What Was The Toughest NFC Title Game Loss For U To Swallow?

Originally posted by HearstFan:
I agree with all the above EXCEPT:

1. the defense did nothing to win that game - TO ME, THIS WAS COACHING BECAUSE THE SCHEME SEEMED FLAWED. THE COVERAGE WAS CONFUSED EARLY AND OFTEN - WHICH MEANS THERE WASN'T A CLEAR SCHEME COACHED UP.

2. the special ed teams did nothing to win that game - THE ST WERE OKAY -THE RAVENS RUN BACK WAS DUE TO A BLATANT AND FLAGRANT DOUBLE HOLDING OF MILLER. TWO RAVENS WRAPPED HIM UP AN NEARLY TACKLED HIM. IT IS CRIMINAL THIS WASN'T CALLED BECAUSE IT APPEARED TO BE IN THE CLEAR LINE OF SIGHT OF THE REF.

The PIs - well they are tough to call because I advocate the "let em play" philosophy to not call minor and ticky tack penalties. IMHO the PI was minor and the pass uncatchable anyway.

the ravens run back was also due to the fact one of our guys on our special ed teams ran right past the guy. i know injuries played a big part of our defensive "effort" but you are right about coaching and that is why I said it was criminal to have two pro bowl backers set around playing checkers in stead of bringing some heat. Of course when you dare be critical of the coaches here the wolves attack. I am glad to see someone else can see that pass was not going to be caught,, and of course had the coaches played to win with our run game on second and goal from the five with some sort of a ck/dixon/gore combo,, that fourth down call never would have occured

NONE of those compare to the first superbowl lost.

Destroyed our perfect record.

Somebody's head should be put in the throphy case for losing the SB.

Originally posted by cciowa:
when you blame the refs for a loss you are usually in denial that the players themselves were responsible. many people allow their blind loyalty to certain coaches and even their own team cloud their judgement. The coaches and players need to be held accountable for their poor play in large chunks of that game but if it makes you feel better to just blame the refs, knock yourself out. I think I recall saying those two games you made reference to were directly affected by refs but again, in my opinion those are two games in a million that go that way.

If you've read any of my posts about this, you must know that I primarily blame the defense for the loss. In all 47 Super Bowls, no team allowing 34 points or more has ever won and in only 1 out of 47 Super Bowls has a team scoring 31 or more points, not won. And, as far as coaching is concerned, that last set of plays was a debacle - no argument. But, you can also make a case (as Baalke already has) that the failure to do more rotating on the d-line is a "philosophical problem." I interpret that as a criticism of coaching philosophy.

But, having said that, you've got to admit that there were problems with the refs. There is clear helmet to helmet contact on one of Crabtree's plays that was ruled an incomplete pass and it happens right in front of a ref. That's the one that bugs me the most because it is a clear violation of the rules and in every single game I saw last season, that would have been ruled unnecessary roughness and it would have been half the distance to the goal, 1st down. That was not a judgment call like pass interference or whether holding happened after the five yard barrier ( it did, since they were on the five yard line, by the way). And, of course, there were quite a few other problems, but why keep re-hashing them. All I can say is that the refs were partly responsible for the loss and I'm not sure how anyone watching that game could even think otherwise.

Craigs fumble cause that would have mean the Niners would have won 6 SB's in 14 years UNHEARD of and be the ONLY nfl team to 3peet...

The Craig fumble silenced sf. I was in the city and it was quiter than Christmas morning, a city in mourning.
But Kyle gave the game away TWICE . After years of sub par squads and the AleX redemption game vs the saints the city wanted it so bad. It felt like we had it and if we won the bowl that year our D Is up for discussion for best all time. It felt like god cheated us, the torrential rains that followed after the game were the collective tears of the niner fans. We neeeeded that one. But if we win that game and the bowl Alex would likely still be qb... And the legend of Kap would not have been

Originally posted by GNielsen:

Originally posted by cciowa:
when you blame the refs for a loss you are usually in denial that the players themselves were responsible. many people allow their blind loyalty to certain coaches and even their own team cloud their judgement. The coaches and players need to be held accountable for their poor play in large chunks of that game but if it makes you feel better to just blame the refs, knock yourself out. I think I recall saying those two games you made reference to were directly affected by refs but again, in my opinion those are two games in a million that go that way.

If you've read any of my posts about this, you must know that I primarily blame the defense for the loss. In all 47 Super Bowls, no team allowing 34 points or more has ever won and in only 1 out of 47 Super Bowls has a team scoring 31 or more points, not won. And, as far as coaching is concerned, that last set of plays was a debacle - no argument. But, you can also make a case (as Baalke already has) that the failure to do more rotating on the d-line is a "philosophical problem." I interpret that as a criticism of coaching philosophy.

But, having said that, you've got to admit that there were problems with the refs. There is clear helmet to helmet contact on one of Crabtree's plays that was ruled an incomplete pass and it happens right in front of a ref. That's the one that bugs me the most because it is a clear violation of the rules and in every single game I saw last season, that would have been ruled unnecessary roughness and it would have been half the distance to the goal, 1st down. That was not a judgment call like pass interference or whether holding happened after the five yard barrier ( it did, since they were on the five yard line, by the way). And, of course, there were quite a few other problems, but why keep re-hashing them. All I can say is that the refs were partly responsible for the loss and I'm not sure how anyone watching that game could even think otherwise.

if we have to "admit" there were problems with refs, then you need to "admit" that a key reason the niners finally lit a fire under there asses was because we had 2 FULL HALFTIMES to figure out what Bal was doing and try to stop it.

we got out coached, and out played - plain and simple.

they all sucked

we should have 10 Super Bowls by now

Originally posted by 4t9ers:
if we have to "admit" there were problems with refs, then you need to "admit" that a key reason the niners finally lit a fire under there asses was because we had 2 FULL HALFTIMES to figure out what Bal was doing and try to stop it.

we got out coached, and out played - plain and simple.

I think it's actually easier than that to explain. I think they were using the same schemes that had worked for most of the season, but the pass rush wasn't working because the Smith's were not at full strength, and mainly, Chris Culliver had a horrible day. Culliver hugely choked in the Super Bowl. The Ravens were also making terrific plays that usually have a low percentage of success. There were basically a few fly-ball prayers that Flacco threw up that turned out to be long completions and should have never worked. On most days, at least a couple of them should have been interceptions.

The offense laid 31 points and 478 yards on the Ravens. There was a 100 yard rusher and two 100 yard receivers. There was a plus-300 yard performance by the QB. In 46 out of 47 Super Bowls, that would have been enough to win and if you knew those stats were going to be there before the game, you would have bet a thousand dollars on a Niners win. Bottom line: the defense didn't get it done.

Originally posted by GNielsen:
I think it's actually easier than that to explain. I think they were using the same schemes that had worked for most of the season, but the pass rush wasn't working because the Smith's were not at full strength, and mainly, Chris Culliver had a horrible day. Culliver hugely choked in the Super Bowl. The Ravens were also making terrific plays that usually have a low percentage of success. There were basically a few fly-ball prayers that Flacco threw up that turned out to be long completions and should have never worked. On most days, at least a couple of them should have been interceptions.

The offense laid 31 points and 478 yards on the Ravens. There was a 100 yard rusher and two 100 yard receivers. There was a plus-300 yard performance by the QB. In 46 out of 47 Super Bowls, that would have been enough to win and if you knew those stats were going to be there before the game, you would have bet a thousand dollars on a Niners win. Bottom line: the defense didn't get it done.

why in the world the coaches chose not to bring bowman and patrick with some pressure from time to time to make the ravens ,at the very least, uncomfortable, is beyond me and angers me to this day why have two pro bowl backers if you have them set around playing checkers. fine, smith, brooks and smith were hurt but come on,, you still got two studs. That is another example in that game of the coaches, in my opinion, not giving our team the best chance to win the game

Originally posted by TDNiners:
NONE of those compare to the first superbowl lost.

Destroyed our perfect record.

Somebody's head should be put in the throphy case for losing the SB.

Losing in the Super Bowl > losing in the NFCCG.

You play to win as many games as possible.

Originally posted by kush:

Originally posted by TDNiners:
NONE of those compare to the first superbowl lost.

Destroyed our perfect record.

Somebody's head should be put in the throphy case for losing the SB.

Losing in the Super Bowl > losing in the NFCCG.

You play to win as many games as possible.

It's just me, but I think it's kind of silly to be gripping about the fact that the team you support has a 5-1 record in Super Bowls. After all, you could be a Browns or a Lions fan and never have seen your team even go to one. Or you could be a Seahawks or a Cardinals fan and have seen your team finally get to one only to lose it and be 0-1. No offense intended here, but stewing about a 5-1 record is just one of the items on the list of why a lot of NFL fans refer to Niner fans as "whiners".

1. If you are old enough, nothing compares to the Roger fumble. We had the lead and the ball with little more than 2 minutes to play. I feel so cheated on the 3-peat bid and Young's opportunity to start the Super Bowl.

2. 1992 - As most people expected us to win and the Cowboys beat us up, physically.

3. Kyle Williams - This one sucks...but for me doesn't hurt as bad. I think the offense was terrible all day and didn't get it done. Even without the fumble, there are no promises that we win this game. In overtime, it could have easily been a 3 and out and Eli was owning us.

4 & 5. Cowboys and Packers were the better teams those years...bitter but not nearly as painful as the above.

Originally posted by Baylor49er:
1. If you are old enough, nothing compares to the Roger fumble. We had the lead and the ball with little more than 2 minutes to play. I feel so cheated on the 3-peat bid and Young's opportunity to start the Super Bowl.

2. 1992 - As most people expected us to win and the Cowboys beat us up, physically.

3. Kyle Williams - This one sucks...but for me doesn't hurt as bad. I think the offense was terrible all day and didn't get it done. Even without the fumble, there are no promises that we win this game. In overtime, it could have easily been a 3 and out and Eli was owning us.

4 & 5. Cowboys and Packers were the better teams those years...bitter but not nearly as painful as the above.

the dallas game in 73 was tough cuz we had a damn two touchdown lead late the game,, of course a missed field goal hurt us in that game as well.

Originally posted by cciowa:
the dallas game in 73 was tough cuz we had a damn two touchdown lead late the game,, of course a missed field goal hurt us in that game as well.

11 points up with 1:50 to go... Horrible.

2011 1 for 13 on 3rd Down, way to go alex smith