49ers Fall Short
Photo Credit: Donald Miralle/Getty Images
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Kevin Collins, Staff Writer
January 30, 2012
Filed under Sports
What an amazing season for the 49ers. At the beginning of this playoff run, no one expected the 49ers to have the success that they did, let alone one game short of the Super Bowl–but they did. Although the 49er’s dominated in the regular season, a new light would be ignited in the playoffs, which started with a game against the Saints at home in Candlestick Park.
49ers vs Saints Divisional Round playoff – a game that lived up to its highly anticipated glory. There have been many memorable games involving the 49ers, including the 1982 NFC championship game against the Cowboys in which receiver Dwight Clark made an amazing catch to win them the game. Last Saturday, tight end Vernon Davis would play a key role in the 36-32 victory over the Saints.
The game started with an incredible defensive play. 49er’s safety, Donte Whitner, smacked Saint’s running back, Pierre Thomas, causing a fumble which the 49ers were able to recover. After the turnover, the game was scoreless until Alex Smith connected with Tight End Verron Davis on pass that went for 49 yards to give the 9ers a score of 7-0. After two turnovers by the Saints, the 49ers increased their score to 17-0. The Saints would come back and score two consecutive touchdowns, both to Jimmy Graham and Marques Colston to make it a 17-14 ball game.
In the 4th quarter, the game really started to heat up when 49ers running back, Frank Gore, busted a huge run for 42 yards. Unfortunately, the drive ended with a field goal making the score 23-17. The Saints responded with a pass to Darren Sproles for a 44 yard touchdown, allowing the Saints to take their first lead with the score 23-24. 49ers would get the ball. On the Saint’s 27 yard line on 3rd and long, 49ers quarterback Alex Smith made a gutsy call. The play was designed so that Smith would take the ball all the way to the end zone with 2 minutes left to go. While the play was risky, the 49ers celebrated heavily as Smith crossed into the end zone, taking back the lead and making the game 29-24. With the game on the line, Brees threw a huge pass to Graham in the middle of the field where he broke 2 tackles and ran all the way for the touchdown making the score 29-32 after a 2 point conversion with 1:37 left. Smith would have to drive the length of the field to score. Slowly, the 49ers made their way down the field with short passes until Verron Davis caught a pass for 47 yards to bring them to the 20 yard line. With 9 seconds left, many believed that the 49ers would kick a field goal to bring the game to overtime. Instead, Alex Smith connected with Verron Davis for the game winning touchdown giving the 49ers a chance to play in the NFC Championship. The final score was 36-32.
49ers vs Giants, NFC Championship, winner goes to the Super Bowl. The game was played in Candlestick Park once again but this time, rain and cold weather played a huge factor in the game. The game started with a bang when Alex Smith passed the ball to none-other than Verron Davis who ran for 73 yards and a touchdown. In the second quarter, the Giants finished off a drive with a pass to Bear Pascoe to tie the game at 7-7. In the second half, Alex Smith connected with Davis once again to give the 49ers a 14-10 lead. Things took a turn for the worse when 49ers punt returner, Kyle Williams was going to receive the ball on a punt. After a short punt, the ball touched Williams knee, constituting a live ball and in the confusion, allowing the Giants to recover the ball; a costly turnover because Giants would get a touchdown off a Manning to Manningham pass making the game a 14-17 game. 49ers quickly turned around with a field goal to tie the game up. With only minutes left in the game, neither team was able to score in regulation because of the strong defense on both sides, taking the game into overtime. In overtime, both offenses continued to struggle. After a sack by 49er’s Justin Smith, the Giants punted the ball to now infamous, Kyle Williams, who fumbled the ball to once again cost the Niners a monumental turnover that gave the Giants the ball at the 25 yard line. After getting the ball closer to the end zone, Giants kicker, Lawrence Tynes kicked the game winning field goal, sending the Giants to Super Bowl 46 to play the Patriots next Sunday.
This was a heartbreaking loss for all 49er fans. Many people believed that Kyle Williams alone was to blame for the loss, but lets look at the facts. The 49ers were 1 for 13 on 3rd down conversions. The 49ers may have had two big plays, but other than that, their offense did not do enough to win the game. Part of the loss can be blamed on turnovers because a turnover can be costly, but blaming the loss on one person isn’t right. Football is a team sport, not an individual sport. In the Ravens vs. Patriots game, the Ravens kicker, Billy Cunduff, missed the field goal to go into overtime but before the play, Ravens receiver, Lee Evans dropped a sure catch in the end zone. Before that, Joe Flacco threw a late intereception. A loss never comes down to one play, that’s how football is.
Although the loss was painful, we all have something to look forward to. The 49ers have a young group of talented players who will continue to develop. They have a innovative coach, Jim Harbaugh, who is going to stick around in San Francisco for a very long time. Not to mention, we have quarterback Alex Smith who is only going to get better now that he has rekindled his career. So everyone, it’s definitely not over. Next year the 49ers are going to come back stronger and ready for another Super Bowl run. Thank you to all the fans who believed!