49ers Wallop Chargers, 49-26, in Super Bowl

There was doubt only in the hours of fan revelry and minutes of NFL-choreographed pageantry preceding Super Bowl XXIX on Sunday in Miami, and even that doubt was tenuous.

While some talked bravely of the ways San Diego could beat San Francisco in the NFL’s Interstate 5 championship game, played in Joe Robbie Stadium, off I-95 in Miami, those in the know nodded wisely, understanding those betting with their hearts instead of their heads.

The knowledgeable waited for what they knew would come.

They didn’t have to wait long.

It took three plays, only 1 minute 24 seconds, to establish the better team, San Francisco, which beat the Chargers, 49-26.

On first down from the San Diego 44, Steve Young faded back and found Jerry Rice running alone, having split San Diego safe ties Darren Carrington and Stanley Richard.

The 44-yard pass gave the 49ers the quickest touchdown in Super Bowl history and a 7-0 lead. It also gave Rice his fifth touchdown, 30th point and 407th yard in three Super Bowls, all lifetime records.

In something of an exorcism, Joe Montana was relegated to the archives and former San Francisco coach Bill Walsh, architect of three Super Bowl titles, was pushed into the background for at least a year. Young threw six touchdown passes, one more than Montana threw for the 49ers in Super Bowl XXIV, and George Seifert coached the 49ers to their overwhelming victory.

A gambler in Las Vegas could have lined up to cash in his bet at that point. On Saturday, an unidentified man wagered $2.4 million on the 49ers on the money line at the Mirage, which meant he stood to win only $300,000 for his bet at 8-1 odds, regardless of the margin of victory.

It was more than double the previous known record wager at a legal sports book.

Before the game was five minutes old, the gambler probably wished for double or nothing.

The second touchdown came almost as quickly as the first. Young’s 21-yard run had given the 49ers a first down on their own 49, and he threw to Ricky Watters over the middle on the next play.

Again, the ill-fated Richard and Carrington were involved, both bouncing off Watters en route to his 51-yard touchdown and a 14-0 San Francisco lead.

More than 55 minutes remained to be played.

San Diego responded, slowly, surely, almost inexorably, compared to the 49ers. It took 13 plays to cover 78 yards, and on the 13th, Natrone Means dived over right tackle to cut San Francisco’s lead to 14-7.

On the play before, Charger quarterback Stan Humphries threw into the end zone, toward Shawn Jefferson in an attempt to do what San Diego coaches said they would do: challenge San Francisco cornerback Deion Sanders, perhaps the game’s best defensive back. Sanders held Jefferson for a penalty that put the ball on the 49er one.

Still, the Chargers did not show they could stop the San Francisco offense. On the 49ers’ third possession, Young completed four passes, including a one of five yards for a touchdown to William Floyd that extended their lead to 21-7.

Young also ran twice for 16 yards during the series, and Rice went out of the game because of an injured shoulder.

Rice missed the next series, on which San Francisco punted for the first time, then returned for yet another possession on which Young threw to Watters for an eight-yard touchdown and a 28-7 lead.

John Carney’s 31-yard field goal cut that to 28-10 with 1:44 to play, but there was no regrouping for the Chargers.

San Francisco took eight plays to cover 62 yards on its first possession of the second half. Watters ran the final nine yards for a 35-10 lead with 9:35 to play in the third quarter, from which it became a matter of running out the clock and rewriting the record book.

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