Garcia Is Latest Out of System

In the judgment of those compiling all-century athletes, it has become fashionable to call Joe Montana the greatest quarterback of all time. I’d say that’s clearly an overstatement, considering the achievements of Steve Young, Johnny Unitas, Sammy Baugh and, among several others, Joe Namath.

Properly identified, Montana, who led the San Francisco 49ers in the 1980s, was the NFL’s first great modern champion.

He was also the first of the two title-winning quarterbacks the 49ers have had during their run as the NFL’s most successful team--a record run of big seasons lasting nearly 20 years--and someday he may be remembered as the first of three consecutive San Francisco winners.

The 49ers plugged No. 3 into the same old offensive system last Sunday.

He is Jeff Garcia, who, like Montana and Young, was brought to San Francisco by new General Manager Bill Walsh, the 1979-89 coach of the 49ers.

In the 1980s, Montana, after two seasons as a backup, led the 49ers to four Super Bowl championships.

In the 1990s, Walsh’s next choice, Young, after four seasons as a backup, has become the only quarterback since Baugh to have won six NFL passing titles.

Against then-undefeated Tennessee last Sunday, Garcia, in his first year as a backup, began faster than either of his predecessors, scoring one touchdown and throwing for two as the 49ers succeeded again, 24-22.

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System wins: It is their system that has made the 49ers what they are--a pass-offense winner--and that has made the NFL what it is today, a passing league.

The system is Walsh’s West Coast offense, which has spread throughout the league, winning all recent Super Bowls.

When Walsh introduced it in the early 1980s, Montana was the only West Coast offense quarterback.

That gave him two advantages that neither Young nor Garcia, Jake Plummer, Brett Favre or any other 1999 quarterback has:

* Montana was playing against stone-age defenses that had never heard of the West Coast offense and that for years failed to adjust to what the 49ers were doing.

* He was being compared to quarterbacks who were still playing for old-fashioned offensive teams that emphasized running.

Those advantages helped Montana rule a league whose understanding of West Coast principles was slow to grow in his time--in part because of his personal artistry--and minimal for more than 10 years.

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Fast start: As for Garcia, the free agent from San Jose State who apprenticed in Canada, one good day in the NFL hardly foretells his future as a quarterback.

Yet, the way he won his first start Sunday impressed the 49ers.

They had fallen behind in the second quarter, 10-0, when their third winning coach in 18 years, Steve Mariucci, sent Garcia out passing.

The 49ers then scored five times in Garcia’s next six series, taking a 14-10 lead at halftime and driving 90 yards to the decisive fourth-quarter touchdown.

Both of Garcia’s scoring passes were thrown with the steam and accuracy of a poised veteran. On a 21-yard play, he rifled one over the middle for a touchdown to running back Charlie Garner. Next, on a 22-yard play, he lofted one into the corner to closely guarded wide receiver Terrell Owens.

His team punted only twice in the three quarters after Garcia reacted to the 10-0 start, once when a dropped pass stopped him, and once when the coaches tried to run the ball in defense of a fourth-quarter lead.

Montana at a comparable point in his 49er career was still backing up Steve DeBerg.

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Better cast: At St. Louis today, in the biggest Ram-49er game of the 1990s, the reborn Rams (3-0) will challenge their old tormentors (3-1) with the finest all-around offensive cast they’ve had in years:

* Quarterback, Kurt Warner, a candidate for the club’s best since Norm Van Brocklin 50 years ago, completed 17 of 21 passes in Cincinnati Sunday and threw for three touchdowns for the third time in three games.

* Veteran go-to Ram receiver, Isaac Bruce, whose only contemporary rivals for excellence may be Jerry Rice and Randy Moss, caught six this time for 152 yards.

* Rounding out what seems to be one of the league’s top three-receiver units, Terry Holt, a candidate for rookie of the year, and Az-Zahir Hakin, the clever little second-year man from San Diego State, totaled seven catches for 136 yards.

* Marshall Faulk, who was thrown to only three times in that game, again gave Warner the running-receiving threat that every NFL passer wants.

* Offensive coordinator Mike Martz, who was best known as a college player and coach before he learned 1990s pass offense from Washington Coach Norval Turner in 1997-98, obviously had a third winning plan in three weeks.

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Fretting again: Even though the only sure thing you can say now on behalf of newcomers Warner and Garcia is that they haven’t messed up--so far--the Ram-49er game appears to pack many of the elements of an offensive blockbuster.

Instead, it may show, among other things, whether NFL defensive players who have now been training against good modern pass offenses, and occasionally getting the upper hand, are finally catching up.

Some fans think that’s happening.

As a passer, Warner is still a stranger to the 49ers, who have only seen him on tape. They don’t know whether his nine-touchdown start this year really presages anything wonderful.

Nonetheless, it will surprise many if San Francisco wins with either Young or Garcia at quarterback.

For one thing, the 49ers this year have been more erratic.

For another, Young, watching Garcia, is now in Montana’s early-1990s shoes, when an aging 49er great began to fret about a new wonder passer.

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Too many cooks: One problem in Pittsburgh is that the Steelers’ offensive team has had three coaches in three years.

That can be devastating to a young quarterback like Kordell Stewart and the lack of continuity seriously impairs others too, leaving three kinds of offensive players in Pittsburgh:

* Those who swear by the offensive coordinator the Steelers had in 1997.

* Those who thought they were coming along under the 1998 coordinator.

* Those who see that they finally have a chance with the new coordinator, Kevin Gilbride, who inherited a mess but who, to hear his critics tell it, is expected to straighten everything out in the first month.

Who takes the blame in such a predicament?

As usual, the quarterback.

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Short subjects:

* One thing about the unbeaten Rams is that they have gained momentum with early season victories over reorganized Baltimore, demoralized Atlanta, and helpless Cincinnati.

* Tennessee quarterback Neil O’Donnell went to San Francisco Sunday with a third-down passer rating better than 130 and held it. But against 49er newcomer Garcia, his defense let him down.

* The way San Francisco’s opponents have been working over quarterback Young, sometimes legally but often illegally, it was a surprise to hear from New Orleans defensive back Chris Hewitt that he’s going to appeal the $7,500 he was fined for hitting Young helmet to helmet. Even Hewitt’s coach, Mike Ditka, was distressed by his player’s unnecessary and illegal action. “It was a bad play on his part,” Ditka said.