RAM NOTES : Disrespectful Bailey Gets an Interception

SAN FRANCISCO — Cornerback Robert Bailey, who became a starter when Todd Lyght injured his shoulder against Miami, got his first interception Sunday when he stepped in front of Jerry Rice and then weaved 24 yards for a touchdown.

Bailey, never at a loss for confidence or words, on how to play one of the game’s greatest receivers: “I didn’t respect him and lay off him. Too many defensive backs respect him and that’s why they get in trouble.”

Quarterback Steve Young made the mistake of making two pump fakes before delivering the ball, and Bailey had a full head of steam toward the end zone when he snatched the ball intended for Rice.

“After I caught the ball, I told myself, ‘I gotta score.’ I played running back (at Miami’s Southridge High) and today I turned on my running-back ability and got the touchdown.”

Slip-sliding away: Keeping on your feet seemed to be one of the major challenges facing players Sunday. A number of plays ended with a ballcarrier falling on his fanny without being hit.

Rice changed his cleats at halftime, but tight end Brent Jones said the infield dirt at one end of the field was the biggest problem.

“I really don’t think the turf is that bad,” Jones said. “I love the (San Francisco) Giants and I really hope they stay in town. But I hate that infield dirt. It’s like I have a magnet for that dirt. I’m always sliding around down there.”

It was a dirty-but-productive day for Jones, however. He had four catches for 89 yards.

Shirt o’ the day: Spotted in the second deck at Candlestick Park was a fan wearing a T-shirt that read: “Everett Eats Quiche.”

On a roll: If, in fact, Jim Everett did have quiche for breakfast, he might want to eat it every Sunday. The Ram quarterback completed his first 12 passes and probably would have made it 13 consecutive completions if Henry Ellard hadn’t fallen on a sideline pattern in the third quarter.

Everett then completed his next two passes before a well-thrown ball bounced off the hands of tight end Jim Price, then off linebacker Bill Romanowski and into the hands of linebacker Keith DeLong.

Five plays later, Young sprinted eight yards for a touchdown to tie the score, 17-17.

In an early rush: The 49ers led, 10-7, at halftime, but had they kept running the ball and not bothered to pass, it might have been more.

San Francisco rushed the ball eight times in the first quarter. The 49ers gained at least three yards on every running play--including running back Ricky Watters’ three-yard touchdown run--and had three runs of 10 or more yards. In the second quarter, they mixed in runs of six, 10 and 16 yards.

The 49ers averaged 6.9 yards per rush in the first half.

Robert Delpino suffered a knee injury early in the second half that could involve anterior cruciate ligament damage, which could sideline the Ram running back for months.

Delpino had to be helped off the field, dragging his left knee under him, and team doctors are scheduled to perform a more thorough examination today.

Delpino suffered the injury when he appeared to be hit by 49er linebacker Tim Harris’ helmet on the knee cap.

On the Rams’ last score-tying drive, culminating in Everett’s nine-yard pass to Flipper Anderson in the back of the end zone with 1:50 left, Everett said he felt relaxed calling his own plays in the hurry-up offense.

Everett, who usually has his plays sent in from the sideline, completed five of his six passes on the drive for 51 yards and handed off once to Cleveland Gary for an 18-yard gain.

“I felt very good about going into a two-minute situation,” Everett said. “I called the plays going down the field, I felt good about that. I feel encouraged that hopefully I’ll have an opportunity to call more in the future.

“Actually, the touchdown was a play I called. It doesn’t get down to who’s calling the play. I feel comfortable about the plays called. But we executed it.”

Pictures of Lilly: Snapshot No. 1: San Francisco’s Jones reaching over the head of Ram cornerback Sammy Lilly to snare a pass that he will turn into a 43-yard gain.

“I still can’t believe he caught that ball,” Lilly said.

Snapshot No. 2: Lilly reaching out in vain while Rice runs down a seemingly overthrown ball and hauls it in, nonchalantly, with his right hand for a 26-yard gain to the Ram five.

“I’m still amazed he caught that ball,” Lilly said.

Those two catches set up the 49ers for the winning points, coming moments later on Mike Cofer’s tie-breaking field goal.

“Wasn’t I right there with him?” Lilly asked reporters who had seen replays of the Rice reception. “I was stretching as far as I could. I thought the ball (pass) was incomplete. I look up and he’s got the ball. I still don’t know how he caught it.”

It was that kind of drive for the Rams, and for Lilly, who joined the Rams only when Lyght dislocated his shoulder and was placed on injured reserve.

Welcome back to Candlestick, Sammy.

“This,” Lilly said, “is going to make me a tougher player.”

Times staff writer Tim Kawakami contributed to this story.