San Francisco 49ers: Mighty Men

Well it’s onto the NFC Championship for the third straight year of Pope Harbaugh’s reign over the Niners, as the boys in red and gold pulled out a tough, hard fought, and ultimately impressive 23-10 win over the Carolina Panthers. Toughness, which has become a hallmark of Harbaugh’s Niners, was on full display again on Sunday, as the team defeated the 10 am Pacific Time start, a team that outplayed them the last time they played, and stood so strong on two drives for the Panthers that ended inside the 2, that this truly was a “mighty men” win, to use Harbaugh’s words. This team is still not perfect, as they were thoroughly outplayed up until the final four minutes of the first half yesterday, but their toughness was so apparent that when they grabbed the lead right before halftime, you could sense that the team was going to start to impose their will and bring their execution to match that all world toughness.

I could turn into a broken record going on and on about the toughness, but I truly believe that is what makes this team so good. They might not look or play like the best team from the opening kickoff to the final whistle, but by the time the 60 minute mark hits, they are, more times than not, going to be the better team and pull out the win. And to me, this all stems from swagger, confidence and toughness that is exhibited from the top down. It was not cockiness going into the game, expecting to win and play Seattle for the right to go the Super Bowl, instead, it’s simply superior confidence in the players and coaches in the locker room that every game their collective skill, brains, strength and TOUGHNESS will win out when the final whistle blows. I was watching an NFL Network interview earlier in the week with Patrick Willis and NaVorro Bowman and P. Willy put into words exactly what you see from this team every Sunday: “If we play good, I think we can win. If we play great, I don’t think we give the other team a chance.”

The second half of the game was what gives you confidence that this team can go into hostile Seattle and win where they have had demons the past two years. Coaching adjustments abounded, as the defense shut down Cam Newton and the Panther passing attack (I know Steve Smith was increasingly hobbled as the game went on), while the offense put together two of the most impressive drives of the season against a top three defense, driving 70+ yards both times. I would have to watch again to see specifically if it was some different stunts along the defensive line, but the Niners pass rushers transformed to a sacking machine in the second half, netting four sacks through both individual and collective efforts. It really helped take the pressure off of the defensive backs who were not up to the task of stopping the Panthers receivers in the first half and needed all the help they could get slowing down Cam after a scorching first half.  The back to back sacks to stop the Panthers second drive of the second half was when I fully felt confident that the Niners were going to pull this one out.

First, it was Bowman on a blitz, spinning inside on Mike Tolbert and sacking Cam for 8 yard loss, then it was a team sack as Aldon Smith, Justin Smith, Ray McDonald, and Ahmad Brooks collapsed the pocket, before Brooks pulled down Newton. And that was all she wrote for the Panthers, who could only muster one more meaningful trip into Niners territory, a result greatly aided by a bogus roughing the passer call.

Now it’s on to hated Seattle, where the team has looked downright abysmal for most of the last two games there. It will be imperative for the Niners to get avoid getting off to a bad start in order to keep the Seattle fans at bay, not allowing them to disproportionately affect the game. It is going to be a dogfight, it is going to crazy, and, most of all, the Niners will need toughness to pull this one out in the most hostile of environments.