Grbac Upstages Marino Young Qb Throws For 382 Yards As 49ers Rout Dolphins

Elvis Grbac and the San Francisco 49ers upstaged Dan Marino.

Grbac threw for 382 yards and four scores, negating two touchdown passes by Marino that tied Fran Tarkenton’s career NFL record, and San Francisco produced another blowout at Joe Robbie Stadium by beating Miami 44-20 Monday night.

Even more lopsided than the 49ers’ 49-26 rout of San Diego in last season’s Super Bowl at Miami, the victory was especially impressive on the heels of their 38-20 romp past Dallas eight days earlier.

San Francisco (7-4) again won without injured quarterback Steve Young, who warmed up before the game but watched from the sideline while Grbac completed 31 of 41 passes. He improved to 3-2 as a starter this season.

The 49ers sacked Marino on the first three plays, and then it got worse for the Dolphins (6-5). Before Marino could match the career record he coveted most - Tarkenton’s 342 touchdown passes - San Francisco led 38-13.

The record-tying pass was a 4-yarder to O.J. McDuffie late in the third quarter. Marino earlier threw a 42-yard touchdown pass to Gary Clark.

Marino, who broke Tarkenton’s records for passing yardage and completions earlier this year in games Miami lost, completed 23 of 38 passes for 255 yards.

The reeling Dolphins, who have lost five of their past seven games, fell two games behind AFC East leader Buffalo.

“To go out and play like that is such a downer,” Miami coach Don Shula said. “We thought this was pivotal tonight. Now we’ve got to try to salvage the season.”

The 49ers pulled into a first-place tie with Atlanta in the NFC West.

If Miami had any thoughts of a comeback, San Francisco erased them with a 66-yard touchdown drive to open the second half.

49ers 44, Dolphins 20

San Francisco 7 17 14 6 - 44

Miami 0 7 13 0 - 20

First quarter

SF-Loville 3 run (Wilkins kick), 3:37.

Second quarter

Mia-Clark 42 pass from Marino (Stoyanovich kick), :11.

SF-Rice 47 pass from Grbac (Wilkins kick), 8:57.

SF-FG Wilkins 33, 12:07.

SF-Jones 23 pass from Grbac (Wilkins kick), 14:51.

Third quarter

SF-Jones 2 pass from Grbac (Wilkins kick), 4:47.

Mia-Parmalee 3 run (pass failed), 8:26.

SF-Rice 46 pass from Grbac (Wilkins kick), 9:56.

Mia-McDuffie 4 pass from Marino (Stoyanovich kick), 13:24.

Fourth quarter

SF-FG Wilkins 31, 4:56.

SF-FG Wilkins 20, 12:53.

A-73,080.

SF Mia First downs 27 20 Rushes-yards 27-121 14-52 Passing 376 256 Punt Returns 3-17 2-8 Kickoff Returns 4-105 4-88 Interceptions Ret. 1-0 0-0 Comp-Att-Int 31-41-0 26-42-1 Sacked-Yards Lost 1-6 5-22 Punts 3-41 5-36 Fumbles-Lost 1-0 2-1 Penalties-Yards 5-61 2-15 Time of Possession 33:56 26:04

Individual statistics

RUSHING - San Francisco, Loville 15-51, Ervins 8-48, Walker 3-19, Grbac 1-3. Miami, Parmalee 9-34, Kirby 4-12, Marino 1-6.

PASSING - San Francisco, Grbac 31-41-0-382. Miami, Marino 23-38-1-255, Kosar 3-4-0-23.

RECEIVING - San Francisco, Rice 8-149, Loville 8-78, Stokes 5-75, Jones 4-42, Walker 3-19, Taylor 2-20, Dalman 1-(minus 1). Miami, Kirby 8-44, McDuffie 6-66, Clark 4-89, Green 3-49, R.Hill 2-15, Parmalee 2-13, Byars 1-2.