49er Fan

I lament about not seeing how the '90 49er team (14-2) would have stacked up against the Bills. It was a very painful season ending losing to NYG on 5 FGs in the NFCCG with Montana getting knocked out by Leonard Marshall in the 3rd quarter - with a lead at home.

Harvin back IN....to fantasy lineup

So....I should bench Harvin in fantasy this week?

Both are certain HOFers but Brady's dominance over P. Manning is really only in the regular season. Brady is just 2-2 vs. Manning all-time in the playoffs and 0-2 since 2006. Brady's wins over Manning were in the '03 and '04 seasons. That's a long time ago. NFL MVPs: P. Manning 5, Brady 2

Rooting for Denver but have this feeling Seattle wins. 22-21

That is all subjective. You have very little insight, if any, of what Steve Young was like as the leader of the 90s 49er teams. If you look at Jerry Rice's play in the Steve Young years he was just as good if not better in some areas than when he played with Montana. I will say: Montana was groomed by Bill Walsh from his rookie year through 1988 and their third Super Bowl together. Walsh was the undisputed leader of the team. It was Walsh's system that won. That changed somewhat when George Seifert, a players' coach, took over in 1989. You could argue that Montana did become more of a leader at that time without Walsh as head coach, but it was short-lived. There was a transition between Montana getting injured in 1991-1992 and coaches wanting Steve Young to be the QB over Montana because he was too good not to play. Montana didn't like that and was traded to Kansas City. He did not make very many players better there. Young lost four full seasons playing backup to Montana and he would have easily been a QB1 on most teams in the league at that time.

Young was great, my favorite player. Liked him better than Montana.

Lol! I don't know! I can buy Wilson as overrated (2-1 all-time in playoff games) but Kaepernick is building a legacy in the mold of Montana and Young. 6-2 now in the playoffs, three straight NFC Championship games and a road win at Green Bay. Road wins also @ ATL and @CAR. And maybe @SEA. Sorry, I didn't mean it like that. I meant it as "come on!" or "how f*cking stupid are you?"

This is possible but if Manning wins another Super Bowl with Denver he will be the ONLY quarterback in NFL history to win with different teams.

Please correct me if I am way out of line here....but what exactly is the NUMBER ONE goal of any NFL franchise? Sorry if you hate them but you don't get to three straight NFC Championship games without being a "good team." I will counter with: actually, yes - they are a very good team. You don't think Boldin is good? Davis? Kaepernick? Crabtree? How about Bowman and Willis at inside LB. Aldon Smith? They aren't that good either? Get the F out of here...

There were a couple of questionable calls and non-calls in the 49ers' favor. Carolina still would not have won even with every single one of those calls going their way. They couldn't stop Boldin. They couldn't stop Davis when they absolutely had to before the half. They couldn't stop Gore. Kapernick didn't even need to run for yardage himself except for one TD scamper on which he was barely touched. The Panthers were thoroughly dominated the entire second half. SF stuffed Carolina's offense twice at the goal-line and allowed only 3 points. Cam Newton could not evade the rush and was sacked 5 times. He was intercepted twice. His longest run was for 11 yards. The next leading rusher for Carolina was Tolbert with 20 yards. They got beat. Badly. But you go ahead and feel bad about the refs' calls if you need to.

Sorry, but the inevitable "outcome" was a beat-down with Carolina on the losing end. And for the record, the refs did not call the 12-men penalty because the ball was not yet marked for play: http://www.csnbayarea.com/49ers/referee-explains-no-flag-49ers-12-men-huddle

Oh please. Yes I admit the refs favored SF a bit. They then shut out the Panthers completely in the second half. In Cam Newton's first playoff game against this 49er unit they had a very difficult task in winning - even at home. As far as cockiness - the 49ers were just reacting to what Carolina was dishing out. Carolina came out ridiculously aggressive and tried to punch SF in the mouth. Problem with that approach was they got flagged for it a few times that led directly to points allowed and SF is probably the toughest and most battle-tested team in the league at this point - they're not going to be intimidated. Harbaugh? - Yeah he's animated, and he complains to the officials constantly. I can see where opposing fans hate him. Kaepernick? He keeps his cool on the field. He has his little celebrations. But he seems pretty humble to me in interviews. And he's a great QB.

Stacked defense, not offense. Smith can still play and Cam is obviously a talent but they don't dominate with the ground game. I like Olsen too but c'mon he's no Davis or Graham.

Manning over Brady for me. BUT if 9ers advance I would rather SF plays Patriots.

Agree with others - very minor contact on the PI. I don't care if it was the end of the game or the 1st quarter - bad call there.

Best I ever saw....my top 5 are Brown, Sanders, Tomlinson, Payton, Simpson

Flutie being benched for the 1999 Tennessee playoff game is strange. Rob Johnson appears to have been awarded the start based on his play against Indianapolis at home the previous week. The Colts were 13-2 and had locked up the #2 seed in the playoffs two weeks before. At halftime they benched their starting QB (Peyton Manning). I'm curious to know if Indy could have even challenged Jacksonville for the #1 playoff seed with a win at Buffalo. If not, then it was a meaningless game for the Colts. Notwithstanding Johnson's stellar game vs. Indy, he was still a QB who had started only 8 NFL games with no playoff experience. Flutie had 40 NFL starts under his belt, was 10-5 during the 1999 season, had NFL playoff experience, and was a seasoned veteran of the CFL for 8 years (1990-1997) - winning 6 MVPs, 3 championships, and would eventually be voted as the #1 CFL Player of All Time. I agree with others who say Flutie's benching for Tennessee was unwarranted and unprecedented.

Anyone know if A.Williams is starting today? I have him in fantasy. Thanks and good luck vs. PITT.

Anyone start KC defense

Works for both parties since he'll be doing the show out of Manhattan. In Bristol, CT he hated it and a lot of people hated him.

New England has been winning for years based on very solid football technique. Everyone knows their respective roles. Look at guys like Danny Woodhead and Julian Edelman. These guys make plays as Patriots because they're versatile and they're well-coached, not because they have more talent or athleticism than other players. Same for Wes Welker and even Brady. There is no way either of them put up even half the numbers they have in their careers with another team. Look at Mike Vrabel. A linebacker who catches 10 touchdowns. The fact is, Tebow is going to work hard and receive excellent coaching; and he'll be put in positions to make plays. Maybe just as a blocker or a decoy at times, but I have zero doubt that he will contribute significantly on that team in whatever role they find for him.

Absolutely ridiculous. After going 9-0 with three Super Bowls, New England with Brady have gone 8-7 in the playoffs since 2005 with 0 Super Bowls. Thank you for citing the 2005 playoff loss in Denver when Brady threw 2 picks, one of which was a virtual game-ending 100-yard return by Champ Bailey that led to a touchdown and an insurmountable 17-6 Denver lead. Flawless? Please. 2006: Brady intercepted with three minutes to go in Colts territory in 38-34 game at Indianapolis. Game-ending. 2007 (Super Bowl): Brady has no answer for the NYG defense, getting sacked 5 times and fumbling the ball late in the first half close to FG range (NE loses Super Bowl by 3 points 17-14). 2009: Brady is picked off 3 times by Baltimore in a 33-14 rout. Pitiful performance at home earns the QB a 49.1 rating. 2010: Brady (2 TDs, 1 INT) is outplayed by Mark Sanchez (3 TDs) in 28-21 loss to NYJ at home. 2011 (Super Bowl): Brady is picked off at the start of the 4th quarter with a 17-15 lead changing field position drastically (New England loses Super Bowl 21-17). 2012: Brady is once again humiliated by the Ravens, getting picked off twice in the 4th quarter in a 28-13 drubbing at home.

It's only "well-known" in the context of a few games - the 2009 Super Bowl vs. New Orleans (fourth quarter INT returned 74 yards for a TD), the 4-INT game he had against New England in 2003 (24-24 loss), and the 2012 38-35 OT loss to Baltimore. If you actually look at P. Manning's playoff games, those are the only three where you could say that *he* choked. --For a 9-11 career playoff record, in 5 of those losses Manning did not throw a pick. --In the 2002 loss to the Jets, Manning threw two 4th quarter picks when the game was 34-0 and 41-0. --In the 2004 loss to the Patriots, Manning threw a pick on the last play of the game when the game was already lost 20-3. --In the 2007 loss to San Diego, Manning was picked off at the end of the 1st half (meaningless) and picked off in the 3rd quarter. There were four lead-changes after that INT.

You can claim all you want that Manning chokes in the playoffs but he does just as much, if not more, than any other QB in getting his team there. And who wouldn't overpay for last year's numbers - 68.6%, 4,659 yards, 37 TDs, 11 INTs, 105.8 QB rating?