Redskins Will Be Real Test for 49ers

SAN FRANCISCO —  Did the New Orleans Saints expose some genuine San Francisco 49ers weaknesses in Monday night’s season opener?

After two Super Bowl championships in a row, has complacency finally set in with this group?

Did 49ers owner Ed DeBartolo Jr. really mean it when he told an interviewer the other day that the goal of winning three straight titles might be a trifle unrealistic for a team he regards as being “in transition.”

And if none of this is true, then why did a panel of pro football experts lean heavily to Washington as the probable winner of today’s 1 p.m. home opener for the 49ers at Candlestick Park?

“In spite of it all, we DID win the game in New Orleans, even it was close (13-12),” 49ers offensive coordinator Mike Holmgren said, admonishing the critics.

Although you won’t get Holmgren or head coach George Seifert to say it publicly, the Phoenix Cardinals, beaten 31-0 by the Redskins last week, will never be confused with the Saints. Indeed, the Cardinals may very well be the weakest team in the NFL.

That’s not to make excuses, because Holmgren, in a discourse of the 49ers’ ups and downs in New Orleans games, wasn’t offering any.

He was quite impressed, in fact, with the Saints’ preparation for the defending champs. He also was quick to add that there will be no drop-off this afternoon when the 49ers face what may be an even stronger defense posed by Washington.

“We weren’t surprised by what the Saints did,” Holmgren said. “When we were in New Orleans practicing for the Super Bowl, I went to say hello to the Saints’ defensive coordinator, and they were in watching films of us. (Saints coach) Jim Mora even wanted to watch one of our practices. George (Seifert) said no, but, hey, he had to ask. We would have done the same thing in their situation.”

Preparation aside, in Holmgren’s view, the 49ers were denied a key weapon in Monday night’s game.

The deafening noise of the Superdome not only led to five offensive-line penalties and no doubt contributed to six sacks, it prevented San Francisco from calling audibles.

“It’s one of our strengths,” Holmgren said, nodding toward quarterback Joe Montana, who uncharacteristically threw some all-or-nothing passes downfield in the closing minutes. “I wasn’t pleased with our execution, but the Superdome can be a difficult place to play when the crowd is against you. You couldn’t hear. Yet that’s only one small part of it. My disappointment is in the things that we could control.

“For example, we knew they were going to bump Jerry Rice (and double-cover him). We had some motion plays to work against that, but, at the same time, we have to learn to do some of those things better.”

Evidence of that was Roger Craig’s gaining only 23 yards on 12 carries and Rice catching just two passes for 26 yards. Holmgren conceded that not enough use was made of two other wideouts, John Taylor and Mike Sherrard.

Rice was held to the second-lowest totals since his rookie season.

“We’ve got to design something to get me open,” Rice said, aware that in today’s game he will face a Washington secondary that intercepted four passes against Phoenix. Each of the interceptions led to a touchdown, three of them coming on the passing of Mark Rypien.

Washington coach Joe Gibbs doubts that the 49ers will be that sloppy this weekl.

“(Montana) is very precise, very elusive and very smart, and their receivers are talented,” Gibbs said. “You just try to keep down the big plays. You can’t get upset if they get one on you because they get them on everybody. We’ll just try and mix and match (the defensive coverages) and hope we make the right calls.”