While Reeves' presence on the sideline may have inflated his team, the first play of the game from scrimmage deflated the opposition.
Young or no Young, the 49ers, owners of the No. 1 rushing offense in the league, knew they were going to have to run. And that meant putting the ball in the hands of their leading rusher, Garrison Hearst (1,570 yards).
That's just what Young did on the first play. It turned out to be the last play for Hearst.
Heading off left tackle, Hearst picked up seven yards before he was spun around by Atlanta defensive end Chuck Smith. As Hearst went down, his cleats appeared to catch on the artificial turf, bending his left leg so badly he broke it.
That meant Terry Kirby would have to assume Hearst's role. Except on a punt return in the first quarter, Kirby was kicked in the leg and suffered a bruise that limited his effectiveness.
"If Terry was feeling good," said 49er Coach Steve Mariucci, "I don't think it would have been as damaging. He's a tough guy, but we didn't know if we could rely on him with the leg the way it was."
Kirby wound up as the 49ers' leading rusher, but he finished with only 22 yards on a day when San Francisco totaled 46, the lowest total allowed by Atlanta in a postseason game.
Meanwhile, on the other side, Jamal Anderson, the pride of El Camino Real High in Woodland Hills and the NFL's second-leading rusher this season with 1,846 yards, had no problem doing his thing.
On a day when he would finish with 113 yards on the ground, Anderson scored the game's first two touchdowns, one on a two-yard burst, the other on a 34-yard run that culminated with Anderson diving into the end zone after fighting off defensive back Merton Hanks.
It was still 14-0 late in the first half when the Falcons appeared to have come up with a play that boosted them into a 21-0 lead. With a first and 10 at the Atlanta 47-yard line, Young tossed a lateral to Kirby that the 49er running back dropped. He fell on it, as did Falcon linebacker Henri Crockett. Then the ball popped up loose and Smith grabbed it and ran all the way to the 49er end zone.
That brought a roar from the crowd that quickly died when it was ruled that the ball was dead at the point of the fumble, Atlanta gaining possession.
An instant later, the roar was one of boos after the officials changed their ruling and said that the ball was actually dead when Kirby fell on it, allowing the 49ers to maintain possession.
