Jim McMahon threw for just 26 yards in more than a half of play and was happy.
Billy Joe Tolliver nearly engineered a come-from-behind victory for San Diego, then moaned that he "stunk it up."And the big story was five San Francisco 49ers who weren't even on the sidelines.
It was an unusual night at the ballpark Wednsday when the 49ers scored a double victory: a 17-14 preseason win over the Chargers and the announcement of contract settlements with five holdout starters, all but Jeff Fuller and Tim McKyer.
Both teams had reason to be encouraged after a lackluster, error-filled contest - the byproduct of only a three-day recovery period between games.
McMahon, a Chicago Bear until last Friday, put his stamp on the San Diego offense despite his minimal yardage on seven short completions in 13 attempts.
"McMahon was amazing for two practices," said Chargers coach Dan Henning, whose team fell to 1-2 with one preseason game left.
"For McMahon to step in there tonight and accomplish what he did is a feat in itself," echoed 49ers' safety Ronnie Lott, whose first-half interception return put San Francisco in position to take a lead it never lost.
"You have to measure players by their heart, and McMahon's got a huge one," he said. "It will be really interesting to see what he's able to do when he gets familiar with that team's system."
McMahon's No. 9 was familiar enough to the 54,471 fans at Candlestick Park, who booed him loudly when he trotted onto the field for his second game as a Charger and his first start.
The injury-prone veteran was happier about his health than his performance, feeling so good he didn't even bother to wear his knee brace.
"Last time I felt this good was 1977, my freshman year in college," he said. "I wasn't hurting at all."
It was not McMahon but rookie Tolliver, however, who brought the Chargers back after they'd fallen behind 17-0 in the third quarter. Gill Byrd was the playmaker on defense with interceptions on back-to-back 49ers drives.
Tolliver, a former Texas Tech star, appears to have a good shot at the No. 2 spot behind McMahon after completing 9 of 15 passes for 138 yards and two touchdowns, with one interception. Only a disputed holding call on an apparent first down at the 49ers' 28 in the waning minutes halted the drive for the potential game-winning score.
Steve Young played most of the way for the 49ers and threw a 2-yard touchdown pass to rookie tight end Wesley Walls for one of San Francisco's two touchdowns; the other was a 90-yard kickoff return by Terrence Flagler, the team's preseason MVP. But Young was depressed about his two interceptions - he only had three in his first two years with the 49ers - and his continuing status as Joe Montana's backup.
"I'm very discouraged about my interceptions," he said. "But it felt good to get time with the first unit.
"I do not enjoy sitting. I'm not real happy with the situation here. Do I want to be traded? No - I'll just press on."