George Seifert is getting defensive about his offense.
The 49ers coach dismissed criticism of his conservative play-calling and also said he was generally satisfied with Steve Young's performance during Monday night's 16-14 loss to the Giants.Jerry Rice, while insisting he wasn't pointing any fingers, said Tuesday he felt the 49ers were straying from what they do best - pass. He implied that the preoccupation with improving the running game and achieving a balanced attack is tipping the scale toward more conservative game plans.
"When you've got the ball and you're facing a good defense, you have to take some chances and be aggressive. We didn't do that," Rice said.
Of the 49ers' 47 plays, 24 were runs and 23 were passes, a departure from the past when pass plays typically outnumbered runs.
Rice took advantage of blown defensive coverage to catch a 73-yard touchdown pass from Young but that was his only reception. John Taylor, on the other side, caught just two passes.
Seifert said it was more the Giants' defensive style than the play-calling that limited the role of the 49ers' wideouts.
"They did a good job with their double coverage," he said. "They play an awful lot of double coverage and they took the outside routes away."
Seifert also said that if anything, he was not conservative enough.
"If I had it to do over again, there's a couple of situations I might wish I'd have run as opposed to pass," he said. "Not all of our runs were of great success but there were enough of them that we could have run a little bit more."
Young, starting in place of the injured Joe Montana, completed 12 of 22 passes for 162 yards.
"I thought Steve did well," Seifert said. "I think we're accustomed to having a high percentage of passes completed. The percentage wasn't where it might normally be but he threw a touchdown pass. He ran well. He made a number of big plays himself."
Young, who appeared somewhat jittery in the early going, threw one interception when he tried to force the ball to the well-covered Rice.
Young did have six runs for 45 yards, including a 5-yard touchdown early in the final quarter that put the 49ers ahead.
"I thought he did a good job of being a mobile, decisive quarterback from that standpoint," Seifert said.
But the 49ers' final possession was disrupted by a holding penalty and ended with two incompletions and the 49ers' sixth punt of the night, setting the stage for the Giants' game-winning drive.
"As I look at it, (Young) had the lead when he left the game," Seifert said. "It's like a pitcher with a one-run lead, that much of it was accomplished."
The Giants, taking a page from their last-second victory over San Francisco in the NFC championship game, went 60 yards in 13 plays before ending the 41/2-minute drive when Matt Bahr kicked a 35-yard field goal with five seconds remaining.
Bahr also kicked the game-winning field goal, with no time remaining, in the Giants' 15-13 NFC title win last January.
"Their plan was good and their quarterback made plays," Seifert said of Jeff Hostetler. "It was the same thing a year ago. In critical situations, he was able to come up with the plays. A lot of times we'll face quarterbacks and they don't quite have that knack. But he has that knack. We didn't get it stopped and we haven't found the formula to get it stopped."
San Francisco plays its home opener Sunday against the Chargers (0-1), losers to Pittsburgh on Sunday.