In a sport where success is measured in championships, Jeff Garcia may not be in the same sentence as his San Francisco 49er predecessors, Steve Young and Joe Montana, but he's certainly in the same paragraph.

	Garcia got his first NFL playoff victory Sunday.

To make his mark he needs a championship -- and now he's one step closer to it. Garcia got his first NFL playoff victory Sunday, and he did it with style, orchestrating the second greatest comeback in NFL playoff history.

The 49ers were on the verge of their most embarrassing home playoff loss ever. Trailing the New York Giants by 24 points late in the third quarter, Garcia led a comeback that ranked up there with Young and Montana. He connected on 27 of 44 passes for 331 yards and three touchdowns and added an additional 60 yards and a touchdown on the ground.

"It's one of those things where you're in the park playing with your buddies," Garcia said after the game. "You try to emulate what the great ones do, what Joe Montana and Steve Young did. Now I'm that guy. Maybe some kid wants to be Jeff Garcia. That's an awesome feeling.''

Not many NFL fans knew who Garcia was in 1999, when he joined the 49ers after spending five years with the CFL's Calgary Stampeders and winning a Grey Cup in 1998. But the fast-paced CFL played to his strengths and enabled him to develop his creativity and playmaking ability.

In 2000, less than a year after taking over for the injured Young, his first full season as a starter mirrored anything Montana and Young ever did: 4,278 yards, 31 touchdowns and just 10 interceptions. Garcia, who'll turn 33 in February, also earned the first of what is now three straight Pro Bowl berths.

When you watch him, Garcia resembles a more mobile Montana. Although no one has Montana's vision of the field, Garcia floats on the field like Montana did. Young was more athletic but less graceful.

	While there is something to be said for comebacks, teams that find themselves in vulnerable positions in the playoffs are playing with fire.

A player sometimes becomes greater when he wins a championship, and Montana and Young own seven Super Bowl rings between them. But a quarterback's success rides on the sum of his parts. Comparing the 49er eras, Terrell Owens doesn't rival Jerry Rice -- at least not yet -- although his numbers may resemble Rice's at this point in his career.

Garcia doesn't have a strong No. 2 receiver like John Taylor. Kevan Barlow and Garrison Hearst are solid running backs, but neither one can match Roger Craig. The current 49ers defense lacks a dominating presence like Ronnie Lott or Charles Haley.

While there is something to be said for comebacks, teams that find themselves in vulnerable positions in the playoffs are playing with fire. Like Garcia, both Montana and Young rallied the 49ers to playoff victories. In fact, Montana did it against Cincinnati in Super Bowl XXIII. But past 49er teams didn't get down by 24 points too often.

After Sunday's victory, the 49ers may feel like they are invincible. Like they are finally hitting their stride. Like they've avoided the playoff bullet that brought down Brett Favre, Peyton Manning and the Giants. Like they've gotten their playoff scare.

Or the 49ers could be spent after an emotional win. One thing is certain: As great as Garcia was against the Giants, he needs to be equally as good Sunday against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the league's No. 1 defense.

Garcia is trying to emulate "the great ones," but regardless of the obstacles, he still needs three more wins to join them.