San Francisco Rolls, 35-14, Clinches NFC West : Pro football: New Orleans can’t stop 49ers, who move closer to locking up the home-field advantage for the playoffs.

The San Francisco 49ers proved the obvious Monday night--nobody in the NFL but Dallas is close to them.

The 49ers became the first team to clinch a playoff spot by overcoming mistakes to defeat New Orleans, 35-14, as Steve Young threw for 281 yards and four touchdowns.

It gave them:

--Their 11th NFC West title in 14 seasons.

--Their 12th consecutive season of 10 victories or more.

--Their 11th playoff berth in 12 seasons.

“We couldn’t get them stopped,” Saint Coach Jim Mora said of a team that converted 11 of its 15 third-down opportunities.

“They’re the best offensive team in football, the best offense I’ve ever seen.”

The victory kept the 49ers (10-2), who also rolled up 191 yards on the ground, on top of Dallas (10-2) for the home-field advantage on their seemingly inevitable course toward a third consecutive NFC title game. San Francisco, which won its seventh game in a row, would get the home field if the teams are tied because it beat the Cowboys two weeks ago.

Young, who had completed 68.2% of his passes before the game, was 24 of 30 as he threw four touchdown passes in a game for the fourth time this season. The 49ers, despite their mistakes, dominated, outgaining the Saints 461-222 and keeping the ball for more than 38 minutes.

Young threw first-half touchdown passes of four yards each to Brent Jones and John Taylor, found Jones again from six yards out on a drive that consumed 9:02 at the start of the second half and capped the scoring with a 43-yarder on a slant to backup Nate Singleton.

That was enough to negate Tyrone Hughes’ 86-yard return of a fumble by Ricky Watters for the Saints (4-8) and a second-quarter fumble by Young at the Saint 12 that held the 49ers to a 20-14 lead at halftime.

“I feel good for the team,” Young said. “I think it’s important we enjoy it. These last couple of years we were looking so much to the end we weren’t enjoying some of the things that happened during the season.”

But there’s still that end.

This year’s team has a half-dozen newly signed veterans to bolster a defense that can stop Dallas. The latest newcomer, Tim Harris, got a sack in his first game under a contract that pays him $5,000 each time he dumps the quarterback.

Jerry Rice, who caught 16 passes last week against the Rams, finished with seven catches for 80 yards.