Minnesota (10-7) at San Francisco (13-3)

The facts: 1 p.m., 3Com Park, Channel 11.

Head to head: The 49ers contributed to the Vikings’ late-season swoon with a 28-17 pasting on Dec. 7, sacking Randall Cunningham four times.

Story line: The 49ers’ cakewalk continues with another game against another team of dubious distinction. San Francisco, which wasn’t even a two-touchdown favorite over the hapless likes of New Orleans, St. Louis, Atlanta or Carolina, has fattened its record all season on teams that can’t play football, and the way things are going, Tampa Bay probably will upset the Packers and New England will emerge from the AFC to give the 49ers a clear path to the Super Bowl title.

San Francisco will be without running back Garrison Hearst (collarbone), but Minnesota is without any chance to win unless you subscribe to the theory that the 49ers are overrated and ripe for the taking (Me-Me-Me).

The Vikings’ defense ranks 29th, and still they are in the playoffs. Only chance to stop the 49ers’ offense is to knock Steve Young out of the game, but once Young recovered from a concussion earlier this season, no one has gotten a good shot on him. San Francisco is the only team this season to lack a 100-yard receiver and J.J. Stokes and Terrell Owens scare no one, but the 49er defense, ranked No. 1 in the NFL, might be the best offense on the field today.

Cunningham, who replaced an injured Brad Johnson, has completed less than 50% of his passes and thrown for seven touchdowns and five interceptions, which would be good against the Bears or the Colts, but these are supposed to be the best eight teams in football and those numbers won’t cut it.

Jay Walker, well known to family and friends, backs up Cunningham and would undoubtedly love the opportunity to throw his first pass of the season.

Keys to the game: Cunningham must get time to throw, and if he does and can find Jake Reed and Cris Carter, they have a decisive advantage over Marquez Pope and Rod Woodson. Big deal, so Minnesota scores two late touchdowns to lose, 31-17. Robert Smith is Minnesota’s wild card, and if the Vikings watched film of Kansas City’s big win over San Francisco, they just keep handing him the ball.

Now you know: The 49ers had the second-best run defense in the NFL, but Minnesota, gaining 5.3 yards a carry, fared better against San Francisco than any other opponent.

They said it: Will Young consider retirement if he wins the Super Bowl? “The word retire is like yelling ‘fire’ in a crowded theater,” Young said. “I’ll say it one time in my life, seriously, and that will be the day I do it. As I sit here right now, I think anyone who gets to the Super Bowl, that’s the top of the hill. You ought to look around, see which mountain you want to go after. . . .”

The line: San Francisco by 14.