I don’t like to get ahead of myself. Great, tremendous playoff wins have a way of being rendered meaningless when the team loses the following week. Sure, that Young to Owens touchdown to win the wild card game against the Packers in the 1998 season was memorable, especially since the Packers had bounced the 49ers out of the playoffs in the three prior seasons, but the following week the 49ers lost to the Falcons in the divisional round. Having said that, wow, what a game this Saturday! For pure playoff excitement, this game was hard to beat. There was “The Catch”. There was the John Taylor touchdown in Super Bowl XXIX. But after that, I can’t think of any 49er playoff moments that can beat what I saw on Saturday, especially the back and forth nature of the final five minutes of the game. When Alex Smith ran in the first go-ahead touchdown, I thought the Saints still had a 50-50 chance of winning the game with a drive on their own, but I thought that Smith and the 49ers offense were done with their day and could be proud of how they finished. While I could imagine the Saints mounting one last comeback, I didn’t think the 49ers would ever respond with one more comeback touchdown of their own. 85 yards, 95 seconds, with only one timeout? The only thing I was envisioning was a 60-yard field goal attempt by Akers. Those two big receptions by Vernon Davis were truly a surprise and joy to watch. By the way, do defenses need to start learning how to play prevent again? I know people used to criticize prevent defenses all the time, but going man-to-man on the opponent’s best receiver? That strategy seems to be going too far in the other direction.
So now, the 49ers play their first conference championship game since the 1997 season. That’s a 14-year wait. So yeah, I am really looking forward to this Sunday’s game. Who knew I would I still have to plan my schedule around 49er games in January? Otherwise, I wouldn’t have scheduled tennis lessons for Colin on Sunday afternoons. Thankfully, with the late kickoff, Colin’s lesson should end before the game starts. Playing the Giants in the playoffs sure brings back memories. Jim Burt’s hit on Montana. Roger Craig fumbling a possible third straight championship away. I guess a lot of negative memories are sticking out right now. I was ambivalent about whether I wanted the Packers or the Giants to win yesterday. I thought that the Giants might be a tougher opponent than the Packers. A strong pass rush is always scary. Having a home game is also important, though the Giants have proven time and again that they know how to win on the road. It should be another close one.
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