When you think about the 49ers one word comes to mind, DYNASTY! Long before the Steelers set the current mark of most Super Bowls ever won with six, the 49ers were pound for pound the kings of the National Football League along side of “America’s” team, the Dallas Cowboys, with five Super Bowl victories. The only difference was when the Niners went to a Super Bowl, all they would do is win. It didn’t matter if it was Walsh or Seifert, or Montana or Young this organization and its players were PERFECTION when it counted. To this day the 49ers are the only team in NFL history to appear in multiple Super Bowls and never lose, this once great franchise was batting 1000 on footballs grandest stage.
Flash forward to the Era of mediocrity where the Niners had failed to make the post season in eight straight seasons. They have faced underrated play from Quarterbacks such as Garcia, Rattay, Hill, O’Sullivan, and maybe by far the worst sub standard QB of them all, Alex Smith. The team faced a huge coaching carousel in which the Niners slipped into a major hole and couldn’t be dug out by the likes of Nolan or Singletary. The Wide Receiver position was far from the days of the great Hall of Famer Jerry Rice. Arnaz Battle, Brandon Lloyd, and not even the great future Hall of Famer Isaac Bruce could save the team. With all the darkness that was present within the organization at that time, the sun was starting to shine through in the form of Frank Gore, Patrick Willis and Michael Crabtree. It would take the mind of a great football man that turned around a once great program at Stanford University… Jim Harbaugh.
Jim comes into the city by the bay like a white knight to save this once great Franchise on the heels of a major bowl win at the Orange Bowl. Harbaugh resurrected the 49ers into a defensive phoenix which lead the league in turnovers and overall was the best defense in the NFL. The most shocking thing that Coach Harbaugh achieved this season was the dramatic comeback of the onetime #1 draft pick Alex Smith. Under his guidance Smith threw for over 3,000 yards for the first time ever in his rocky career, also he had 17 TD’s and only 5 INT’s and a career high in passer rating with a 90.7. During the length of the season Coach Harbaugh stated“Who’s got it better than us” and at the time it seemed like nobody. This mind frame helped the Niners roll to a 13-3 record and it’s first Division Title since 2002 and the number 2 seed in the NFC.
Now we go into depth as we break down Who really does have it better than the 49ers??? When you look at the NFL playoffs on paper, the teams that are better than the Niners are the defending Champions the Green Bay Packers. Not to mention the other prior Super Bowl Champions such as the Steelers, Patriots, and the Saints; who the Niners will face in the divisional playoffs here in San Francisco. QB-wise it would seem like the Niners are out matched with the record holder for most passing yards in a single season coming to play in our own back yard, Drew Brees has been putting up stunning numbers that have jaws dropping to the floor. Brees set the mark once held by Dan Marino with 5,084 passing yards and helped the Saints crush many offensive passing and total yardage records in the NFL. The Saints scored 34.2 points per game to the Niners 23.8 points in the same amount of time, on top of that they had more passing yards per game with 334.2, rushing yards with 132.9, and first downs with 26 per game. The one great equalizer that the 49ers have is the league leading defense which didn’t allow a rushing touchdown until week 16 against the Seahawks. The defense allowed only 14.3 points per game while the saints gave up a whole touchdown more with 21.2 . Rushers couldn’t even intimidate the Niners rushing for only 77.3 yards per game, all the while the secondary nabbed 23 INT’s and forced 17 fumbles and sacked the QB 42 times.
So for the 49ers to overcome the record setting Saints, they need to have the defensive juggernaut control the game, and have Drew Brees out of his comfort zone. They must get Aldon Smith and his 14 sacks in the game, which means he needs to see snaps in more than just the nickel package. His domination with his pass rush will be a fantastic 1-2 punch when you bring Justin Smith or even Ahmed Brooks. These 3 players will have Brees fumbling through his normal progressions and have him making some mistakes. Mistakes that Dashon Goldson and Carlos Rogers can capitalize on and maybe even take back to the house for a pick six. This strategy will allow Alex Smith to do just enough on offense, to maybe connect with Vernon Davis on a crossing route over the middle to light up the candlestick scoreboard. Maybe Frank Gore will be in the form of the Franchise leading rusher and be able to smash the defensive line and get a couple rushing TD’s to put the game out of reach.
When you look at all the offensive pros that the Saints have it can be said that the Saints are better than the Niners, while the defensive pros the Niners present state that Jim Harbuagh is right when he says who’s better then the 49ers defense… nobody. With that being said the 49ers can do just enough offensively to help this defense to the NFC championship where they will be challenged again most likely by the Green Bay Packers, and that’s a whole different can of worms
Junior Zamarron
