RAM NOTES : Meeting Great Expectations Is Tough

Sometimes, even Jerry Rice doubts himself.

He is known for Pro Bowls and NFL player of the year awards and most of all, as the MVP of Super Bowl XXIII.

But without the sensation of the ball hitting his hands during a game, without the knowledge that some of the points on the scoreboard are his handiwork, little questions sneak into his consciousness.

“It’s weird, because my expectations are so high,” said Rice, whose season has been less productive without Joe Montana.

“I catch myself doubting myself because I’m not making plays, not getting in the end zone. There are things I really can’t control. It’s tough to deal with.”

The San Francisco 49ers have tried to involve Rice more in the offense, but the wide receiver is still having one of the least productive seasons of his eight-year NFL career.

A memory of Rice’s more glorious seasons flickered Sunday, when his 42-yard touchdown reception turned a three-point fourth-quarter lead into a 10-point cushion in the 49ers’ 27-10 victory over the Rams.

In the six years since his rookie season, Rice has averaged 15 touchdown catches per year. But his touchdown reception against the Rams was only his sixth of the season.

However, it was the 99th of his career, putting him one touchdown catch away from Steve Largent’s NFL record of 100.

“This record is one I’ve been chasing since the season started,” Rice said. “I try not to reflect too much on it. But to be able to achieve something like that in the length of time I’ve been in the NFL means something.”

No. 100 could have come Sunday--the 49ers scored a final touchdown in the waning minutes--but Rice knew his celebration would be reserved for another afternoon.

“At that point in time, we just wanted to control the football,” he said. “I knew we wouldn’t put the ball in the air. With (tailback) Ricky Watters running so well, why take a chance?”

Rice caught four passes for 93 yards against the Rams, and his first catch extended his streak of catching at least one pass in consecutive games to 106. He passed Dwight Clark for No. 1 in 49er history and his streak moved to the sixth longest in NFL history.

Still, he is on pace to finish the season with 1,095 receiving yards, which would be the third lowest total of his career and the lowest since 1987. He has had at least 1,000 yards every year except his rookie season.

Add Rice: The play that made Rice’s day was touchdown catch No. 99.

Rice ran a slant inside, then cut toward the sideline. Quarterback Steve Young did his part by throwing the ball in Rice’s vicinity. Rice was already past Darryl Henley and safety Anthony Newman picked him up.

“I was trying to catch him and I was right there with him for a while,” Newman said. “Then he stopped and came back on the ball. I knew the ball was coming to him. His eyes were wide open, his hands were wide open. I was looking at Jerry.”

What he didn’t know was that the ball was underthrown.

“I waited until the last second because I didn’t want the guy to realize the ball was coming my way,” Rice said.

He made the catch, then turned toward the goal line.

“It was a great adjustment on his part,” said Newman, who didn’t tackle Rice until he had reached the end zone.

Same old 49ers: The players change, but even without Montana, something about the 49ers seems to remain the same.

“Ever since I’ve been with the 49ers, there’s been a certain standard,” fullback Tom Rathman said. “You don’t drop passes in practice, you don’t jump off-sides. Those are the kind of things that kill you fast.

“Everybody has a personal standard. You just hope those personal standards are up to the 49ers’ .”

Stealthy tailback: Watters has a black panther tattooed on his right shoulder, but it’s as far from a political statement as you can get.

Watters, who roomed with Ram cornerback Todd Lyght at Notre Dame, went out with Lyght and another player to get a tattoo. He chose the panther because of a love for the animals developed while watching television with his father.

“My dad always watched those Wild Kingdom shows and he liked the kills, you know?” Watters said. “He always called me in to see the kills. I always liked the panthers best. That was the sweetest thing, the way they would sneak up on their prey. And the black panther was even more awesome. It just had this mystique, being all dark with those beautiful eyes.”

Big boys up front: Young says rookie tackles Sean Gilbert and Marc Boutte will go a long way to improve the Rams’ defense in coming years.

“They’re both a force in there,” Young said, “and I think that their presence will allow the Rams to get some pressure on the quarterback and still play all of their zone defenses.”

In the money: Young’s contract expires at the end of the season and he figures to be an unrestricted free agent under almost any guidelines that are reached in the bargaining process or in the courtroom. But he’s waited five years to be the 49ers’ starting quarterback and he doesn’t plan on giving up the job easily.

“This is the first time I’ve heard this question and I’ve been waiting for it,” Young said. “Contracts and all that stuff, I don’t even . . . I’m where I want to be.”

And even Montana’s imminent return to the practice squad can’t shake Young’s belief in his future with the 49ers.

“Joe’s presence is always important because of all the great things he stands for and has done,” Young said. “I kind of take it in stride, but if he’s healthy, that just makes our team stronger.”

Playing hurt: Ram tailback Cleveland Gary, who did not practice all week because of an ankle injury sustained at the end of last week’s victory over the Cowboys, rushed only 11 times for 35 yards.

Did he feel limited running the ball on the sore ankle?

“What do you think, with a sore ankle?” Gary answered after the game. “Definitely.

“No excuses, I mean, they won the football game. Still, we were playing hurt. That’s all a part of it.

“There’s no excuses whatsoever. We just came up short. We win as a team, and we lose as a team.”

Gary, who came into the game as the NFC’s second-leading rusher behind only Emmitt Smith, was spelled for large portions of the second half by starting fullback, David Lang, who carried 11 times for 62 yards.

Lang, normally a tailback who has been converted to fullback this season, said he didn’t know he would be getting so many carries.

“I knew I was going to play at fullback,” Lang said. “That’s where my attention was, starting at fullback, blocking. In practice we did do a couple runs, at fullback, not at tailback.

“So I had no idea I was going to go in there at tail.”

Gary, meanwhile, said he thinks he will be ready for next Sunday’s game against the Minnesota Vikings.

“I feel a lot better--a lot better,” he said. “Just a little rest and I’ll be back in there, plugging away. It’s time to pick it up.”

Coach Chuck Knox and quarterback Jim Everett allowed that not having a full-time, full-speed Gary caused some problems for an offense that has grown used to his consistent running and receiving. Gary is also the team leader with 37 receptions. He had only one Sunday.

“It was a little bit of a handicap, not having him in there,” Everett said. “But that’s when everybody else has to step up, play better.”

Said Knox: “Cleveland’s been having a good year for us. He’s banged up, so that takes a little away from our offensive scheme.”

Rubbing it in? Everett sounded less than thrilled that the 49ers scored a touchdown instead of just killing the clock with less than two minutes left and with a comfortable, 10-point lead.

Point differential is a tie-breaking level to determine playoff spots.

“I’m sure them punching that touchdown in at the very end, I’m sure we’ve got a lot of young guys on this team who will remember that for a long time,” Everett said.

Satisfaction guaranteed: Offensive coordinator Ernie Zampese, in a touch of Babe Ruth-type confidence, apparently called the Rams’ 31-yard touchdown pass from Everett to wide receiver Henry Ellard earlier last week.

“It was a play which actually Ernie Zampese guaranteed me would be a touchdown a few times,” Everett said. “And it worked.

“We saw where they played a certain type of coverage. . . . (in which the outside cornerback) always plays to the outside a little bit. Turn Henry up inside and boom, there it was.”

On the move: Ellard’s touchdown catch, his 45th, tied him with Jack Snow for second on the Rams’ career list. Elroy Hirsch leads with 53.

Full house: The crowd of 65,858 was the sixth largest the Rams have drawn in Anaheim Stadium. The largest--67,959--saw the Rams and 49ers play in 1989.

Injury report: The only reported Ram injury was to cornerback Darryl Henley, who hurt his shoulder. . . . Wide receiver Aaron Cox, nursing a sore hamstring, was on the inactive list.

Times staff writers John Weyler and Tim Kawakami contributed to this story.