You got to lose to know how to win - Steven Tyler
Figured it would be a good quote to lead with for several reasons, not sure if the less or more obvious of which is the American Idol that featured the singer as a judge moments after the NFC championship game ended.
I'm not really sure how much I buy into the quote. I do think it helps a little to be experienced to know what it takes to become a better team and win a championship.
On the other hand, the fact that there were 10 different NFC teams in a row to win the NFC Championship shows that sometimes experience couldn't have meant a whole lot. The Rams didn't need it back in 2000; Giants didn't need it in 2008. I'm sure there's some examples where experience may have meant something.
You can't tell me experience won the game for the Giants this time around. I don't think them being in this position 4 years ago helped them out at all now. Although I don't think it hurt them.
The Killers
Alex Smith did revert somewhat back to the old version of himself - prime example on why he should not receive more than a year extension. He one-hopped too many throws and highlighted one of the Niners' many problems this year - third down conversions. The Niners' 1-of-13 on third down is what killed them.
The Kyle Williams' fumbles were terrible, particularly the last one, which caused me to fall face first onto the floor and bury my head like a groundhog. In fact, the shadow afterwards that I saw signified that we would have 6 more hours of spring this month immediately.
However, I can't get mad at him for too long- as shocking as that is to hear. Ted Ginn Jr.'s injury could be the biggest injury that affected the playoffs west of the Chicago Lakefront. Williams was put in a tough spot as a backup and showed you how special your special teams need to be to win (or at least not lose) a game.
It would have been easier for me to deal with if Eli did what he did against the Patriots in the Super Bowl. At least I would have felt that the Giants earned the win more.
I really wish that the refs didn't blow the whistle on the Bradshaw fumble in the 4th, instead ruling forward progress. I don't care what Mike Perrara (I'm not in the mood to spell check, pretty sure this spelling is wrong, screw him) said - 95% of the time, that is called a fumble.
With that not called, we have to move on. No excuses. Just venting on something that would normally be called a fumble.
The Niners had their chances to win and didn't capitalize. The Giants made more plays and took advantage of both huge mistakes that Kyle Williams made.
Mr. Brightside
(Music fans - hope you like the sub-headers I created here. If not, well, shit.)
On the bright side, there's no way in the world you could have convinced me before the season started that my team would be playing in the overtime of the NFC Championship game, on the brink of the franchise's 6th Super Bowl.
All (not some) of the credit goes to the coach-of-the-year Jim Harbaugh. Harbaugh took an arguably underachieving squad from 2010 who finished 6-10 with Mike "The Mooner" Singletary as coach into an overachieving squad that could have very easily been one of the two teams to play February football.
With Harbaugh firmly entrenched as the coach for the next couple years, I believe that the Niners will remain competitive and be a threat to make the playoffs every year. I do think the NFC West is an improving division, so winning it will be more of a challenge in future years than it may have appeared this year.
Next year, we have the NFC North, AFC East & the Saints and Giants on our schedule in addition to the normal division schedule. Things change year to year, so it's hard to say if this will be a difficult schedule.
I think it will. I see a 9-7, 10-6 year if we have Alex Smith starting again, which may be good enough to squeeze out the NFC West again, but more likely as a 3 or 4 seed this time around.
I hope Kaepernick is given the chance to compete for the starting spot next year. I also hope we are able to snag a go-to wide receiver either in free agency or some kind of draft-day trade - Crabtree is not the answer.
No Excuses
I am not one of those people who will sit there and blame the refs for the loss. Most fans of most teams who lose in spots like this (close game in OT) will like to highlight some BS calls that go against their team. Not this guy.
The Giants earned the win. Eli is a tough QB who has nothing left to prove on whether he is an elite QB (he is).
A guy who set the QB record for road wins in the playoffs cannot be a slouch. Sure, you need good people around you, but you also need to have an incredible amount of talent to put your team in that position.
Winning on the road in the NFL is tough, no matter where you go. I'm not convinced this team would have beat the Saints in the NFC Championship with the home advantage the Saints have, but the Niners' comeback win took that away from the Saints.
I wish the Giants the best of luck in two weeks - they are going to need it.
I see the line is around New England -4 with an over/under at about 55.5. Both of those seem too high on initial read, and I heavily lean on a more defensive battle - kinda like the ones the teams played in their wins today. A field goal could be the difference in this game as it has in all of the other Patriots' Super Bowls after Super Bowl XX.
Last Train Out
This is officially my last NFL blog of 2011-12 w/ having a horse in the race.
Thank you to my friends who rooted for the Niners from afar - showed great class as your team's hopes went down either with the injury of Jay Cutler or one too many blown 4th quarter leads (damn Bears/Cowboys). I know I am missing a few teams from my friend's rooting interests, but you get the point.
One game remains - unfortunately San Fran will not be represented.
Made up my mind, gonna make a new start...Going to California with an aching...in my heart.
Thanks for that lyric Zeppelin...and thanks for this season Niners.
Let's do what we can to make it happen next year.
It's important to keep perspective as a sports fan and realize that sports are a fantastic distraction in our lives yet at the same time can seem like the only thing in our lives.
I still got a great girlfriend, great family and great friends.
Remember that the next time your team fails you. Perspective.
