Same As The Old Boss

The 49ers simply needed to win on Sunday in order to lock down their second consecutive NFC West title, but they also needed some help in order to get a much-needed bye from the first round of the playoffs. Though things started a bit slow, they managed to do their part, finishing their regular season with a 27-13 victory over the lowly Arizona Cardinals to finish 11-4-1, good enough to win that Division Title.

Though the end result was good, the game wasn't exactly the 49ers most sterling of efforts. A slow start saw the 49ers go 3-and-out on each of their first three possessions, while the Cardinals, behind 4th string Quarterback Brian Hoyer, parlayed a couple of drives into a couple of Field Goals, breaking in front 6-0. The 49ers appeared slow, as if they were still  hung over from the beating they took in Seattle last Sunday. David Akers, who'd already missed a troubling number of kicks this season, missed two more in the first half, calling his reliability into question. All this was troublesome, especially considering that if they somehow lost to Arizona, while Seattle beat the St. Louis Rams, the 49ers would go from Division Championship to playing a road playoff game next Weekend. I was also tuned in to the game on my phone, something that hasn't brought the 49ers much luck this season. If things got worse, I was seriously considering shutting things off out of superstition.

But with certain doom staring them in the face, the 49ers responded much as they have all season: by striking quickly and regaining control of the game. This time, it was a pair of passes from Colin Kaepernick to Michael Crabtree, which happened on consecutive plays and spanned 80 yards, giving the 49ers the lead in the blink of an eye and settling everyone down.

It's taken a few years, and Crabtree still gets somewhat lost in the shuffle among bigger names on other teams with flashier numbers, but Crabtree ended up with an incredibly underrated great season. He was already known as a great route runner with sure hands, but this season, he took The Leap into a clutch receiver who's been able to make the big play. It seems as though it's a regular occurrence that Crabtree is making a key catch to convert a 3rd down, or breaking a tackle and turning a short gain into a long one. Crabtree saved his best game of the season for the finale, catching 8 passes for 172 yards and a pair of touchdowns, finishing the season with 85 catches, 1,105 yards and 9 touchdowns, all career bests. He also became the first 49er receiver since Terrell Owens 10 seasons ago to top 1,000 yards. Crabtree drew some heat for underperforming in the postseason last year. It appears likely that this won't happen again. He's clearly established himself as the best receiver on the team, and perhaps one of the top pass catchers in the league.

With the lead, the 49ers were once again able to do what they do best, control the clock and let their defense wreak some havoc, which they did. Even Akers righted himself, kicking a pair of Field Goals in the second half . Frank Gore got himself going on the ground, with an assist from LaMichael James, who has really impressed in the absence of Kendall Hunter, becoming a sparkplug on Special Teams and chipping in with several key runs. Crabtree's second touchdown, a beauty of a touch pass from Kaepernick, extended the lead, and Gore's score early in the 4th quarter sealed up the victory. Seattle had some trouble with the Rams, but although they emerged victorious, they'll be the ones going on the road for the Playoffs.

With the division now secured, the 49ers and I now turned our attention to the Green Bay Packers/Minnesota Vikings tilt. The 49ers needed a Packers loss in order to pick up that first round bye, and a sorely needed chance to rest and recuperate for the Playoffs. The Vikings, who knocked off the 49ers way back in Week 3, needed a win in order to simply make the Playoffs. The game was a study in contrast, between the Vikings Adrian Peterson running the ball down the Packers' throats and Aaron Rodgers passing at will. Ultimately, it was Peterson who would win the day, as his superhuman 199 yard effort paved the way for the Vikings to win on a last second Field Goal, getting them into the playoffs where they get to face the same Packers next Saturday while the 49ers get to watch and await the winner.

For the second year in a row, the 49ers have won their Division and managed to lock up the NFC's #2 seed in the playoffs. Last year, they got to the NFC Championship. This year, a team that now has that Playoff experience appears primed to hopefully make it further. They've had a much more uneven season than 2011, when they got hot and things just seemed to snowball from there. This year, they haven't had that really great hot streak. They've had good games, and certainly their big wins have made them feel much higher than last year. But they've also had some troubling losses as well, something they didn't see much of last year. Seattle's surging second half kept the division race much tighter than it was last year. Instead of being able to relax over the season's final few weeks, they had to play everything out to the last game before they had sewn everything up. It wasn't likely that they were going to roll off the same 13-3 record they had last year, and 11-4-1 isn't that much of a drop off. All things considered, it's nice to have put together 24 wins under Jim Harbaugh, and being the #2 seed in the NFC both years certainly puts them among the NFL's elite teams. Hopefully this year, they can finish the job.

So, the 49ers season will continue on Saturday night, January 12th, with a Home Playoff game in Prime Time in the Divisional round. Crazy things have been known to happen in the NFL Playoffs, but the odds seem to dictate that their most likely opponent will be the Green Bay Packers, against whom the 49ers started their season with a statement victory on their Home Field. Until then, they've got the week off, the injured can heal up and the remainder of the team, certainly weary from a 17-week grind can rejuvenate themselves and begin a march towards the franchise's 6th Super Bowl Title.

Two Plays

With just over 6 minutes remaining in the 3rd Quarter on Sunday Night, the 49ers appeared well on their way to a major statement victory. They were blowing out the Patriots, they of the legend of Tom Brady and Bill Belichick, and their 5 AFC Championships and 3 Super Bowl Victories, of the 10-3 record and another Division Championship, of the record-setting offense. They had forced the Patriots into a series of mistakes, and although they themselves hadn't always capitalized, they'd done enough to race out to a 31-3 lead, which appeared virtually insurmountable given how well their defense had been playing. They had intercepted Brady twice and forced two fumbles. Offensively, though they had several sloppy moments, including a fumble by Delanie Walker inside the New England 10, and another missed Field Goal from Akers, they were having little trouble. Colin Kaepernick came out firing, undaunted by the cold, rainy weather, and tore the Patriots pass defense apart for 3 Touchdowns. Things were great.

With 6 minutes and 43 seconds remaining in the 4th Quarter, Danny Woodhead took a handoff from Tom Brady at the San Francisco 1 yard line. The entire 49ers defense had muscled up in the middle, expecting a Brady sneak. Instead, Woodhead slipped to his left and walked into the end zone untouched. This New England score tied the game at 31.

In the span of less than one game quarter of time, the Patriots had managed 4 consecutive Touchdown drives around 3 consecutive 3-and-out drives from the 49ers. This game that had appeared a cakewalk had all of a sudden gotten away from the 49ers, and now they were in danger of being on the wrong end of what would tie the greatest comeback in NFL History (a record these same 49ers set back in 1980). The Patriots offense finally kicked into their regular high gear, and their defense, suspect most of the night, adjusted and eventually stopped the 49ers cold, forcing Kaepernick into scrambles, bad passes and sacks. As a whole, the 49ers were reeling, and not only was the game slipping away, but perhaps the entire season was starting to fade as well. A loss would have meant that the 49ers would have merely a half game lead over the Seahawks, whom they are traveling to Seattle to play on yet another primetime affair next Sunday. A loss in Seattle, and the 49ers would no longer lead the division, and a playoff berth would be a dicey proposition. To say things looked bleak was an understatement. This was right on the verge of a full-blown disaster.

And in two plays, everything was fixed.

LaMichael James, the rookie Running Back who hadn't been active much this season until Kendall Walker's injury, had also taken over for Hunter on Kickoffs. A speedy, elusive player, James was deserving of whatever opportunity he could get his hands on. And in this crucial situation, he knew a short return wouldn't cut it. Pinned in their own end, the 49ers had struggled to do much of anything while the Patriots were storming back. To this point, their second half offense had consisted of a pair of one-play drives. They needed a jolt, something that would give them good field position to start. And James delivered a huge return, following a lane-clearing block from Delanie Walker and scampering 62 yards to the New England 38 Yard Line. One play later, the ball was in the End Zone. Kaepernick, facing a big blitz from the Patriots, threw a short screen pass out to Michael Crabtree, who shook a tackle from the only New England Defender anywhere close to him, Kyle Arrington, and ran the remainder of the 38 yards to Paydirt. The 49ers regained the lead 38-31, and although they still had 6 minutes of game to go, the Patriots didn't have another comeback left in them, eventually falling in a wild 41-34 affair that lasted nearly 4 hours.

Just like that, the 49ers had taken back the game, taken back the momentum, and perhaps taken back their season. A loss would have undone every bit of good that they had accomplished in this game and pretty much everything they had accomplished under Colin Kaepernick these past few weeks. In reality, little blame could have been put on Kaepernick, short of his inability to handle a direct snap from Center Jonathan Goodwin. In terrible conditions, Kaepernick came out and zipped passes through the rain that were almost always on target, save for one Interception early in the 3rd Quarter that was of little consequence. Though it was his final Touchdown pass that proved to be most important, the other three he threw were pretty key as well. Without his work, and the help he received from Frank Gore and Michael Crabtree (and even Randy Moss, who opened the scoring with a long Touchdown catch), the 49ers wouldn't have been in the position of having such a large lead to cough up.

The Defense comes away from this game looking less than great, considering they were the prime culprits in the loss of a 28-point lead. But, on the other hand, it wasn't as though they gave up a 28-point lead to some piker, this was Tom Brady and the Patriots. They have made an art form out of the No-Huddle offense, and few Quarterbacks have Brady's killer instinct. Brady ended up throwing 65 passes on the night, and the Patriots ran 92 plays, an astronomical number. But once the 49ers took back the lead and took back the momentum, the wind appeared to be let out of the Patriots' sails. Brady would be sacked twice on the possession following Crabtree's score, and after another 3-and-out from the 49ers, Brady ended up badly overthrowing Woodhead on a 4th and short play, giving the ball back to the 49ers deep in New England's territory. By the time the Pats had the ball for a final possession, they were the ones in the desperate situation, and eventually, the clock just ran out on them.

So, no, this was not the prettiest win for the 49ers. But it was a statement nonetheless. The Patriots are notorious for their unparalleled record of success both in their home stadium and late in the season. The 49ers proved themselves hearty enough to go cross-country, into a hostile environment in bad weather and come away with a victory. Not many teams have been able to sock the Patriots in the mouth the way the 49ers did for most of the game, and fewer still have the fortitude to be able to get up off the mat and fight back after blowing a lead as quickly as they did. So, rather than heading into Sunday night's Divisional Championship Showdown in Seattle reeling and hoping to survive, the 49ers come in on a high, having already won a big time road game under the Prime Time lights, having assured themselves of a spot in the Playoffs, and continuing to be in the drivers seat in the  NFC West. One victory in their final two games will clinch the Division, and two victories will earn them a first-round bye. At this point, the 49ers appear ready to do win by any means necessary. Sometimes, that's what it takes.