The Niner Points in Life

Ahhhh, it's been a while, but for the first time in close to a decade, I know what it feels like to be a fan of a good football team.

The last time I was in this position, I had yet to reach legal drinking age (emphasis on legal).

The last time I was here, Terrell Owens was still on his first team (not attempting to join his 6th or 7th team) and was dominating his position like no other.

Since we last experienced playoff football, we have had the likes of Jeff Garcia, Tim Rattay, Ken Dorsey, Alex Smith, Cody Pickett, Trent Dilfer, Chris Weinke, Shaun Hill, and Troy Smith leading our teams to mediocre seasons at best, and outright unwatchable seasons at their very worst.

Joe Montana and Steve Young took more talented dumps than these guys.

Playing Har-baugh

So with no radical changes to the 2010 team, why is this team sitting at 7-1 and already 5 games up in its division?

Look no further than the new coach for the dramatic change.

Harbaugh is doing things with the Niners that would make Criss Angel blush. He's turned Alex Smith into a competent quarterback. Smith is still not a guy I'd bank on long-term (or even to lead us to championship game/Super Bowl appearances), but for this season, he has cut down on his mistakes and has actually led the Niners to several 4th quarter comebacks - all on the road (Bengals, Eagles, Lions - all talented/playoff-caliber teams).

In fact, the Niners are a fantastic 4-0 away from San Francisco, and we have yet to play any of our weak division on the road yet. With the disparity in the division based on the Niners record and the rest of the division, you'd say that we should win all of those games (5 division games left), but realistically, I expect 3-2 or 4-1 record, as upsets are not that uncommon.


Down The Road: New Expectations

Having said this, I feel like the Niners have over a 50/50 shot at getting a first-round bye this year. A 12-4 record wouldn't shock me with the remaining schedule, and I think the Giants and Saints/Falcons will end up with 11-5 records at best. This week's game against NYG will go a long way in determining their seeding.

I don't think they'll win more than a game in the playoffs, but the fact that we are talking about the playoffs is an amazing leap that I did not expect. I hope I'm wrong about this and we're talking about San Fran still playing in February - but for now, I'll enjoy this current run they're on and hope it continues into the winter months.

The fact that I am discussing going to San Fran some weekend in January with the g/f makes me happy for several reasons: (1) that I have a g/f I can make tentative plans with two months in advance and (2) the Niners being a playoff quality team.

I remain reserved about the Niners' chances, but for how way off I was about them entering this year, I can't really complain with what happens from here.