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He flung his helmet away in disgust and muttered angrily as he paced the field. It was as if the quarterback had thrown a bad pass in the Super Bowl instead of during midweek drills.

"That's the same thing he's been doing since he came here in 1999," offensive coordinator Greg Knapp said. "I used to get worried. I use to say, `Don't beat yourself up.' But that's just his way of playing the game."

Garcia did his angry young man routine frequently Sunday, even though the 49ers handled the Chicago Bears 49-7. The way Knapp sees it, the quarterback had reason to seethe. The 49ers' offense failed to maximize its chances, with the blowout victory coming mostly behind special teams and defense.

The 49ers had just one sustained touchdown drive -- a seven-play, 71-yard trek in the first quarter. The other touchdowns came after two turnovers and a blocked punt, with scoring drives of 6, 18 and 25 yards.

Twice, the offense started inside the Bears' 40 and settled for field goals.

They plan on doing better Sunday. That's why Garcia was so animated when he floated a pass too low for fullback Fred Beasley to catch near the goal line during practice.

"I think what we have to do with the Chicago game is to learn from the mistakes that we made," Garcia said. "We need to improve and learn to work on certain things that are going to make us a better team and then take that to St. Louis."

Perhaps history is the reason Garcia already has his game face on.

The former CFL star, whose career passer rating of 89.8 ranks fourth in NFL history, has struggled in his four games on the road against the St. Louis Rams with a 43.6 rating.

Garcia is tops in league history with a 97 to 44 touchdown-to-interception ratio has just three touchdowns and seven interceptions at the Edward Jones Dome. He said it is imperative that the 49ers get off to a good start.

"It's important for us to go out there and get a good start and somewhat quiet the crowd down," Garcia said. "They're going to be loud. We understand the environment we're going into so it's going to be important to try to limit or eliminate mistakes as much as possible and hopefully play good football from the beginning."

Also of interest. ...

According to the Sports XChange, Kevan Barlow is being used in more one-back sets and different formations, which is a change from last season when he was used almost exclusively in two-back sets. Barlow had 15 carries for 62 yards in the opener.

And finally. ... Jed Weaver made his first start with the 49ers and saw extensive playing time. Weaver was held without a catch and had only one pass thrown his way.