleans opened in their nickel defense.

“The Saint game was cat-and-mouse, and after the Atlanta game, I made the comment that we ought to just throw the game films away,” Young said. “We aren’t seeing anything that we’ve seen before. As a result, our adaptability is getting much better and we’re making those changes much quicker.

“So if someone is going to totally revamp their defense in six days, we can counterattack that much more quickly.”

Oh well, Knox and Dyer can forget that 11-linebacker scheme they were working on.

“There are a number of ways you can try (to contain Young), but you’re not always going to be successful,” Knox said. “You can assign a specific player to him, what’s called the spy technique. But you have to spy a guy who’s at least as fast as he is, preferably faster.”

Is Batman busy?

“You can have a contain-type rush and try to keep him inside, but then you take away the aggressiveness of your pass rush. You can blitz him and try to send extra people to get on top of him, or try to close down the lanes where he might escape.

“But really there’s no set way. We did a variety of things so he wasn’t looking at the same thing all the time. And you can have people in position and he just avoids the tackle.

“You have to remember, the 49ers have lost just two games and one he didn’t play in because he had the flu and the other was a (34-31) shootout with Buffalo.”

Maybe the Rams should just give up and get some Kryptonite.