SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- Just last January, the San Francisco 49ers and Atlanta Falcons met with a berth in the NFC championship game at stake. Their rematch Sunday is a far cry from that encounter. "It's quite a difference," 49ers defensive lineman Junior Bryant said. "Last year, we played for who comes out on top. Now, we're sort of playing for who's not going to be at the bottom."

Both the 49ers (3-9) and Falcons (3-9) saw their fortunes take a tumble in the aftermath of injuries to offensive stars.

Atlanta running back Jamal Anderson went down with a season-ending knee injury on his 19th carry of the year in Week 2 against Dallas and the 49ers lost Steve Young for the rest of the season when a head blow at Arizona left him with his fourth concussion in three years.

"It's just hard to believe," Atlanta coach Dan Reeves said. "You take one year, and you see where you are. But you lose Steve Young and a Jamal Anderson, and that could happen to anyone. They had some other things compound it, too. But it's the type of league that you can take a St. Louis and go from last to first. Or, first to last."

San Francisco also has been without Garrison Hearst, who hasn't been able to play since breaking his ankle early in the 20-18 playoff loss to Atlanta, though his replacement, Charlie Garner, enters Sunday needing just 75 yards for his first 1,000-yard season.

Atlanta, which parlayed its postseason victory over San Francisco into a win over Minnesota in the conference title game and its first Super Bowl appearance, ran into trouble from the outset, starting the season 0-4.

Two of Atlanta's three wins have come at the expense of New Orleans (2-10), including a 35-12 decision last week that snapped a three-game losing streak.

San Francisco lost its eighth straight 44-30 at Cincinnati last week, and a loss Sunday would match the 49ers' team-record nine-game losing streak from Oct. 8-Dec. 3, 1978.

It's a distinction the 49ers, who broke out of an offensive rut last week with a season high in points, want to avoid.

"I think we need to go out and show the fans at Candlestick that we can win a ballgame and that we're not going to be a team heading for continuous disaster," said 49ers quarterback Jeff Garcia, who returned from a three-week demotion to throw for a career-best 437 yards and three touchdowns last week.

"Obviously, we'd like to break any sort of negative streak. I don't think we're losing for lack of effort but unfortunately, things haven't been clicking for us. We want to turn this thing around this weekend and hopefully we can."

Garcia dismissed the notion that the 49ers would be better off losing the rest of the way and improving their draft position.

"I don't think this team expects or wants to have the No. 1 pick. I think this team has more respect for itself than that," he said. "We want to finish it off with four straight wins. The draft will take care of itself."

Atlanta quarterback Chris Chandler said while the playoffs are out of reach, the Falcons also can take some of the sting out of their disappointing season.

"It's kind of the same situation we were in in 1997," he said. "We started off 1-7 and strung together a really good second half and I really think that's what carried us into the '98 season and going on to the Super Bowl. So, closing really strong, getting some confidence and feeling good about your team going into the offseason is really important. We saw just what can happen if you do that."

ATLANTA Season schedule and results

SAN FRANCISCO Season schedule and results

September 12 Minnesota L 14-17 September 20 @Dallas L 7-24 September 26 @St. Louis L 7-35 October 3 Baltimore L 13-19 October 10 @New Orleans W 20-17 October 17 St. Louis L 13-41 October 25 @Pittsburgh L 9-13 October 31 Carolina W 27-20 November 7 Jacksonville L 7-30 November 21 @Tampa Bay L 10-19 November 28 @Carolina L 28-34 December 5 New Orleans W 35-12 December 12 @San Francisco 4:15pm ET December 19 @Tennessee 1:00pm ET December 26 Arizona 1:00pm ET January 3 San Francisco 9:00pm ET

September 12 @Jacksonville L 3-41 September 19 New Orleans W 28-21 September 27 @Arizona W 24-10 October 3 Tennessee W 24-22 October 10 @St. Louis L 20-42 October 17 Carolina L 29-31 October 24 @Minnesota L 16-40 November 7 Pittsburgh L 6-27 November 14 @New Orleans L 6-24 November 21 St. Louis L 7-23 November 29 Green Bay L 3-20 December 5 @Cincinnati L 30-44 December 12 Atlanta 4:15pm ET December 18 @Carolina 4:15pm ET December 26 Washington 8:20pm ET January 3 @Atlanta 9:00pm ET

Records source: STATS, Inc.

Copyright 1999 STATS, Inc. Commercial distribution without the express written consent of STATS is prohibited.