4th and Long

Road to the Super Bowl

San Francisco 49ers Quest for #6

By Caleb Musselman



Intro – One year ago, the 49ers were still swallowing their recent 20-17 defeat to the New York Giants in the NFC Championship game. Licking their wounds, they slowly came to grips with the fact that the season was over. Anyone who has ever played a highly competitive sport knows the beautiful joy of victory and the gut-wrenching pain of defeat. When a team strives to be the best, and gets within inches of this mark, the road to recovery can be a struggle. In fact, upon this type of defeat, teams usually go one of two ways. They either fall into a depression and have a next season slump, or they rise from the ashes with even more hunger and desire to achieve their goals. Well, unless you have just woken up from an 11 month coma, you should know which of these paths the 49ers have chosen to take. However, if you did just wake up from an 11 month coma I’ll help you out. First, call the nurse and ask her to bring you a pair of pants, then go on www.youtube.com and search Colin Kaepernick. Now that we have that out of the way, let’s move forward.

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            After a heart breaking loss to the eventual Super Bowl champion New York Giants, the 49ers entered the 2012-2013 season with a full bag of chips on their shoulder. From the outset, it was rather obvious that Jim Harbaugh and his squad meant business. With virtually their entire team intact from the year before, San Francisco was ready for redemption, and Alex Smith was ready to silence the critics. My how things can change in a 17-week season.

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Regular Season – Week 1 slated San Fran against Aaron Rodgers and the high-flying Packers offense at Lambeau Field. In a battle of NFC giants, San Francisco established themselves as top dog with a convincing 30-22 victory. Alex Smith did his best Alex Smith impersonation going 20-26 for 211 yards, two TD’s and no interceptions. Frank Gore had a dominating 100+ performance and the 49ers were off to a fantastic start to the 2012 campaign. The next week the 49ers handled a pesky Detroit team on there way to a 2-0 start. Weeks 3-6 brought some interesting trends to San Francisco’s season. A loss to the Vikings 24-13 in Week 3 was followed by two consecutive thrashings of the Jets (34-0) and the Bills (45-3). They finished off this four game stretch with a very bad loss to the Giants (26-3). Throughout these games an uncomfortable trend had been established. The 49ers were one of the best teams in the league, but on occasion, the offense would forget to play. The Niners may not have thought much of it, but the league began to take notice.

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            During week 7 and 8 San Francisco got back on the horse and returned to their stellar play. A tough 13-6 win against Seattle was followed by a drubbing of the lowly Cardinals. Alex Smith was putting up over 200 yards a game. In fact, he was having an excellent campaign in the first 8 weeks. After their bye in week 9, the 49ers had their first matchup against division rival St. Louis. During the first half, Alex Smith was hit and came up woozy. Enter Colin Kaepernick. The San Francisco faithful held their breath as they watched their backup take the field. Kaepernick’s first action was by no means smooth. He appeared panicked in his first few snaps during the 2nd quarter and came up with no points. However, in the second half, he steadied the ship enough to come away with a disappointing tie, 24-24. Week 11 brought Kaepernick’s first start. Alex Smith and Jay Cutler were ruled out, and thus began the battle of the backups on Monday Night Football: Colin Kaepernick and Jason Campbell. Well, long story short, one of them looked like a backup and one didn’t. I’ll let Jason Campbell tell you who was who. Come on Jason, speak up. Final score 32-7. Kaepernick shone bright like a diamond. (shutters)

            Thus came the decision; with a 7-2-1 record, Jim Harbaugh had an enormous decision in front of him. Does he go with the QB who took them to the NFC Championship game in 2012, or does he start the 2nd year kid whose talent and future are higher than the Eiffel Tower? Harbaugh made the tough decision on benching Smith, and (sorry Alex), it was the best decision of his career.



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            Kaepernick proceeded to lead the 49ers to wins over the Saints, Dolphins and Patriots with a quirky OT loss to St. Louis sprinkled in the mix. Kaepernick was like parmesan cheese; he kept getting better with age. You could see him becoming more comfortable under center as each week progressed. His arm was getting more accurate and his gazelle legs were a constant threat on any broken play. He was exactly what the Niners were missing. San Francisco cruised into week 16 with a 10-3-1 record and a full head of steam. Russell Wilson, however, had different plans for the day. Seattle brought the 49ers back down to earth with an embarrassing 42-13 win. Just like earlier in the season, San Fran was prone to hiccups, and this was certainly one of those weeks. Despite this loss, the division was still clinched by the time week 17 came around and San Fran cruised to a 27-13 win over Arizona and a final record of 11-4-1.



Wild Card Round - Bye

Divisional Round - Green Bay vs. San Francisco at Candlestick Park. This game did not disappoint. Turning in the best performance of his young career, Kaepernick had his way with Clay Matthews and the Green Bay Defense. Throwing for 263 yards and rushing for 181 yards, Kaepernick combined for 4 all-purpose touchdowns. Additionally, Gore carried for 119 and a score. For the second time in one season, the 49ers beat Aaron Rodgers and the Packers, 45-31.

NFC Championship - I will keep this short as we have already written many articles on this game. You can check them out on our NFL archive tab. In short, Kaepernick gave his best Alex Smith impression and the San Francisco D did the rest. 28-24. This storied season had carried San Fran to Super Bowl 47.

Super Bowl XLVII - What does San Fran need to do to win?

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First, Colin Kaepernick needs to play within himself. Last week he showed incredible maturity by taking what the defense gave him and not trying to make unnecessary big plays. Atlanta’s goal was to neutralize the legs of Kaepernick, I expect Baltimore’s goal will be somewhat similar. Will he be able to rely on his arm and his running back to make the plays? We shall see.

Second, the Smith brothers must get to Flacco. In the NFC championship, Matt Ryan was allowed to pull out his La-z-boy and hang out in the pocket. The Niners D-line did a dreadful job of pressuring Ryan. Flacco is a similar quarterback who relies fully on his arm to make plays. If San Fran doesn’t pressure him, he could potentially pick apart their defense. Potentially.

Third, Kaepernick MUST utilize Vernon Davis. This is my biggest key to the game. As Ryan mentioned in his article, Ray Lewis will be doing most of the covering of Vernon Davis. In my mind, this is an enormous mismatch. Putting a 37 year-old run stopping linebacker on the fastest tight end in the game could be a mistake. If they can establish the running game early, which they will, Vernon Davis is going to have free reign of anything over 15 yards. Ray Lewis is just not going to be able to keep up with his speed and elusiveness. But this all relies on Kaepernick’s ability to find him, and until last week their chemistry was far from fantastic.

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            Fourth, Akers MUST capitalize on his chances. I believe this will be a 5 point game or less. If either kicker misses a field goal it could mean the game. Akers has the experience, but his confidence is shot at a crucial moment of his career.

            Will San Fran be able to execute their game plan effectively? Will Kaepernick fold under the pressure of the limelight? Or will he catapult himself into the history books? Just 4 days till our questions are answered. Tick Tock