One fine effort by Niners

SAN FRANCISCO — Though Tim Rattay had a smashing debut as an NFL starter, the San Francisco 49ers' defense was even more impressive.

Just ask the St. Louis Rams, who had no luck stopping either of them.

Rattay passed for 236 yards and three touchdowns filling in for Jeff Garcia, and Cedrick Wilson returned the opening kickoff 95 yards for a score in the 49ers' 30-10 victory over St. Louis on Sunday.

For the third straight game at Candlestick Park, not much went wrong for the 49ers — even with Rattay filling in for Garcia, a three-time Pro Bowler out with a sprained ankle.

San Francisco (4-5) flattened the Rams with five scoring drives in the first 33 minutes, quickly putting away just the Niners' second win in 10 games against their oldest rivals. St. Louis (5-3) had its four-game winning streak snapped and fell out of first place in the NFC West.

"They took it to us with the offense and the defense," Rams coach Mike Martz said. "I'm upset with a lot of things in that game. . . . It's very disturbing. It takes the wind out of your sails."

While San Francisco's defense dominated the first three quarters, Rattay threw TD passes to Terrell Owens, Tai Streets and rookie Brandon Lloyd. Garcia's longtime backup went 19-of-29, leading an emphatic victory in the first significant playing time of his career.

"For the first time out, he probably performed better than any of us thought," coach Dennis Erickson said. "He's a real solid player who doesn't make mistakes. He's been around here a while, and he understands the offense."

Garcia watched from the sideline as the emergency third quarterback, cheering and patting his teammates' helmets.

"You dream about throwing well, but you never know," Rattay said. "The main thing is to win. Whether we handed the ball off 50 times or threw the ball, I wanted to win."

Garcia's streak of 61 consecutive starts ended, but the 49ers didn't miss him at all, thanks to Rattay and a defense that seemed to anticipate every important play.

As the 49ers never hesitate to declare, their defense was built specifically to combat the Rams' downfield passing and team speed.