The Storming

Prior to Sunday, I had never actually had an opportunity to see the 49ers play in person. I've never actually been to San Francisco, and the 49ers don't play in New York very often. But this season, they were, coming to visit the Jets on Sunday, and when the opportunity to go to the game and see my team for the 1st time dropped into my lap, I jumped at it. The result was much to my approval.

It's rare that I've walked into a stadium rooting outright for the visiting team. Most of my excursions to Yankee Stadium have involved this circumstance. Sunday, I decked myself out in 49ers gear and headed out to the Meadowlands. I wasn't sure what to expect. But when I saw a group of 49ers fans in Penn Station looking for the New Jersey Transit area, I realized I wouldn't be alone. At the stadium, 49ers fans were out en masse. I was really surprised at how many red shirts and jerseys I was seeing. Huge pockets of red were present throughout the stadium. I wasn't sure if it was because the 49ers fans travel well, or there's more 49ers fans in New York than I realize, or the Jets fans just have no faith in their team. It's probably a combination of all three.The Jets fans that were there seemed to have an attitude of defeatism before the game even started. The 49ers fans were up and loud throughout the game. Most of them seemed to be pretty confident. I have to admit that I was a bit nervous; I wouldn't have wanted to come out there with all my San Francisco stuff on only to have them lose and get brutalized by hordes of Jets fans.

However, the Jets put up a mostly noncompetitive effort in getting shut out by the 49ers, 34-0. That doesn't mean that the 49ers necessarily played a perfect game, though. For most of the first half, neither offense was able to get anything going. The Jets put forth their best drive at the beginning, moving the ball well before their drive stalled. The 49ers offense kind of just slogged along, not doing anything exciting. I began to worry about a hangover from last week's game, because things seemed to be starting out in similar fashion. But the 49ers did something this week that they hadn't done at all over their first three games. They started running backup Quarterback Colin Kaepernick out there in wildcat formations, many of which seemed to work. Kaepernick burst for a 17-yard run in the 1st quarter, and ultimately scored the 49ers first Touchdown on a similar play early in the 2nd quarter. This personnel change, something the Jets have tried, with little success, with Tim Tebow, appeared to keep the Jets mostly off balance.

With the lead, the 49ers defense began to dig in and control the tempo of the game, something that has generally led to a winning effort. Well, that's exactly what happened. The 49ers defense, clearly playing angry after last week's loss, forced a punt and a pair of fumbles out of the Jets on their next three possessions. But given the turnovers and ensuing good field position, the 49ers weren't getting any points on the board. A pair of sacks on Alex Smith, who was little more than effective, led to a long missed Field Goal from David Akers, and with under a minute and 2 time outs, the 49ers opted to run down the clock instead of try for a score, and Akers Field Goal to close the half made the score 10-0. I wasn't particularly pleased, since 10 points is nothing in the NFL, and the 49ers offense just hadn't clicked at all. However, the upshot of this was that the Jets offense was just putrid, and the 49ers defense was exploiting this to the point of embarrassment.

The 2nd half is where things really got out of control. The first Jets possession of the half ended when a bad screen pass from Mark Sanchez ended up intercepted by Patrick Willis. But David Akers missed yet another Field Goal, keeping the score at 10-0. Still, the 49ers Defense didn't allow the Jets an inch. Sanchez was flinging passes aimlessly, and the restless Jets fans began chanting for Tebow. Or was it the 49ers fans chanting for Tebow? It could have been both. Either way, the Jets looked completely lifeless, and it clearly wouldn't take much more points-wise for the 49ers to put the game out of reach.

The 49ers didn't score another Touchdown until Frank Gore punched one in on a 4th down play with just over 2 minutes to go in the 3rd Quarter. That's when the Jets fans started to give up. The Jets hadn't been able to move the ball past the 49ers 25 yard line, and not at all in the 2nd half until the end of the 3rd Quarter. But on the first play of the 4th Quarter, the game was put away when Sanchez hit Santonio Holmes on a little out route. But Holmes injured his foot on the play and ended up flipping the ball aside before actually being tackled. Carlos Rogers then picked it up and returned the fumble for another Touchdown, making the score 24-0, and sending a majority of the Jets fans to the exits. And with the Jets fans departing, the 49ers fans started getting loud. The stadium was still about 1/3 full, but it was now all people in red, cheering on the 49ers. It was great. The players even noticed it too. Anthony Dixon, for one, started pointing and waving at all the fans in red when he came out for the ensuing kickoff.

There was still a quarter left to be played, but it appeared the Jets had given up completely. Instead of trying to pass and get a garbage time score, they played like a team that just wanted to get the hell out of there. But they couldn't run the ball well enough to run down the clock, and ultimately, they ended up getting a punt blocked on a 1-man rush because nobody bothered to block Larry Grant. Grant's punt block set up the 49ers final score by Kendall Hunter, making the score 34-0, much to the delight of everyone remaining at the game.

the 49ers didn't have any particular outstanding performances in this game. The winning effort was accomplished as a team, above all. It helps, I suppose, that the Jets' performance was so putrid that even the worst of teams could have handled them on this day. But you still need to make plays, and the 49ers did that. Though nobody clearly dominated, they gained 245 rushing yards as a team. On defense, though no singular player dominated, they forced 4 turnovers and kept the Jets off the board completely. I still don't think the 49ers are playing at the level they're truly capable of. But, much like their win over Detroit, when they make the plays they have to make, they're going to win, more often than not. And, for once, I can say I'm glad I was there to see it!

Believers!

It's kind of funny. Last weekend, I posted my picks, but I was somewhat undecided as to the Sunday games. I knew both home teams were not going to win. I knew I was going to pick a road team. But which one? I initially wrote that I felt the Jets and Vikings would win, just because I had a hunch. But then, I reversed myself and went with Dallas and San Diego. San Diego was the team. I had figured they would cruise to the Super Bowl. And Minnesota? I had no faith in them whatsoever. They were one of those lucky teams. Bunch of breaks and a soft schedule.

Of course, I was wrong on both counts. Had I gone with my gut, I would have been 4-0 last weekend.

Take nothing away from the Jets, though they certainly reaped the benefits of playing a Chargers team that was tight and off their game. But this appears to be what the Jets do: They keep their opponents off their game, at least as much as they can, until they can make some plays and swing the game in their favor. It's gone that way just about every time they've won, and somehow, it's managed to get them to the AFC Championship, in similar fashion to what the Giants did 2 years ago. They got a solid road win in the Wildcard round, and then a major road upset in the Divisional round. And so now they go back to Indianapolis.

Sunday, 3:00pm
New York Jets (11-7) at Indianapolis Colts (15-2)
Indianapolis, where this run basically started for the Jets, when Indy benched their entire A team and allowed the Jets to win the game, which spurred them on to this point. Indi, who seems to start 9-0 every season, and sometimes even better than that. Indy, with the best QB in the league, and a slew of fast WRs and a great TE and solid running game, and a defense that runs around and wreaks havoc. How can the Jets compete? The Jets spin machine, as I mentioned last week, is persuasive, but the X's and O's analysis can easily be discredited because Indy, much like San Diego, is simply a better team. It's not the numbers that will work for the Jets. It's the Jets ability to relax and play their game. This has happened each of the last two weekends: The Jets have played their game, run the ball, let their defense make a few plays and let Sanchez only do the minimum necessary to succeed. They keep the game within shooting distance and then, when they need to make that play, they strike. It happened in Cincinnati when Sanchez hit Keller for a long TD. It happened last week in San Diego when Jim Leonhard made a pick, which led to a TD, and then followed it up with a haymaker from Shonn Greene (not my favorite Landsman, Shawn Green). Meanwhile, the defense controlled the tempo and never let their opponent adequately respond. Yes, San Diego scored a late TD, simply because the Jets stupidly squib kicked after Greene's run, but look a little closer. The Jets let San Diego move down the field, but at no point did San Diego's receivers catch the ball and get out of bounds to stop the clock. As the moved down the field, they also lost time and by time they scored, barely 2 minutes remained, and the Jets were able to run out the clock. This is Jets football. Right now, the Jets are playing smart and heady football, the kind of play that has been decidedly un-Jet like. They play the kind of game that could get Indy off their rhythm, much like it got San Diego off of theirs. Going into the playoffs, I figured the Jets could beat Indy, but I gave them no shot against San Diego. Well, they beat San Diego. Now, it's Indy. They've got the players. They've got the Mojo. There's always one of these teams that does this, every year. I doubted them last week, and I was wrong. I'm not doubting them anymore. They got this far, and I think they absolutely can win this game. I believe in the Jets. YOU HEAR ME!? I BELIEVE IN THE JETS! I BELIEVE! I BELIEVE!
J! E! T! S! JETS! JETS! JETS!!!
My pick: Jets 20, Colts 16

Sunday, 6:30pm
Minnesota Vikings (13-4) at New Orleans Saints (14-3)
Two years ago, I wrote this when writing about the impending Giants/Packers NFC Championship:

Then, there's this: If the Packers win, and go on to face the Patriots, the Media will very likely have a giant, collective, simultaneous orgasm. We will be bombarded, simply bombarded with stupid puff pieces about Brett Favre. True, if the Giants win, we'll hear the same stupid stuff about Eli Manning and Peyton, but you know that if Favre is involved, it's going to go to new heights of insanity. We'll hear from his chiropractor. We'll hear from the doctor that prescribed the painkillers he got addicted to. We'll hear from the guy who dug his father's grave. We'll probably get to see a live interview with the Bog that Favre grew up in in Mississippi. It's going to be absolutely and totally insane. I don't even want to think about the ridiculous questions that he'll be asked at Media day.

Needless to say, I've had enough of Brett Favre. I'm sick of him and his retirements and his crying and his fist pumping and everything else. The Joie de Vivre that he projects can only take him so far in life. Now, he's just annoying. Now, he takes on the Saints, and a QB who projects a similar Joie de Vivre in Drew Brees, the emotional leader of a Saints team that the entire city of New Orleans has rallied around ever since the city was leveled by Hurricane Katrina. But unlike Favre, there's an eminent likability to Brees, who is usually not seen causing a media circus, but instead standing in the center of his teammates screaming like a maniac to get everyone fired up to play. And most of the time, it's been Brees firing darts all over the field and leading the Saints to victory. On the other side, there's Favre, who also has been firing darts, but I just can't put any faith in the Vikings. I already said that I believe they beefed up on a soft schedule (Cleveland, St. Louis, Detroit twice, Chicago twice, the Giants after they gave up), and a lot of breaks. They also played lousy on the road and great at home. I know that the game is in a dome, but this isn't the Metrodome. This is a Superdome that is going to be louder than you can fathom tomorrow night, and I think that, while both QBs will be throwing with reckless abandon and plenty of points will be scored, that it's the Saints time to shine.
My pick: Saints 44, Vikings 34

Which gives us a very interesting BIG GAME, and a very interesting couple of weeks here in New York, particularly if you listen to WFAN as habitually as I do.

(Promise, I'll start writing about Baseball again soon. At least now there have been some things worth talking about...)

What's Up With Your Jets?!

I know I've had an impromptu, unannounced Hiatus over the past few weeks, but let's face it: There's just not that much to talk about as far as the Mets are concerned, or at least nothing interesting to say about it. That, combined with my being in rehearsal for a show has sapped much of my time and imagination.

I've mentioned before that I am a staunch San Francisco 49ers fan, despite the fact that I am not from, nor have I ever been to San Francisco. It's just one of those things that Bill Simmons would frown upon. I don't care. The 49ers were a great team throughout much of my youth, and have now settled into several consecutive seasons of overall mediocrity. I know they're not good, and I accept it. The NFL works in such a way that they will turn again.

That said, this NFL season has pretty much been a washout for me. I knew the 49ers weren't going to do much, and in fact went so far as to say I would purchase a J.T. O'Sullivan jersey if the journeyman QB led the Niners to 6 wins this season. He won't, although the 49ers have done better of late, and may yet win 6 games for the season. Their 5th win came yesterday at the expense of the New York Jets, which I consider to be the highlight of my season. Though I do have many friends and co-workers who are Jets fans, and, in fact, I attended a (rather forgettable) Jets game earlier this season (and I even boldly rooted for the Jets while watching the recent Jets/Patriots game at The Riviera in the West Village, which included a chance encounter with Bill Simmons himself), I somehow took a sly, sardonic pleasure in the Niners sticking it to the Jets. And I really enjoyed getting to wear my 49ers hat to work today just to annoy the Jets fans I work with. Far too often, several Jets fans I work with would come up to me during the Baseball season, usually after the Mets lost, and say something like, "Hey, what's up with your Mets!?" in a rather condescending, snide, Yankee-fan tone of voice.

Well, this was like my little bit of revenge. The 49ers, at 5-8, aren't going anywhere this season, but maybe their fortunes are turning after a pair of solid victories over teams with playoff aspirations. And trash talking is always fun, especially when it's at the people who have been laughing at the 49ers all season. These are the same people who scoffed at me when I dared to think that there was another team in the AFC that could beat the Jets! They were all ready to buy into the hyperbole and anoint the Jets the class of the conference. It's certainly easy to do that at 8-3. Now, the Jets have been exposed by a pair of lesser opponents, and that Jets fan Angst is slowly returning.

It's easier to not be disappointed when you had no expectations in the first place. I've taken the Niners season with a grain of salt. There was a lot of disarray and turmoil, but as the season is winding down, the team has begun to pull together a little bit. Yes, it's too late. But if they can spoil the seasons of a few contenders (particularly if I know fans of the team they beat), that's good enough for me right now.