Originally posted by SportsFan:
How did the Rams basically beat us twice? Haven't figured out why 49er fans continue to say that.
The Rams match up well with us. Plus they already play us tough because of the rivalry.
We were lucky to get a tie in that first game honestly. That Amendola big catch down to the 1 yd line in OT wouldve been a STL win, but the illegal movement brought it back. Then Akers shouldve won it for us, but missed. Even though we only lost 1, both games were failures.
Ive been saying it for weeks now. We match up well against certain types of teams, and poorly against other types.
When we play teams that are built like us, we struggle. We cant get a good physical upperhand. Last year we got beat by BAL. We shouldve beaten the Giants in the playoffs, but theyre another team like that. Couldnt get it done. This year we lost to the Vikings, the Rams, the Giants again, and the Seahawks. All teams built similarly.
But, when we played high flying offenses with less physical defenses? We had alot of success. We beat GB twice. Beat NO on the road, beat NE on the road, beat DET and BUF.
ATL is another high flying offensive team with a mediocre D. Its on the road, so its going to be a tough game, but I like our chances.
If we make the SB, id almost rather see NE again. We know we can beat them, even up in NE. Plus the Ravens are just built to be a tougher matchup for us. NE is clearly better i think, but its all in how teams match up. I think we can beat either AFC team, but with NE losing to a team built like us last year in the SB, NE losing to us at home this year, and NE still fighting the demons of choking in the SB the last 2 times, we will have a legit shot.
You can probably count on one hand the number of Pats who were even on the team the last time they actually won the SB in 2004. Theres not as much confidence and experience as people think.