NFL PLAYOFFS : Either a Mismatch or a Misjudgment : NFC: Everything points to a lopsided victory today for 49ers over Bears.

SAN FRANCISCO —  The Chicago Bears are playing the San Francisco 49ers in an NFC divisional playoff game, and before the question arises: Chicago’s 73-0 NFL championship game victory over Washington in 1940 is the largest margin of victory in a postseason game--to date.

That could be the halftime score today in Candlestick Park.

The Great Mismatch features Steve Young, Jerry Rice, Richard Dent, Ricky Watters, Brent Jones and Deion Sanders versus a lunch-bucket brigade of nobodies.

‘They are great, all-pros, big names,” Bear running back Raymont Harris said. “They have great commercials and I like to watch them.

“But when it comes time to line it up, and it’s me going against them, they’re no different than me.”

Well, that’s not exactly true:

--The 49ers scored 36 more touchdowns than the Bears this season.

--The 49ers are sending nine players to the Pro Bowl, the Bears none.

--Young threw 35 touchdown passes; Bear starting quarterback Steve Walsh had 10.

--Jeff Graham had an outstanding season, leading the Bears with 68 catches, including four for scores; Rice had 44 more catches and nine more touchdowns.

--The Bears averaged 3.3 yards a rush, the 49ers 3.9 yards. And the Bears were last in defense against the run, surrendering 4.4 yards a carry.

--In first-half action, the 49ers have outscored the Bears, 279-101.

“When you look at San Francisco, you’d be an idiot to think you will have a whole lot of confidence,” Bear Coach Dave Wannstedt said. “But we’re not basing our confidence on watching them. We have to feel good about ourselves, then play and see what happens.”

The Bears, who borrowed Jimmy Johnson’s blueprint for success in Dallas, lack only Aikman, Smith, Irvin and sideline-to-sideline speed on defense.

“It’s very similar to what the Cowboys are doing,” said Ken Norton, the 49er linebacker who played with Dallas. “You look at that defense, it’s almost the spitting image of what the Cowboys are doing. It’s just that they might be a couple of years behind the Cowboys.”

Wannstedt, who took over a year ago after working 13 years with Johnson, admitted, “I was shocked at the offensive talent level of the Bears when I got here.”

Bear scoring is up almost four points a game this season over last year, but Chicago is still short of averaging 17 points a game. Walsh, who replaced Erik Kramer earlier this season, compiled a 9-3 mark as a starter, but he is one poor half away from being pulled in favor of Kramer.

“The 49ers are a great team, and for us to have a chance to compete, to win, we’re going to have to come up with some big plays somehow,” Wannstedt said. “We won 10 games doing things a certain way, and I’m from the old school and hate to make a lot of changes, but we’re such a big underdog. You just feel as if you might have to take some chances in certain situations.”

Beyond gimmicks and fake punts or field goals, the Bears’ best hope might be to catch the 49ers napping, or peeking ahead to next week’s presumed NFC championship game showdown with Dallas. Unfortunately for the Bears, the 49ers have been alerted.

The Vikings, another NFC Central Division lightweight at 8-7 in 1987, were decisive underdogs upon arrival in San Francisco for a playoff game, and the 49ers had just outscored their last three opponents, 134-7. But the Vikings prevailed, 36-24, and the 49ers have been reminded to maintain business as usual.

“The weather’s similar, our record is similar, the way the opponent won last week is similar,” offensive tackle Harris Barton said. “I just hope I’m not sitting here after the game and saying, ‘I told you so.’ ”

The loss to Minnesota is considered one of the darkest days in 49er history, and as if San Francisco needed any more ammunition, it has been fed to them daily this week.

“The ‘surprise’ or ‘overconfident’ angle doesn’t exist,” Jones said. “I’m absolutely sure about that because we’ve been talking about it now for four days. We’re ready, believe me.”

The 49ers won 10 games in a row before allowing their junior varsity to finish out this season in Minnesota in a 21-14 defeat. During their 10-game winning streak, the 49ers averaged 36.4 points a game, while yielding an average of 16.5.

“There are a lot of people elsewhere who run the same offense,” said Young, who was selected the league’s most valuable player this week. “I just think it’s our intensity and our talent level.

“I think you have basically people that are possessed on this team to succeed and be the best in the league, Jerry Rice being the epitome. That’s all we think about, being the best in the game.”

While known best for their offense, the 49ers improved dramatically this season on defense with the addition of linebackers Gary Plummer and Norton, Sanders and rookie defensive lineman Bryant Young. Dent, who came from Chicago during the off-season, missed most of the year because of a knee injury but has been cleared to greet the Bears.

“It’s not personal,” Dent said. “The personal thing is that I gave Chicago 11 years and Chicago responded to what I gave them as a player. What’s personal is winning a championship. That’s personal, and the Bears are in the way.”