Respect this ESPN

The road to the Superbowl goes through San Francisco, as it did in the late 80's and early 90's when The San Francisco 49ers were building a legacy and achieving greatness under legendary head coach and Hall of Famer Bill Walsh. If you visited the ESPN website today, you wouldn't know a thing about it. The Niners have been off the national radar since San Francisco won Superbowl XXIX and Gary Plummer ripped the imaginary monkey off the back of Steve Young after they dismantled a pretty good San Diego Chargers team 49-26.

Since those days, the internet has become the most valuable asset for sports fans across the planet, sports talk radio has become bigger than ever before and twitter is the most popular avenue for players to run their mouth and flap their collective gums. Jerry Rice, the greatest football player in the history of the NFL was brought to Bristol Connecticut this week to talk about, you guessed it, the New York football Giants. Linda Cohn had the balls, yes the balls, to ask him six questions about the New York Giants and one question about San Francisco. 

It's easy to say that San Francisco has not been given enough credit nor have they received the respect they deserve. But let's be honest, we are 49ers fans. We don't need ESPN or any other national sports company to validate the success of this franchise. We are easily the toughest group of fans in professional football. If you doubt that statement, allow me to explain. Name another fan base that grew up with 5 superbowl championships, the greatest quarterback in the history of football, who threw balls to the greatest football player in the history of the game who were both coached by a man who single handedly revolutionized the game of football as we know it. I am that fan. Is it even humanly possible to have higher expectations than Niner fans? Allow me to take this one step further. Let's discuss Alex Smith for a moment. The guy has been absolutely dreadful for the six years he has played in the NFL and just a few short days ago, he dropped  the New Orleans Saints, the team every single expert claimed would come to San Francisco and break their 0-4 road playoff drought and threw a TD pass to Vernon Davis that many ( I hate nicknames so I refuse to play that game) are calling The Catch III. He has this team and it's first year head football coach playing in the NFC Championship game and the first thing out of my mouth on Sunday morning after that amazing and incredible victory. Can he do it again? 

Slice this pie however you want, but the reality of the situation is extremely simple. East Coast biased exists and more importantly, I don't give a damn! ESPN, Sports Illustrated and every group of nut jobs in between can avoid my team all they want. They can disrespect this team, it's fans, it's players and it's success all they want and I don't care. I know Niner fans better than any of those organizations ever will and I know this much. We live, die and bleed 49ers football and this town has higher expectations for their football team than any other franchise in the NFL. We know who we are, we know what we want and we won't be happy until the final second ticks off the clock in Indianapolis on Sunday February 5th and Jed York takes the Lombardi trophy from the hands of Roger Goodell. That's when others will give us respect and by that point, we still won't give a damn because it will be too late. 

Alex freaking Smith!

For the past 6 seasons, Alex Smith has been called every name in the book by Niners fans and in my opinion, he deserved the criticism. As a kid growing up, I admired two of the greatest QB's in the history of professional football. Joe Montana, the greatest quarterback in the history of the NFL and Steve Young, a hall of famer who shined starting the moment after he appeared from behind the shadows of Joe Montana's legend.

I followed CAL football and Aaron Rodgers was the star of that team. When he entered the NFL draft, I was excited at the idea of San Francisco drafting him with the number one overall pick of the 2005 NFL draft, but we got Alex Smith instead. A QB who ran a spread offense, didn't perform very well at the NFL combines but was off the charts when it came to the wonderlic test. He was a very smart guy with small hands. A guy who had never taken a snap from under center, played his college ball at Utah, a school that didn't play anybody. He was basically set up to fail and fail is exactly what he did.

At the end of the 2010 NFL season the San Francisco 49ers fired head football coach Mike Singletary and owner Jed York promised this proud franchise that the team was set to move in a different direction and return to the success we experienced in the late 80's and early 90's. Jim Harbaugh was meeting with the Miami Dolphins in the morning and San Francisco in the evening and many fans were told by ESPN and countless other East coast biased outlets that Harbaugh had already signed a contract with Miami. Well, he didn't and he signed a 5 year $25 million deal with The Niners to become the next head football coach, fresh off a stellar coaching career at Stanford, which reminded so many fans in San Francisco of the late great genius Bill Walsh's journey to San Francisco.

Almost immediately Jim Harbaugh announced that once the NFL lockout ended, Alex Smith would be his QB. As a fan of this team, I thought a lunacy commission should be appointed to take Harbaugh to an insane asylum. I couldn't believe that we were going to start a new season with old baggage, but Harbaugh was convinced that Alex was his guy. I know Harbaugh's path to success very well and it's been made perfectly clear what he has done to get his first NFL coaching position so I decided I would trust him, even though I didn't want to.

Throughout the 2011 season, Alex Smith proved that he could "manage the game" very well and he did just enough to win games, but he won. He wasn't flashy, he didn't put up the numbers that Aaron Rodgers, Drew Brees and Tom Brady did, but he won; plain and simple. On Saturday January 14th, 2012, he did the unthinkable. He went to to toe with Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saints, he wasn't intimidated or scared, he showed up and had the biggest game of his entire career and he did it "in spectacular fashion."

I can't say that all the criticism I laid at the feet of Smith were unwarranted, I can't take it back and don't feel like I should be forced to, just because he won a big game. I believe in him more today than I did going into the game on Saturday. To be completely honest, when New Orleans took the lead late in the 4th quarter, I had absolutely zero confidence in Alex Smith's abilities and thought for sure we were destined to lose. I've never had faith in him and I am sure that when the NFC Championship game starts, I won't have much faith in him either, but he did it. Alex freaking Smith is one of the main reasons why we beat New Orleans in the divisional round and the 4th quarter of that football game will never be forgotten. It was a game for the ages as well as a coming of age for young Alex Smith. I give the guy a ton of credit for having the stones to make some big plays and get his first signature win, but i still have my doubts. As is almost always the case in sports, the next question to be asked is simple. Can he do it again?

Niners turn the lights out on Steelers, win biggest game of the century

Monday night was a big test for this 49ers team. With the entire world watching, visiting Pittsburgh seething at the chance to clinch the AFC #1 overall seed, these two proud franchises did battle. It was the first time in NFL history that two teams faced off with a combined 11 superbowl rings between them. It was an opportunity for San Francisco to prove, in front of the entire world, that they belong, that they are as good as their record and a win would improve their chances of obtaining the #2 overall seed in the NFC. 

Ben Rothlisberger, as everyone on the planet knew, was injured. He was a game time decision and just before kick off was cleared to start at QB. At this stage in the season every team is banged up and has players hurt, injured and or playing through pain. That's a fact of life in the NFL. On the opening possession, Big Ben limped his team down the field, completing passes with efficiency and it looked as though Pittsburgh would get in the end zone and take a 7-0 lead early in the game, but that's when Big Ben threw his first of 3 interceptions in this big game. The 49ers defense set the tone of the game in that moment and continued to pound away at the Pittsburgh offense, getting to Big Ben at will and making it nearly impossible for him to make plays. The defense has been incredible all season, but it was even more important last night, against a very good Steelers team and they handled this team with ease. Aldon Smith, who is likely set to be the defensive rookie of the year, man handled offensive lineman Max Starks, an 8 year veteran who had absolutely no chance at stopping the bull rush of Aldon Smith.

It's easy to focus a lot of energy on the defense because they dominated the game from the word go, but that wouldn't be fair to this offense. Alex Smith and the offensive line have taken a lot of heat in the past 4 weeks and for good reason. They allowed 18 sacks in the past 3 games and made Alex Smith's job almost impossible. Facing the second best defense in football was not an easy task, but the offensive line met the challenge and far exceeded expectations. They didn't allow a sack, they gave Alex Smith time to get the ball to his receivers and they created holes for the running backs all night. Alex Smith missed a lot of targets and left at least three TD's on the field and the team settled for field goals far too often again, but he manufactured touchdown drives in crucial moments of the game, made some amazing throws and deserves a lot of credit for doing more than managing the game and not turning the ball over. He faced the biggest challenge of the season, looked the Pittsburgh defense in the face and absolutely picked them apart.

ESPN "experts" were quick to point out that Big Ben was hurt, James Harrison didn't play and San Francisco didn't get the best Pittsburgh team last night. They failed to mention that San Francisco is playing without the captain of their defense, all pro signal caller Patrick Willis. The refused to acknowledge that Frank Gore is playing hurt and refused to make excuses, making damn sure he did everything within his power to give his team 150%, as he always does. They didn't want to accept the the offensive line of San Francisco has been banged up in recent weeks and didn't use that as an excuse and played better than they have all season and punt returner Ted Ginn Jr. left the game with an ankle injury early in the 2nd quarter. A quick note about injuries. If you are injured or hurt as a player, you have a choice. Play hurt or don't play at all. If you decide to play and things don't go your way or your performance was not up to par, you can't turn around after the game and claim that the injury prevented players from performing. It's actually pretty simple. If you play and you are hurt, good for you, but don't make excuses for your performance because things didn't go your way. Yes, Big Ben should not have played in that game but he did and he got killed. I didn't hear Frank Gore complaining after the game that he didn't perform better because he's been playing with a twisted ankle and bummed knee all season. The better team won the game and the excuses are falling on deaf ears this morning. San Francisco is playing at a very high level and will need to maintain that swagger as the head to Seattle this Saturday to play in a very loud and tough environment.

Have the Niners peaked?

Leading up to a brutal matchup versus the only team in NFL history with more superbowl rings than the San Francisco 49ers, fans are beginning to show concern. San Francisco has allowed 18 sacks in the last 3 games, more than it allowed during any 3 game stretch during it's previous 8 non winning seasons and it looks even worse than that while watching them play. Alex Smith takes the brunt of the criticism because A) he's Alex freaking Smith and B) when you are the QB, you take the heat when the team loses and get lots of praise when the team wins.

David Akers is set to break Jerry Rice's single season scoring record, a stat that makes many Niner fans cringe. We really don't care about Jerry's record being shattered, but we are very disappointed that it's being broken by a kicker because it highlights what we already know. This team leaves way too many points on the field, they settle for field goals far to often and our chances of beating playoff teams with field goals are not good. Early in the season we won games ugly, we won road games many thought we had no business winning. But now we have lost 2 of the last 3 and the team is not only injured, but not playing up to expectations of fans and of their head coach and his staff. Has the team peaked? It's easy to forget that this season was supposed to be a rebuilding season, with a new head coach, a new philosophy for running a football team and tempered expectations. That being said, this team got out fast and has overachieved, which leads fans to want more and more. Primarily because we are still living the dream of the super bowl parades and parties that followed, but this team is much different and we need to show some patience. To answer the question, no, they haven't peaked. I believe in this team and I know that they can play better, beat teams up in the trenches and make the fans proud, but I will admit that we now have very high expectations for this team. Sadly, with high expectations come even bigger letdowns and I won't be shocked when this team gets their butt kicked in the first playoff game in almost 10 years.

A long time coming

The San Francisco 49ers clinched the NFC West with a 26-0 win over a bad and beat up St. Louis Rams team yesterday and it's been a long time since Niner fans have been this happy. The celebrations seemed a bit less fruitful than some may have imagined, considering it's been seven long, sad years since this franchise tasted a playoff birth, but it comes as no surprise to anyone who has followed coach Harbaugh this season. His style is much different than any coach who has ever stalked the sidelines in San Francisco and he has goals that have not been met. Making the playoffs is obviously the first step to the Superbowl, but he also recognizes that just getting a ticket to the dance is not enough; not for these players, these coaches and definitely not for these fans. Harbaugh was calm and collected, as usual, after the game and gave us the same speech he has been giving all season. "We left a lot of plays on the field and we need to improve." This coming from a first year head coach who took over one of the proudest franchises in all of sports, when the team was down and out, playing some of it's worst football in franchise history. He stepped in with a very short amount of time, because of the NFL lockout, and got this team to play hard, to play with heart and to think of the team first, of themselves last. He is hands down the coach of the year and I am more impressed by his ability to coach under adversity than I am with his win loss record.


Sunday December 04, 2011 was also a historic day for 49ers running back Frank Gore. He passed the late great Joe Perry and became the franchises leading rusher. More importantly, Frank Gore is the face of this franchise and you can't find a face that better defines what this franchise has been through since he was selected 65th overall in the 2005 NFL Draft. He was one of the great talents coming out of that draft, but was injured so frequently that many scouts and teams were unwilling to take a chance, but San Francisco did. Frank has played for losing teams in each of his 6 previous season and has rarely made a fuss about it. In fact, he was criticized by many for crying after a tough loss his rookie season. The man played injured, he has played hurt and he has never asked for anything other than an opportunity to play and his primary goal is to be the best teammate he can be. I have a great deal of respect for Frank Gore and yesterday was yet another example of his dedication and team first mentality. It has been a long time coming, but this man was patient and now he has a chance to do something special once the playoffs begin.

Congrats to the Niners, to the players, the front office, the ownership group that I have been extremely critical of and most of all, congrats to the greatest fans in professional football.

Elitist mentality has returned to San Francisco

Thanksgiving night was the biggest challenge this Niners team has faced all season and the Niners flat out got their ass kicked in every aspect of the game. Some fans latched on to coach Harbaughs excuse machine, claiming the short week and cross country flight would prevent them from playing their A game. Last time I checked, professional football players don't travel Southwest, despite the "your bags fly free" promotions. They fly on chartered jets, shack up in 5 star hotels and get treated like royalty. Yes, if guys were banged up in the game versus Arizona, then likely guys were not playing at 100%.

I don't want to spend much time on the game itself, because sadly, I didn't get to watch much of it. What I'd like to talk about today is the mentality of some of our fans. Some of the fans have reverted back to the mid 80's and 90's, a time in Niners history when the team was favored by double digits every week, went on the road in the west coast time zone, east coast time zone, against good teams and bad and beat the living crap out of teams regardless of when and where they played. This team is not that team. Not only are they not made up of future hall of famers they way those old teams were. This is a team that had 10 seasons of mediocrity, a number of 10 loss seasons and practically gave up once the team was losing a game. The entire franchise was a complete disaster and they were clearly a laughing stock in the NFL. Jim Harbaugh has changed the mindset and focus of his team, in a very short period of time, but let's keep in mind that he has only been around for half a football season. It's easy to forget this because the team has been playing so well, winning games on the road and si.com had them ranked #2 in their power rankings going into the game at Baltimore. Let's not lose sight of the fact that this franchise is in the process of rebuilding their reputation, rebuilding the winning mentality of it's players, coaches and fans.

All of that being said, I am guilty at times. I am overly critical of Alex Smith when he doesn't play well and refuse to give him credit when he does play well. I still want to see Steve Young on the field, dropping back to pass, avoiding the pass rush and refusing to take a sack and rushing toward contact, beating up linebackers before he takes a vicious hit fromt he safety because he refuses to slide. That's what is still fresh in my mind as a Niners fan it's very difficult to accept anything less, but this team isn't the team I watched growing up. It's a new team, with new coaches and players trying to make a name for themselves and I need to embrace that because despite a tough loss to a very good Baltimore Ravens team, we still have an opportunity to clinch the division this coming weekend and that's a beautiful thing, if I allow myself to accept it, which I probably won't.

Play of the game

The final play of the Niners/Giants game on Sunday was truly incredible. Yes, Justin Smith got his hands up and blocked that ball, preventing a completed pass. But, if you watch the play again, you will see Giants tight end Jake Ballard, who made two great catches during the game and runs 6'6" 275 lbs. covered by Patrick Willis, the best linebacker in the entire league. Willis didn't just cover him, he was all over him. He stuck with Ballard's every move and prevented Manning from being able to make a big play to tie the football game. Patrick Willis was quoted in the San Francisco chronicle recently, saying " To be on track the way we are, to be able to be winning, I'll do whatever it takes. I don't care if I have to go back and play in the middle of the field." Well, that's EXACTLY what he did on the final play of the most important game in Niners football this decade. He covered the guy that was going to get the ball, he made sure that there was absolutely no way the ball would be completed to his guy and he put his teammates in a place to make a big play, which Justin Smith did.

Willis was asked about his stats (he is on pace for a career low 123 tackle season) and it was brought to his attention that his stats were down and he wasn't on track to have as many tackles as in years past. He said "It's not about the tackles or sacks or stats, It's about winning, that's what we're doing and that's what I am all for." Often times we hear players say that and then with their actions on the field, they tell us a different story, but not Willis. He's the team MVP on defense, he's the captain of men, but he's the consummate team player on a football team that has proven that this is not about one guy, it's about everyone on this team pulling in the same direction, doing what's best for the team.