Young Leads 49ers to a Rout of Falcons : NFC West: Quarterback accounts for five scores, defense forces five turnovers in 50-14 victory.

Steve Young threw for three touchdowns and ran for two more and the San Francisco defense forced five turnovers as the 49ers won for the eighth consecutive time Sunday, a 50-14 rout of the Falcons.

“Our thing is to just keep that offense clicking, and that’s what we were able to do,” San Francisco tackle Steve Wallace said. “We just wanted to get first downs, keep the chains moving. Somehow, we ended up with 50 points, but I don’t have a clue how we did it.”

Atlanta mistakes had something to do with it.

The turnovers led to 17 points and Deion Sanders limited Andre Rison to one catch, which came in the final minute of the third quarter. There were none of the fights that marked the first meeting between the former teammates.

“They just put it to us,” said Atlanta quarterback Jeff George, who threw two interceptions and fumbled once. “They kicked our butts all day. They’re the better team.”

Rison, who had a second catch in the fourth quarter while Sanders was on the sideline with other San Francisco starters, said the two made their peace in a talk before the game and then enjoyed a friendly competition.

“It was just like we were roommates,” Rison said.

Said Sanders: “He’s their best receiver, I don’t care who’s covering him.”

But while Sanders and Rison drew the pregame attention, it was a day for Young and the offense. His third touchdown pass, a nine-yarder to Jerry Rice with 12:14 remaining, gave him 20 during San Francisco’s streak. Seven of them have come in the two victories over the Falcons (6-7), whose wild-card hopes took a severe hit.

San Francisco (11-2) outscored Atlanta, 92-17, in sweeping the season series and maintaining its tiebreaker edge over Dallas in a race for home-field advantage throughout the playoffs.

“The satisfying part about the (victory) is Atlanta upgraded its team and posed the biggest threat to us this year,” Young said. “Now we want to keep the heat on . . . We’ve got to keep matching the top record in the league. I think we all understand we have to win the rest of our games.”

Young did his part by completing 22 of 33 passes for 294 yards, shaking off an interception return for a touchdown by defensive end Chuck Smith that ended a string of 123 passes without being picked off.

“I thought he’s played well for the past few years, but this year he’s in a zone, like when Michael Jordan gets hot,” San Francisco tight end Brent Jones said of Young, bidding for a fourth consecutive passing title.

“He’s always been very accurate, but now he’s just putting the ball right there.”

George completed 15 of 29 for 193 yards and a touchdown, but was intercepted twice by Merton Hanks.

George also fumbled after being sacked by Todd Kelly, and Charles Mann recovered, setting up Young’s scoring pass to Rice. George bruised his ribs on the play and Bobby Hebert finished up.

“We did what we said we couldn’t do--gave up turnovers,” Atlanta Coach June Jones said. “We want to match them score for score, but we couldn’t do that. They’re playing awfully well, maybe the best I’ve ever seen.”

Smith, who also had two sacks, was ejected in the final minutes during a scrape with San Francisco lineman Rod Milstead for using Milstead’s helmet as a weapon.

Elvis Grbac relieved Young early in the fourth quarter and the 49ers added a two-yard scoring run by Adam Walker and a third field goal by Doug Brien.

Trailing, 7-3, after the first quarter, San Francisco erupted for 24 second-quarter points and wound up with a season-high for points in a game.

Young began the flurry when he ended a 65-yard drive with a 12-yard scoring pass to John Taylor.

Hanks’ first interception set up the next score. George’s pass glanced off Terance Mathis’ hands and Hanks grabbed it at the Atlanta 44. Two passes to Watters moved the ball to the two, and Young scored from one yard out.