4th and Long

49ers Strike Gold

By Ryan Frisco

Before I get into any football talk, I just need to announce one thing; I was perfect on my NFL picks this past weekend, going 2 for 2 with the Ravens and 49ers.  Caleb missed on the Patriots game.  That's it.

So to spice things up, I'm going to review the game Caleb previewed last week, and he's going to review mine.  This should be fun.

The San Francisco 49ers came into the Georgia Dome to take on the number one seed Atlanta Falcons and ended Matt Ryan and Tony Gonzalez's storybook run.  Last year, Alex Smith fell short.  This year, Colin Kaepernick got the job done.

I read over Caleb's preview of the game, and what he said was surprisingly spot on to what actually happened.  Let's take a look at what he said would be happening Sunday night.

Photo Cred www.csnbaltimore.com

First up was an expectation of fantastic quarterback play, highlighting Matt Ryan with his receiving core of Julio Jones, Roddy White and Tony Gonzalez.  Matt Ryan threw for 396 yards.  Those three receivers combined for 360 of those yards, with three touchdowns.  Good start Caleb!

In regards to Kaepernick, the preview stated he would continue his excellent play.  Also, we should have been looking for a breakout game from Vernon Davis, who has been stalled as of late.  Well, Kaep continued to play well.  With no turnovers, he played the game very similar to how we're used to seeing Alex Smith play, by controlling the game well.  And, Vernon Davis had an amazing game, with 106 yards and a touchdown! Ta dah!  Well done Caleb.

Next, we saw what was expected, an above average rushing game that gave San Francisco the edge.  49er runners accounted for 150 yards and three touchdowns, with Atlanta gaining half the yardage and no scores.  Without the ground game, the Falcons couldn't control the game, and it got out of hand.

Photo Cred www.cnn.com

While Caleb felt the San Fran D Line would be too much for Matt Ryan to handle, the first half showed  the Atlanta quarterback doing pretty much anything he wanted.  There was only one sack on Ryan in the game.  They did force a big fumble on Ryan that took away any momentum the Falcons had in the second half.  Overall, the second half defense for San Fran was stellar, shutting Atlanta out.

Caleb's fourth expectation was that Atlanta would have a quick start.  And, like they did all season, they did.  After the first play in the second quarter, they had a 17-0 lead.  At the half, it was 24-7.  Caleb, you're 3 for 4 right now

The fifth and final prediction was that this game would be entertaining.  Perfect.  Entertaining from beginning till end.  From Caleb's preview article;

" Atlanta will use the home crowd to keep pace with San Francisco throughout this heavyweight battle, but Kaepernick and the 49ers D will come out the victors."

Photo Cred www.global14.com

Atlanta jumped out to an early lead, winning the first half 24-7.  San Francisco battled back behind the steady hand of Colin Kaepernick and won the second half 21-0, and the game 28-24.  Caleb, you called the 4 point victory perfectly.  Well done, well done.  I enjoyed watching your expectations come true.

One more prediction from me: Tony Gonzalez will not retire.  He is a top three tight end at the ripe age of 36.  He'll be back next year for 'one' more shot at the Big Game.