PRO FOOTBALL: 49ERS 34, RAMS 19 : Young Making Up for Lost Time

His left knee was wrapped with a bandage. He iced the left wrist. There were assorted scrapes and bruises.

Quarterback Steve Young had plenty of marks from San Francisco’s 34-19 victory over the Rams Sunday. But the emotional scars, if any, have healed.

A week ago, he lost to Joe Montana and the Kansas City Chiefs. Well, he didn’t actually lose by himself, it just seemed that way.

So, what better way to massage a bruised ego than a day against the Rams?

“It was Steve who made all the big plays,” said wide receiver Jerry Rice, who knows a big play when he sees, or creates, one. “Steve knew what to do and then did it. He was really in control out there.”

A week ago, Young knew what to do, but didn’t do it. He threw two interceptions--one that bounced out of the hands of 49er tight end Brent Jones--and fumbled once in the 24-17 loss to the Chiefs.

“I think stuff gets overplayed,” Young said. “As players, we’re not on top of all that stuff. You guys are reading and watching everything that happens through the week, and I don’t see a thing.”

Maybe it’s vision care time. Not see a thing?

“We understand part of it, obviously,” Young said. “We’re on to the next week. Maybe we’re a little brain dead or something. But it wasn’t a big deal. We just moved on.”

It helped that what Young was moving toward was hardly an immovable object. After all, Atlanta Falcon quarterback Jeff George threw for 287 yards and three touchdowns against the Rams last week.

Young found a cure for what ailed him.

Young completed 31 of 39 passes for 355 yards and two touchdowns despite playing behind a patch-work offensive line, which has lost three starters in three weeks. Young also rushed for two touchdowns and threw a block that set Rice free on a reverse.

It was throwbacks weekend around the NFL and Young’s performance looked awfully familiar to the Rams. As a 49er, Montana had 300-yard games against the Rams.

Young has managed to carry on that tradition. He now has thrown for seven touchdowns and had only one pass intercepted in five games against the Rams, all victories.

He wasted little time Sunday.

Young was five of five for 53 yards on the 49ers’ first drive. He connected with John Taylor on a three-yard touchdown pass.

Young was three of four for 60 yards on the second drive, which ended in a 33-yard field goal by Doug Brien.

“Steve Young did a hell of a job today,” 49er Coach George Seifert said. “We need everybody on that same page.”

That came late in the half, when Young took the 49ers on a 77-yard drive in 1 minute 30 seconds.

Young hit on six of seven passes. The only one he missed was one he downed to kill the clock. That had followed a 28-yard completion to Rice that put the 49ers inside the one. Young scored on a sneak.

“I told Jerry it was nice of him to get the ball to the one-foot line so I could score,” Young said.

Young paid Rice back in the fourth quarter by throwing a block that sprung Rice on a 13-yard run. Young got up slowly on the play.

“I cringed when I saw him do that,” Seifert said.

Said Rice: “That scared me. From now on I think we ought to keep him from making blocks like that. We need him healthy.”

But Young had your basic daredevil afternoon. There was a 10-yard run in the fourth quarter to the Ram three. The reward for which was a swift kick by Ram defensive back Marquez Pope, who was penalized for tripping.

Young got up slowly on that play as well. “I probably shouldn’t be out there running with the ball,” he said.

There are the things you do because Montana would have.