Rice Is Unhappy With Role

While the San Francisco 49ers rediscovered their offense, Jerry Rice didn’t think he was part of it.

Steve Young broke open a close game by throwing two of his four touchdown passes in a 17-point third quarter, including one to Rice, and the 49ers beat the Saints, 31-20, Sunday night to remain a game behind Atlanta in the NFC West.

But Rice, who finished with three catches for 27 yards after being shut out in a first half for the first time in six years, complained about his lack of involvement.

Rice was sometimes used as the third receiver off the bench when San Francisco went to a two-wideout set that employed J.J. Stokes and Terrell Owens.

“I just work here. If nothing is asked of me, I guess I’m not going to do much,” Rice said.

“If you ask me if I’m having a good time, no. Is this something that might want to make you retire? Hell, yes. All I know is I’m not having a good time. Maybe it’s time for me to move on.”

Rice said he was extremely frustrated but brushed off other questions as he walked out of the locker room.

“Jerry’s led the league in receptions,” Young said. “I think we shouldn’t get overfocused on stats now. Jerry is showing a tremendous amount of maturity. He is leading the league in double coverage, I can assure you.”

San Francisco (8-3) was ahead by one point when Young, who had three first-quarter turnovers, connected with a wide-open Garrison Hearst near midfield. Hearst sprinted untouched to complete an 81-yard touchdown play.

Sean Dawkins’ second fumble after a catch preceded Young’s eight-yard touchdown pass to Rice, putting San Francisco up, 28-13, in the third quarter. Wade Richey had a 45-yard field goal.

Young completed 22 of 31 passes for 290 yards, including two eight-yard scoring passes to Owens in the second quarter that put San Francisco in front after New Orleans had taken a 10-0 lead.

It was a team-record 14th straight regular-season home win for the 49ers, who came back to beat the Saints (5-6) for a sixth straight time--a week after San Francisco’s longtime division supremacy was threatened by a loss at Atlanta.

“It’s November, December, and we understand we have to finish up strong to put ourselves in the best position that we can,” said free safety Merton Hanks, who had one of two interceptions of Kerry Collins and twice batted down passes in the end zone.

“This was an important win because we were looking for energy. We were looking for a lift.”

Kerry Collins, in his second start since joining the Saints, completed 22 of 44 passes for 328 yards.