NFC Championship Game: Thoughts after rewatching the game...

Originally posted by JBrack:

Originally posted by susweel:
anybody know when they are replaying that game on NFL network ?

tonight and the afc replay on wed

5 pm pacific time I wont be home til later. fml

Originally posted by JBrack:

Originally posted by Marvin49:
Jones is far more talented than Welker and Cruz.

You can't just look at #s. Watch the man play the game.

You mean physical skill set?

Because Welker catching over 120 balls in one season is surely talent.
Or Cruz having went over 1600yds in a season is surely talent.

Players get payed to put up numbers, Thats what their incentive based bonuses are based on.

Jones looks pretty good when he isnt double covered and is playing against #2 and 3 corners. Who wouldnt in this debate?

You are projecting he will turn out. But projections are just that.

I'll say it again....

...you can't just look at #s. Watch the man play the game.

Welker is targeted an astronomically high number of times. Of course he's gonna get than many receptions. Additionally the Pats run more plays than any team in the NFL.

Cruz is very good, but I'll take the kid in red and black thank you.

Originally posted by susweel:

Originally posted by Young2Rice:

Originally posted by susweel:
what took you so long.

He was out of town and didn't get to re-watch it sooner.

this is the NFCCG thats good enough. I expect better from Marvin doesn't he realize that we depend on his analysis

LOL!!

Sorry...had to watch the game from a freakin' hotel room in LA.

Originally posted by Marvin49:

Originally posted by JBrack:

Originally posted by Marvin49:
Jones is far more talented than Welker and Cruz.

You can't just look at #s. Watch the man play the game.

You mean physical skill set?

Because Welker catching over 120 balls in one season is surely talent.
Or Cruz having went over 1600yds in a season is surely talent.

Players get payed to put up numbers, Thats what their incentive based bonuses are based on.

Jones looks pretty good when he isnt double covered and is playing against #2 and 3 corners. Who wouldnt in this debate?

You are projecting he will turn out. But projections are just that.

I'll say it again....

...you can't just look at #s. Watch the man play the game.

Welker is targeted an astronomically high number of times. Of course he's gonna get than many receptions. Additionally the Pats run more plays than any team in the NFL.

Cruz is very good, but I'll take the kid in red and black thank you.

So the fact that he plays against lesser talent doesnt factor in for you Im assuming? Ill say it again, he gets more favorable matchups then perhaps any wr in the league.

Great as always Marvin.

Just saw that Vernon is the first player since Michael Irvin to have consecutive 100 yrd NFCC.

Ahhhhhhhhhhhh

Originally posted by JBrack:

Originally posted by Marvin49:

Originally posted by JBrack:

Originally posted by Marvin49:
Jones is far more talented than Welker and Cruz.

You can't just look at #s. Watch the man play the game.

You mean physical skill set?

Because Welker catching over 120 balls in one season is surely talent.
Or Cruz having went over 1600yds in a season is surely talent.

Players get payed to put up numbers, Thats what their incentive based bonuses are based on.

Jones looks pretty good when he isnt double covered and is playing against #2 and 3 corners. Who wouldnt in this debate?

You are projecting he will turn out. But projections are just that.

I'll say it again....

...you can't just look at #s. Watch the man play the game.

Welker is targeted an astronomically high number of times. Of course he's gonna get than many receptions. Additionally the Pats run more plays than any team in the NFL.

Cruz is very good, but I'll take the kid in red and black thank you.

So the fact that he plays against lesser talent doesnt factor in for you Im assuming? Ill say it again, he gets more favorable matchups then perhaps any wr in the league.

::sigh::

Apples and oranges, man. Let it go... you aren't going to win this debate.

Originally posted by Marvin49:
I enjoyed watching them and the SB in '94 was my favorite. I got to see the transition to Steve and got to see that team grow into the team it became.

This is something completely different. This is even sweeter. This is watching every single member of the team get drafted. Watching them develop. Watching them struggle. This is going through coach after coach looking for the next guy to take this team to the mountaintop.

This ride leading up to now and in particular the last 2 years has been the most fun I've ever had as a 49er fan.

Now lets get it. Lets get that 6th Lombardi.

This sums it up right here. Been faithful since 93 (age 7) and the hardship of that 8 or 9 year span only makes this all the sweeter.

Still feels great to say that the San Francisco 49ers are in the Super Bowl. Still makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up. Just amazing.

Interesting Marvin, that you weren't around for the start of the dynasty. I moved to Paso Robles in 1977 and so got to watch Joe comeup, 2-14 go to 6-10, go to SB. Actually, I listened to it, and watched reruns on TV news.We didn't get any thing but local TV, so radio was it. Later I got to see games, Stanford stadium and Joe Robbie...and it was amazing. And yes, it WAS exciting. There are some similarities, Marvin. For example once BW was on board, we had the draft of Lott/Davis et al, and besides joe, had a small OL but a good one. Those were days of roger craig, tom rathman, jerry , Dwight clark, and it just kept on coming. Recently, we actually got better in spite of drafting with top 6 picks for 8-10 yrs. Our only #1 pick in draft was alex, which was a colossal mistake with NO OL, no DL, and no skill players. Alex had to struggle thru that, as did we all. But coming from nowhere in 10 yrs to SB in two Harbaugh teams was really impressive. I think in Joe's day, we were bad, but you always felt, even at 2-14, that we could have won that game. IN 6-10 yr, we were in EVERY game. When we won next yr, it actually was not that big a surprise.

Now, we were cannon fodder for yrs, drafted a qB 4 yrs before we even had a chance to protect him...reminds me of Lombardi's dictum: build your lines first.
So when we won 14 games last yr, the pieces were in place, but none of our previous coaches could put them together. The key to this team is 3 first rd OLs, and mgmt took a lot of heat over that, altho they were right on target. As you mentioned, nobody deserves a win more than frank, unless it is alex. In fact, except for guys coming on in last 2 yrs, all these guys deserve it. Question is can we beat Flacco with Anquan Boldin and Pinna, also Rice? Honestly, we won't play a better 3 some in WRs, TEs than ATL. They should have won on paper despite Las Vegas odds...and at home. Just goes to show how truly great this game was. But this team was built properly once they started working on OL and DL and not until. Montana never really had a massive run blocking line like we do, but they generally protected him well. Those guys were all smaller and FAST. Now, that wouldn't work out so well.

As for our D, it is mean , nasty, and Justin(God bless that guy), is everybody's hero, torn triceps and all. So for Justin, Gore, alex, staley, iupati, AD, p52, bowman, brooks, aldon, big mac, Soap, et al, this is just deserts and man do i ever hope we win.

Thinking back to 2 thanksgivings ago, we were handled, from start to finish. yes a 3 day prep time, multiple flights, man, everything to put us at a disadvantage. Now it is mano a mano, and Ravens OL is a great one, Oher for example. Anquan boldin, and Pinna, plus Rice, just seems a lot easier than Matt bang bang under 2 seconds ryan, and their 3 receivers. Flacco is a better qB than Ryan. I have yet to see him flustered, as opposed to ryan. Kap? So far, cool as ice. Being able to run traditional sets on O, with read option, going in, is a huge advantage. Sure Kap didn't get any runs(ok, one), but the threat of read run just flat azz paralyzed the DEs who contained all day....Frank loved it and James too. With Kap, with equals in receiveing....crabs and vernon, plus delanie, frank, james, moss....i think we should be alright. Flacco instead of 2 seconds and gone, holds it a lot longer with longer passes. We'll see how that works, and I hope we get aldon blitzing...and NO COVERAGE...but we'll see.

Marvin, since you didn't see the original dynasty, this would be a great time to see the new one start. One possible problem? their HC may be a tad better than ours, first time all yr. We'll see. I think read option as a possibility may give us the edge, but John H is a smart cookie. No counting your chickens until hatched in this game. Oh, and winning a SB for a guy who murdered/killled two people? Wow. He's real lucky to not be watching this game from a cell. Marvin we will all miss your wonderful 2nd viewings, and sad to say, only 1 more for 8 mos. I guess with 13 draft picks, and alex being outbid over, instead of waiting until he can go thru FA,(no QB-less team can afford NOT to bid for him before he hits open market). He WILL be traded, and if we get a 1st rd pick for our 1st, I would be ecstatic.

Meanwhile, there is this one more game........and Marvin, thanks for the memories all yr.

Key moment in the game was when after falling behind 0-17, the Niners did not open up the game plan. They did not try to go down the field quickly. They ran the ball down the Falcons throat to score the first TD. Confidence and calmness from Greg Roman/Harbaugh and I'm sure that resonated through the roster.

Marvin you are the best. Great summary as usual!

I vaguely remember the 1989 Superbowl, Bill's last but I recall the 1990 the one where no one gave Siefert any credit. That what made 1994 so awesome, especially when he did the Bassa Nova.

But this one coming up will top them all, what this whole team went through the super lean years under NoWin, this will be special.

Originally posted by thl408:
Key moment in the game was when after falling behind 0-17, the Niners did not open up the game plan. They did not try to go down the field quickly. They ran the ball down the Falcons throat to score the first TD. Confidence and calmness from Greg Roman/Harbaugh and I'm sure that resonated through the roster.

We had also only ran the read option on only 1 play prior to that. 3 of those first 4 runs in that 3rd drive were read option.

Originally posted by thl408:

Key moment in the game was when after falling behind 0-17, the Niners did not open up the game plan. They did not try to go down the field quickly. They ran the ball down the Falcons throat to score the first TD. Confidence and calmness from Greg Roman/Harbaugh and I'm sure that resonated through the roster.

Good point. It also came not long after Gore was chirping in Harbaugh's ear. When they started the game it seemed that they wanted to pass more. I wonder if he was trying to get Harbaugh to call more run plays.

Originally posted by BadgerHawk:
San Fran's DB's are very fundamentally sound compared to many other groups in the league with their pass defense and tackling techniques but they do have their breakdowns and Brown was NOT GOOD on Sunday. Yes Julio Jones is a tough draw but it doesn't excuse the breakdowns in his work skills. In the first half communication was terrible in the back end of our defense. If they hadn't fixed that they would have been slaughtered.

That DeCoud guy on ATL is f*cking horrible when it comes to tackling. He repeatedly missed tackles once the 49er pass receiver had the ball. It was borderline comical.

Originally posted by Marvin49:

10) Here we are agian: Ahhhhhh. ;-) All is right with the world. Playing for the prize again. Relevant again. I was too young to be a fan of the Niners in the 70's or even the early 80's. By the time I became a 49er fan they were already a few SBs into their run. I enjoyed watching them and the SB in '94 was my favorite. I got to see the transition to Steve and got to see that team grow into the team it became.

This is something completely different. This is even sweeter. This is watching every single member of the team get drafted. Watching them develop. Watching them struggle. This is going through coach after coach looking for the next guy to take this team to the mountaintop.

This ride leading up to now and in particular the last 2 years has been the most fun I've ever had as a 49er fan.

Are you about mid 30's too Marv? In the Italic up there... I share that sentiment. Rings so true to me... I do however remember quite vaguely watching superbowl XIX Montana Vs. Marino as a kid... and my whole family... im talking aunt uncles cousins grams gramps... from both sides... mom and dad... going nuts when it was over!
Wish I was old enough to experience 1981... the beginning... shoot...

And the BOLD!... YOU HIT IT RIGHT ON THE HEAD BRO!. SOOOO DAMN SWEET HAVING GONE THROUGH WHAT WE DID.... soooo much sweeter!


Once again Great analysis. Thank you for your contributions to this board this year in particular... Always look forward to your write ups... when I log on after a game.