Owens Grabs Big Share of Spotlight

Jerry Rice passed the torch to Terrell Owens on Sunday. The San Francisco 49ers merely passed Owens the ball.

Again and again.

And after the 49ers’ 17-0 victory over the Chicago Bears, Owens swaggered away with an NFL-record 20 catches for 283 yards and a touchdown, breaking the previous single-game record of 18 receptions set by Tom Fears of the Los Angeles Rams in 1950.

“I was prepared for this not to be a day for Terrell Owens to shine,” Owens said. “But the defense gave us something. I ran my routes and Jeff Garcia found the open receivers. . . . When I get my hands on the ball, those are the kind of things that can happen.”

Owens, who made headlines in September for dancing on the midfield star at Texas Stadium, showed a bit of humility Sunday. He was somewhat sheepish about stealing some thunder from Rice, who was playing his last home game for the 49ers.

“This is Jerry’s day; it’s not about Terrell,” Owens said.

Actually, it was a little of both. Chicago defenders knew the 49ers wanted to get the ball to Rice, so they frequently double-teamed him. That created opportunities for Owens.

“I didn’t realize until after the game he had 20 catches and set a record,” Bear Coach Dick Jauron said. “The demoralizing thing is losing a game. The rest, I really don’t care about. Even if he has 20 catches, we can still win the game. Obviously, he’s awfully good.”

Owens had played consistently well, making nine catches in the first half, 11 in the second. His touchdown came midway through the third quarter on a 27-yard reception.

“It was tough trying to stop him,” Bear linebacker Brian Urlacher said. “He seemed to be catching everything in sight.”

The 49ers also got some bad news on the pass-catching front. Tai Streets, who splits time as the No. 3 receiver with J.J. Stokes, suffered a broken right leg and will have surgery this week.

Garcia passed for 402 yards--the second 400-yard game of his career--to surpass the 4,000-yard mark for the season. He’s the second quarterback in team history to reach that milestone, joining Steve Young, who did it in 1993 and ’98.

“It just proves that I’m capable of running this system and I’m capable of being a top-notch quarterback,” said Garcia, voted a Pro Bowl backup. “It shows that I have a good head on my shoulders as far as decision making. And I have the athletic ability to make a play once I make that decision.”

And one more thing: He has a sure-handed target on the other end.