HOME ADVANTAGE JUST SUPER49ERS BEAT DENVER, 42-19; PLAYOFFS FOR SF GUARANTEED TO BE AT THE 'STICK

The talk is of history now. The 49ers checked off the last

item on their regular season to-do list with a 42-19 pounding of the Denver

Broncos on Saturday at Candlestick Park.

With the win, the 49ers clinched homefield advantage throughout the NFC

playoffs, won their 10th consecutive game and improved to 13-2 overall. Only

next Monday night's regular season walk-through wrap-up in Minnesota stands

between the 49ers and their shot at greatness.

After that, the 49ers take aim at the annals. Their sole desire: an

unprecedented fifth Super Bowl title.

The 49ers set multiple offensive records on Saturday, rolling up points,

yardage and touchdowns like no club in team history.

To the 49ers, the records mean little.

''I've only got one goal, one focus,'' said wide receiver Jerry Rice.

Said tackle Steve Wallace: ''There's only one record I want.''

And from defensive end Rickey Jackson: ''We've still got some picking to

do.''

The talk is of history, and it's pretty lofty stuff. Meanwhile, Dallas

can't do anything about homefield advantage. Their final two games are

tune-ups for a game the whole football nation is anticipating. And the 49ers

smile slyly when they think about it.

If the much-anticipated Dallas-49ers NFC championship rematch is to occur,

it will be on the green fields of Hunter's Point, where the 49ers compiled a

7-1 record this year and beat the Cowboys, 21-14, on Nov. 13.

Someone asked strong safety Tim McDonald if the Cowboys should be concerned

by a 49ers team that is drawing comparisons to the halcyon days of 1984, when

Joe Montana led the 49ers to a Super Bowl title and an 18-1 season.

''I hope not,'' McDonald said. ''They shouldn't be. Hey: they're the

defending champs. We should be worried about them.''

Yeah, and San Francisco tourists should be worried about summertime

sunblock.

The 49ers can't hide from these plain facts: The team scored 42 points on

Saturday, and that gave them a team-record 491 for the season, breaking the

record set by the 1984 49ers, who scored 475 points. These 49ers still have

another game left.

The all-time NFL record is 541 points, set by Washington in 1983. Is 51

points out of the 49ers' reach next week? Don't bet on it.

''Obviously, the 49ers are as good as ever,'' marveled Denver coach Wade

Phillips. ''This is the 49ers' year. They look like the team we played in (the

1990 Super Bowl).''

The offense was simply unstoppable. You want Steve Young's numbers from

Saturday? Are you sure you're ready for them?

OK: 20 completions in 29 attempts, 350 yards, 3 touchdowns and ... one

interception.

''Jeez, stupid,'' Young said of the thirdquarter interception. ''I just

tried to jam it in there. Stupid.''

Yeah, punish yourself, Steve. He guided the team to six more touchdowns

today and that gives the 49ers 64 this season. The 49ers' previous team best

was 61, set last year. These 49ers still have another game left.

Roll out more numbers: in the 10-game win streak, Young has thrown 25

touchdowns and 3 interceptions. In the 10-game win streak, the 49ers have

outscored opponents 364-165, or an average of 36-16.

How does a team stay in a ''zone'' like the 49ers are?

''It's not a zone,'' he said earnestly. ''It's what we want to do. It's not

a streak. It's a standard. I think we're legitimately playing like we should

play.''

Saturday, that translated into a frightening display of offense. The 49ers

took the opening kickoff and went 85 yards in 10 plays. Young completed 6 of 7

passes, and capped it when he found Ricky Watters for an 11-yard touchdown

pass.

The pass to Watters gave Young 32 touchdown passes for the season, breaking

Montana's single season club record for TD passes in a season. By the time the

game was over, Young would have 34 TD passes. And these 49ers still have a

game left.

''It's a wonderful thing,'' Young said of all the records. ''Especially

when you look at all the injuries we had early in the season. I mean, this

league is brutal, tough. This league gives you nothing.

''It's a tremendous accomplishment and I'm not going to minimize it.''

Meanwhile, Denver's John Elway, who would try to play with a strained

muscle in his left knee, hadn't been on the field, and his team trailed, 7-0.

And on Elway's first play from scrimmage, 49ers rookie Lee Woodall blitzed,

sacked Elway and forced a fumble. Rhett Hall, who played the game of his life

in the place of injured Dana Stubblefield, recovered the fumble.

The 49ers offense came on the field, and on their first play, Young found

Rice for a 23-yard touchdown. The 49ers led, 14-0, and that was as close as

Denver would get all day.

Watters busted loose and had the receiving game of his life. Sometimes

split wide, sometimes coming out of the backfield, Watters caught four balls

for a career-high 106 yards and 2 touchdowns.

Rookie fullback William Floyd carried eight times for 28 yards, and ran for

touchdowns of 11 and 1 yards. Watters ran for a third score from 9 yards out,

and said his big day on national television was a message to those who did not

vote for him to make the Pro Bowl: look at the whole package, folks.

''My teammates, especially Steve Young, were really behind me,'' Watters

said. ''They really think I should have made the Pro Bowl.''

No matter. As all the 49ers were saying, the Bowl they are looking for

doesn't have the word ''Pro'' in front of it.

Now, after next week's trip to Minnesota, the 49ers will be home in

January. The only possible away game they can play will be in Miami, on

January 29. You know the game, the kind that hangs indelibly in the history

books.

''We have to win a championship,'' Young said, ''to be considered one of

the great 49ers teams of all time.'' And the 49ers still have a game left.

Let the quest begin.