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

Wasnt Brown's fault in my opinion. The push off and the hieght disparity were just too tough to over come. When Julio wasnt shoving him off, Ryan was throwing that high rainbow and Brown just cant jump with a guy like Julio. It just wasnt a good match up for us physically and thats why they made the change too Cully, bigger body, taller harder to push around and harder to jump against.

Originally posted by JBrack:

Originally posted by 49AllTheTime:
my point is that our number 1 guy would be number two there...stat wise

Not really,

White
2012 Season 92 rec 1351 yds 14.7 avg 7tds 59 long

With Kaep playing all year Crabs would have eclipsed those numbers. He already has him beat on TDs.

Jesus Christ. Atlanta has 3 top notch receiving threats. No one is going to have Megatron type stats for that team. You are kidding yourself thinking Julio Jones isnt a top 5 WR in this league. Yes Brown gave up some plays, He still had good coverage on Julio for most of the game. Julio just made plays. Brown has been outstanding all year and he has one bad game and you want to jump all over his case for it? Give me a break.

Originally posted by JBrack:

Originally posted by GhostofFredDean74:

Originally posted by JBrack:

Originally posted by GhostofFredDean74:
And you're not giving our defense enough. The defense forced those turnovers....they didn't just happen. Culliver jumped the route and made a great play to get the pick; as for the fumble, Ryan was worried about the pressure up the middle and took his eye off the snap.

Ryan was sacked once by Soap who had one sack all year and it wasnt even really a sack. He was on the run leaving the pocket. If anything Ryan saw a favorable matchup and was trying to exploit it by keeping his eyes downfield. Our pressure improved in the 2nd half, but it was still lackluster and we couldnt get home. 4 qb hits and one sack doesnt send probowl qbs running for thier lives. I could also argue that Jones should have came back to the ball on that Culliver INT. Culliver made a nice play, but if Jones does his job, Culliver doesnt have a chance to make the play!

I never said Ryan was running for his life; that's a straw man argument. I said Ryan took his eye off the ball as it was being snapped because he was WORRIED (not terrified) about the pressure. In other words, the slight distraction caused his eyes to divert from the snap for a split second, and that's all it takes to fumble a snap. I'm not giving ALL the credit to our defense for that, just the proper amount.

Same with Culliver's pick...yes, Jones didn't do his job, but Culliver took advantage of this mistake and made a play when we REALLY needed a stop. I'm not trying to blow either of these things out of proportion; just giving our defense the credit it deserves as opposed to saying (like you), that they had nothing to do with it.

Anyway, it's a matter of opinion and not really worth going back and forth on. I know where you stand on this, you know where I stand.

I just feel our defense didnt win the game like many are trying to say. I feel Atlantas offense lost it more than we won it, thats all. Im just trying to be practical here. No reason to always look at things with rose colored glasses on.

I personally never said our defense won the game...those that believe that saw a different game than I did because they clearly got owned most of the day. My only point was that the D did their part in those 2 turnovers, taking advantage of ATL's mistakes. You gave them no credit for that; I thought they deserved their share of credit....not a big deal either way.

But clearly the two plays at the end of the game (the Brooks deflection and Bowman's pass break-up) were huge and they sealed the win. The D didn't do much all game, but when they absolutely had to step up, they did. That's hard to argue.

I think the pass rush was just as big of a problem in the first half as the secondary. They were getting 0 pressure on Ryan.

I don't want to make excuses for our DBs, but those Falcons receivers were getting away with murder, they all seemed to of studied Richard Sherman's strategic hand-placement/holding techniques (the week previous) and applied it to this game.

Originally posted by valrod33:
Jesus Christ. Atlanta has 3 top notch receiving threats. No one is going to have Megatron type stats for that team. You are kidding yourself thinking Julio Jones isnt a top 5 WR in this league. Yes Brown gave up some plays, He still had good coverage on Julio for most of the game. Julio just made plays. Brown has been outstanding all year and he has one bad game and you want to jump all over his case for it? Give me a break.

No reason to take the lords name in vain here buddy. Jones a top 5 WR? ROTFLOL.... Thats a gas bro.

Andre Johnson
Calvin Johnson
Wes Welker
Victor Cruz
Larry Fitzgerald

There are 5 better right there and no Jones either. Jones isnt even the best WR on his team lol...


Hell yes im going to jump his ass. This is playoffs, you bring your A game or you get sent packing! And if he gets burned next week by Smith and we lose the game, I bet you will be the first person to jump his ass, so back off!

Originally posted by GhostofFredDean74:
I personally never said our defense won the game...those that believe that saw a different game than I did because they clearly got owned most of the day. My only point was that the D did their part in those 2 turnovers, taking advantage of ATL's mistakes. You gave them no credit for that; I thought they deserved their share of credit....not a big deal either way.

But clearly the two plays at the end of the game (the Brooks deflection and Bowman's pass break-up) were huge and they sealed the win. The D didn't do much all game, but when they absolutely had to step up, they did. That's hard to argue.

The last 3 defensive plays were lights out. Unfortunately that was about it. I give them credit for that, i do. But even on the 4th down Atl was short of the sticks on that route. Plus Bowman knew White was getting the rock as he said. That was the first time all game White lined up in the slot.

I thought he did a great job of staying step for step with JJ, he was in great position most of the time but a great throw will beat great defense everytime.

I think Brown is doing a great job for a 6th rounder! He was matched up with a guy that the Falcons traded two first, two seconds, and a third or something like that to aquire. By the way; Brown's coverage didn't cost us the game or anything, so give the young man a thumbs up!

Very nice write-up and catches our passion.

I noticed that when we were down, Gore looked animated towards Harbaugh on the sidelines...next thing you know, we're back to rushing the ball and getting back to our game. The fact that the OL and Gore had to change their mentality, blocking and running schemes and TIMING of those runs, pass protection is monumental. I can't say enough about how much they had to change to get where we are today. I could NOT be happier for guys such as Gore, Cowboy, Boone, Alex (class act as always), etc...all of our players. This is special guys. To be a SF fan and watch your baseball team win 2 Championships in 3 years and the Niner's just 1 play away from the Superbowl last year and now we're in this year? I told my boy to suck up every moment you can b/c you may NEVER see this again. THIS IS SPECIAL! But we're not done yet...

Mike Nolan. Thank you for your defensive schemes. Receivers were wide open ALL game long and in NoWin fashion, collapsed when it mattered most

Brooks. You all know this is my boy but MAN, when they showed him during the national anthem, he looked like a man possessed. I knew, once again, he'd be clutch when it mattered most. 2 critical bat-downs, absolutely nothing given up in the running game and even smashing Ryan's shoulder. You don't think that affected him on that final drive?! Epic! And how fitting that our best coverage ILB (Bowman) gets to knock down that final pass.

Management...Jed, Baalke, Jim, salary cap management down to the waterboys. Just amazing resolve.

No team have ever come back from more that 13 in a Championship game. Now let's get 6 and get another record!

Pride is the one word I'm feeling right now. Congrats to YOU Niner Faithful...esp. those who have been there from day 1 (whenever that day 1 started for you).

Originally posted by JBrack:

Originally posted by valrod33:
Jesus Christ. Atlanta has 3 top notch receiving threats. No one is going to have Megatron type stats for that team. You are kidding yourself thinking Julio Jones isnt a top 5 WR in this league. Yes Brown gave up some plays, He still had good coverage on Julio for most of the game. Julio just made plays. Brown has been outstanding all year and he has one bad game and you want to jump all over his case for it? Give me a break.

No reason to take the lords name in vain here buddy. Jones a top 5 WR? ROTFLOL.... Thats a gas bro.

Andre Johnson
Calvin Johnson
Wes Welker
Victor Cruz
Larry Fitzgerald

There are 5 better right there and no Jones either. Jones isnt even the best WR on his team lol...


Hell yes im going to jump his ass. This is playoffs, you bring your A game or you get sent packing! And if he gets burned next week by Smith and we lose the game, I bet you will be the first person to jump his ass, so back off!

Julio Jones is better than Cruz or Fitzgerald right now. Also, what does the bold have to do with anything?

Originally posted by Dr_Bill_Walsh:
was sooooo scared goldson was gonna get hit with a flag for a late hit on that last series to the falcons...looked like the whistle had already been blown and the receiver had been brought down (the 2nd & 9 play where ryan hurt his shoulder but completed a pass to his back #44)

so lucky no yellow was thrown

This too...dude doesn't seem to learn from his mistakes. This is the 2nd game in a row he played very poorly and I'm blown away the refs didn't call a very late hit on him again. He scares me...trailing all day long, late and blown coverages. This is NOT a time to be regressing.

Originally posted by ChazBoner:

Originally posted by Garcia:
disagree with OP

this. Atlanta has arguably the best two WR's in the league. I'd blame scheme more than any individual.

yeah. though, i'd argue atlanta's receiver's size advantage accounted for some key catches. man coverage was good. problem was with some mix ups in zone coverage early on. i think atlanta took advantage of some tendencies they saw on film. the first jj td took advantage of goldson jumping a route he studied on film.

Originally posted by valrod33:

Originally posted by JBrack:

Originally posted by 49AllTheTime:
my point is that our number 1 guy would be number two there...stat wise

Not really,

White
2012 Season 92 rec 1351 yds 14.7 avg 7tds 59 long

With Kaep playing all year Crabs would have eclipsed those numbers. He already has him beat on TDs.

Jesus Christ. Atlanta has 3 top notch receiving threats. No one is going to have Megatron type stats for that team. You are kidding yourself thinking Julio Jones isnt a top 5 WR in this league. Yes Brown gave up some plays, He still had good coverage on Julio for most of the game. Julio just made plays. Brown has been outstanding all year and he has one bad game and you want to jump all over his case for it? Give me a break.

I agree. And with absolutely NO pass rush in the 1st half its amazing it wasn't worse than it already was. Anyone have info on who he's going up against in the SB? Maybe they put Culliver on the bigger, stronger receiver in Boldin.

Originally posted by JimA49ers:

Originally posted by Paul_Hofer:

Originally posted by Marvin49:

Originally posted by KEGster:
Disagree on Crabtree. I felt he was the only one that pressed and it almost cost us the game. Unlike the Falcons, we were exhibiting the quiet confidence. Then Crabtree started dancing/celebrating and then the inexusable fumble. We were running down their throats, how difficult would a 3rd and Goal at the 1 be to convert?

Dumb. I thought he pressed and let the Falcons get into his head. The only player on the roster to do so

TOTALLY disagree.

Ya know, those guys on the other team? They get payed too. That was one hell of a play by Robinson. Sometimes you gotta give them their due.

I think Crabtree's fumble helped to essentially extend the drive (they got the ball back on the 38 and scored the go-ahead touchdown) and keep the Niners' defense off the field in preparation for their final stand.

This. I was going to post this earlier, but I feel that Crabtree's fumble actually helped win the game. Atlanta got the ball at their own 1 yard line, and could not convert a first down (great defense!), this made them kick back to the Niners deep in their own territory, giving the Niners great field position. With the way the offense was playing in the 2nd half, it was an easy touchdown from the start of that drive, which is what happened. One more failed Atlanta possession, and, when Atlanta had the ball at the end of the game, they barely had enough time to do anything with the ball.

We got up by 4 with 8 minutes left in the game. That fumble could have hurt us more than not fumbling and scoring. Scoring right there would have literally been a solid punch to ATL considering how solid we put that drive together. We lost a little momentum and ATL gained a little hope.

Realistically, you can argue either way. It was the beginning of the 4th quarter and it could have led to an ATL collapse.

Bravo, Great post Marvin. Kaepernick showed some amazing poise. The thing that I was worried about when the switch came was that we just didn't know who Kap is and how he would handle situations like this. We now know that he can dominate in the playoffs (divisional game) and we also know he has comeback ability and clutch in his game in HUGE games (NFC championship). Kap has been playing so great and I hope he keeps it up! Hope he brings that clutch performance and that amazing poise for the Superbowl! The way he played on Sunday with that type of poise down 17 points was very Montana like. It was really amazing. I hope he can duplicate these past two performances and play Montana like again in the Superbowl! Keep it up Kap! Let's go 49ers!