As just the fourth 49ers quarterback to start a playoff game in the last 30 years, Alex Smith will be measured against his predecessors.

Joe Montana won his debut as a postseason starter, beating the New York Giants 38-24. So did Steve Young, a 20-13 winner over the Washington Redskins. The wins allowed both men to put the triumphs in their rearview mirror and move on to the next challenge.

Jeff Garcia, however, lost to the Green Bay Packers 25-15 in Lambeau Field and can recount in painstaking detail how the 49ers came up short.

The moral of the story is that losing will hurt Smith a lot more than beating the New Orleans Saints on Saturday will make him feel good.

The three former 49ers quarterbacks are of the belief that minimizing mistakes and working within the offensive system is Smith’s best course of action for success against New Orleans.

“Obviously, you want to be the reason that you win,” Young said in a phone interview. “But you can’t be the reason that you lose. If you are, you’re just stealing from everybody. And that’s different from the regular season.”

At a panel discussion commemorating the 30th anniversary of “The Catch,” Montana said Smith, 27, has shown the restraint to be a good playoff quarterback.

“Sometimes you have to be patient,” Montana said. “Sometimes you’re going to get a big play downfield, but if you don’t have it, that’s what (Smith) is doing well, I think. And I think that’s a key for that offense … when he gets in a rhythm, he’s getting the ball out of his hands, making good decisions.”

Montana had his first playoff start at age 25, the initial step in the 49ers’ surprising march to their first championship in Super Bowl XVI.

Included in a 20-for-31, 304-yard passing effort against the Giants were touchdown passes of 8 yards to Charle Young and 58 yards to Freddie Solomon.

Young was 31 when he started against Washington and had been in playoff games before while backing up Montana.

Passing for 227 yards and rushing for 73 on eight carries while beating the Redskins, Young remembered the bar being set so high that losing the first game wasn’t an option. He threw touchdown passes of 5 yards to wide receiver John Taylor and 16 yards to tight end Brent Jones.

“It was my first (playoff) start, but it wasn’t new to me,” Young said. “I think we were playing so well that I expected us to do really well. I mean, you don’t lose playoff games, you win Super Bowls. It was like, ‘If we don’t do this, we’re in trouble.’ “

While the playoffs raise the stakes, Young warns against trying to do too much.

“I knew that I didn’t want to try and win it in the first drive,” Young said. “You don’t want the finality of the playoffs to get in your head. You just want to play the game and make sure your team gets a chance to win and that you don’t do something goofy and keep that from happening.”

The 49ers lost to the Dallas Cowboys 30-20 in the NFC Championship game the following week.

Garcia, 31 for his first NFL playoff start, had led the Calgary Stampeders to the Grey Cup in the Canadian Football League in 1998 but said in a phone interview, “I don’t think anything can prepare you for the stage that is presented come playoff time in the NFL.”

The 49ers were 12-4, finishing second to the St. Louis Rams in the NFC West, bouncing back from seasons of 4-12 and 6-10 in 1999 and 2000.

Garcia remembers going out to dinner with his parents the night before the game, taking in the tradition at Lambeau Field, and then having a rude awakening on his first snap from center.

After Garcia recognized a coverage where he felt sure wide receiver Terrell Owens would be open down the field, Green Bay defensive tackle Gilbert Brown — all 345 pounds of him — broke through and drove Garcia into the ground.

“He slams me into the frozen turf, blood is running down my neck,” Garcia said. “You look at the film, and the safety sits down low and Owens is running right by the guy. The first play of the game could have been an 80-yard touchdown. Instead, I’m on the ground, trying to recover.”

The 49ers tied the game 15-15 in the fourth quarter on Garcia’s 14-yard pass to Tai Streets and trailed 18-15 when he saw another opening.

Garcia spotted Owens deep along the sideline, and his slightly underthrown ball was tipped by cornerback Mike McKenzie, with Tyrone Williams getting the deflection at the 2-yard line.

“They go 98 yards and put the ball in the end zone, and it’s a 10- or 14-point swing,” Garcia said. “It shows you can’t even be just a little bit off, and you have be opportunistic when the moment presents itself. In the playoffs, if you don’t take advantage of opportunities you’re one and done.”