49ERS Hobbled and hurting, but no need to panic

San Francisco has a magic number of two to win the NFC West.
By TOM WILLIAMS
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
As the San Francisco 49ers pile up close-call victories, injuries continue to mount in their already wounded defensive secondary.
In Sunday's 31-24 victory over the Seattle Seahawks, safeties John Keith (broken thumb) and Tony Parrish (sprained elbow) couldn't finish, prompting the team -- owned by John and Denise DeBartolo York of Canfield -- to sign Tim Hauck, a 13-year veteran recently released by the Philadelphia Eagles.
"He has more experience than our entire defensive backfield combined," 49ers coach Steve Mariucci said Tuesday in a telephone interview from the 49ers' headquarters in Santa Clara, Calif.
Mariucci has experience with Hauck from when they were together in Green Bay in the early 1990s.
Won't play Sunday
Safeties Zach Bronson (foot) and Ronnie Heard (broken ankle) remain on the team's injured list and Mariucci says they won't play Sunday in Dallas against the Cowboys.
"They might be available for Green Bay [on Dec. 15]," Mariucci said.
Another safety, Kevin Curtis, was placed on injured reserve before the season began.
The Niners also lost rookie linebacker and special teams player Rasheem Saalam with a strained quadriceps. He's questionable for Sunday.
The victory over Seattle at Candlestick Point had 49ers fans' hearts pounding once again after the Niners led 31-10 in the fourth quarter, then saw the Seahawks score two touchdowns and recover an onside kick.
Rashad Holman's interception of a Matt Hasselbeck pass thwarted Seattle's rally and gave the 49ers (8-4) a three-game lead over the St. Louis Rams (5-7) with four to play.
Sunday's game was San Francisco's fourth in the past five that was either settled in overtime or the final 90 seconds of regulation. In those four games plus their opener against the New York Giants, the 49ers have seen late leads collapse to force overtime or big leads evaporate into close calls.
Pattern
"There certainly are a lot of close games in the league right now," Mariucci said. "Something like a third of all games this year have been won by a field goal or less."
Mariucci says the young players with whom the 49ers rebuilt themselves after a salary cap purge in 1999 benefit from tight finishes.
"They get to experience crunch time and that's adding to our experience level," said Mariucci whose team played in four overtime games in 2001 and two this year. "The good thing about a young team playing in so many tight games is that it teaches the benefit of finishing strong."
Another lesson Mariucci's squad learned was the lift James Williams gave the team with a punt return for a touchdown.
"That play was huge, just like what Brian Mitchell's return against us did for the Eagles," said Mariucci, referring to their blowout loss to Philadelphia on Nov. 25. "His return provided us with a tremendous momentum swing and gave us renewed life going into halftime. We hadn't had a punt or a kick returned for a touchdown in a long while and it gave us some spunk."
Up next is the 49ers' third game at Texas Stadium in three seasons.
Mariucci is hoping for a better result than when wide receiver Terrell Owens' antics on the Star at midfield in the 41-24 win in 2000 led to a suspension and last year's 27-21 loss in late December that cost the 49ers a home playoff game against the Green Bay Packers in the wild-card round.
Downplaying it
Mariucci downplayed last year's defeat, saying, "They beat us -- it's as simple as that. Any one of our four losses kept us out of playing on our homefield.
"The Cowboys are very much improved on defense, they showed that to the Redskins on Thanksgiving. And Chad Hutchinson is settling in at quarterback," said Mariucci who added that the Cowboys' coming off a 10-day break have an advantage.
"It's the time of year when you'd like to give a nicked-up guy such as [tackle] Derrick Deese [ankle] an extra day off or two to rehab and rest," Mariucci said.
Should the Niners take a lead on the Cowboys, their eyes will glance at the scoreboard to see how the Rams are faring against the Chiefs in Kansas City. With a magic number of two to clinch the NFC West Division and a home playoff game, the Niners would earn their first division crown since 1998 with a win and a St. Louis loss.
williams@vindy.com