Wow! Well where do I even begin? My last post talked about the Ravens game on Thanksgiving, which was a tough loss. The 49ers went on to finish the season with a 13-3 record, arguably the top defense in the league and a solid offense that centered mostly around not turning the ball over. This was the best record the 49ers have had since Steve Mariucci's first season with the 49ers when he also went 13-3 after taking over for George Seifert in 1997.
Alex Smith finished the year with a career high in passing with 3144 Yards and most importantly he finished with a QB rating of 90.7 and only threw 5 Interceptions all year long. This was basically the philosophy of the 2011 49ers. Play great opportunistic defense (check), play great Special Teams (check) and play smart offensive football, meaning do NOT turn the ball over, settling for 3 points rather than make a risky throw for 7. Basically the 49ers gameplan is to win the field position battle. The 49ers led the league in drives starting in the opponents half of the field. That was Jim Harbaughs plan and it worked very well.
 |
| 49ERS FUTURE IS BRIGHT WITH JIM HARBAUGH ON THE SIDELINES |
Then came the playoffs, on a Sunny Sunday afternoon, the New Orleans Saints came to town and this game ended up being maybe the greatest game of football I have ever seen. The first quarter was ALL 49ers and we jumped out to a 17 point lead. Donte Whitner set the early tone when he gave Pierre Thomas a crushing blow inside the 49ers redzone which led to a fumble which the 49ers recovered. Drew Brees was intercepted by Safety Dashon Goldson. The 49ers were able to capitalize on these mistakes which gave them the early lead.
As the game went on, the 49ers became stagnant offensively, the Saints were finally able to break down the 49ers and got right back in the game. In the 4th quarter the 49ers were leading 23-17, then Drew Brees hit Darren Sproles over the middle and with his explosion he was gone and the Saints took their first lead of the day 24-23. On the following drive, Frank Gore had a big run and put the 49ers in great position to score. It came to a 3rd down and 8 on the Saints 28 yard line. Greg Roman called a gutsy play which was a designed run by Alex Smith, it lead to a 28 yard run for a touchdown by the sideline. The stadium erupted and so did I. The game was far from over however, not long after, the Saints reached in to their bag of tricks, with a handoff to Sproles, who then flicked it back to Brees and hit Jimmy Graham for a 66 yard TD with less than 1 minute left in the game, score 32-29 Saints.
 |
| ALEX SMITH 28 YARD RUN FOR THE LEAD |
The next drive will never be forgotten for any 49er fan watching that day. The Saints were not playing prevent by any means, and it may have cost them. Saints DC Gregg Williams called a heavy blitz, Smith was able to hit Vernon Davis over the middle who scampered down the field and put the 49ers within FG range to tie the game. However, there was still time on the clock, and everyone on the 49ers sideline had other ideas. 14 yards from the endzone with just over 10 seconds left, Alex Smith fired a rifle between 3 Saints defenders and hit Vernon Davis for the Touchdown and Win. It was a perfect throw at the perfect time. Vernon Davis running off the field crying his eyes out, brought back memories from 1997 when Terrell Owens caught a Steve Young pass to win the game against the Packers in the Playoffs.
 |
| VERNON DAVIS CATCH TO SEAL THE WIN |
The Vernon Davis catch will go down as one of my greatest 49er and Sports memories ever, up there with the 2002 comeback against the NY Giants, the SF Giants winning the World Series and as a kid the 49ers winning the Superbowl in 1994.
The 49ers went on to lose to the NY Giants in the NFC Championship game. (Can you tell I'm still hurt by this?).
 |
| #99 ALDON SMITH WAS RELENTLESS FOR THE 49ERS ALL YEAR LONG |
Overall, it was a great season, the 49ers were ultimately 14-4 with a trip to the Championship Game. Before the season on 49erswebzone.com I had predicted a 6-10 season I believe. Obviously they far exceeded any expectations of mine. One of the great stories of the season would be Alex Smith bouncing back from many tough years in San Francisco, also rookie Aldon Smith recording an astonishing 14 sacks in the regular season, and added another 2 in the playoffs. There were so many great moments, from the Ted Ginn returns for TD's to Delanie Walkers catch to beat the 5-0 Lions to Justin Smith sealing the Giants game with a bat down or when he stripped Jeremy Maclin of the Eagles to clinch the win in Philly. This season was so impressive and 2012 will no doubt be a lot of fun to watch, in the words of Bart Scott "CAN'T WAIT"
UP NEXT: 49ers Offseason; What to expect from Trent Baalke and Jim Harbaugh?
No comments:
Post a Comment