Last weekend’s wild card lineup appeared promising.  I watched every game with great interest and was hoping for close games with a few upsets thrown in for fun.
But instead we got some not -so-close games as the Texans, Giants and Saints pretty much took over their respective games and C-R-U-Z-ed home.
But….the last game of the wild card weekend, the one I wasn’t all that interested in watching, turned out to be compelling football.
The Steelers were limping into Denver. Surely they would find a way to outsmart the Broncos coaching staff and completely disrupt the Tebow Magical Mystical ride as I predicted.
But in the NFL it is reasonable to expect the unexpected. All the talking heads picked the Steelers. Tebow Mania notwithstanding, how could this 8-8 team which had backed into the playoffs, possibly compete with the 10-6 Steelers defensive juggernaut? But as they say, “it’s why they play the game”.
What impressed me most about this game was how the Broncos out coached Dick LeBeau. LeBeau dared them to run the ball showing that he clearly felt Tebow could not pass his way to victory.
The first quarter backed this philospohy up as the Broncos were held to 8 total yards of offense.
But…then Tebow did what no one expected, he threw the ball downfield, accurately, cleanly and stunningly.
The Steelers came back to tie it up and go into the first OT under new NFL overtime rules.
The Broncos won the toss and on the first play in OT Tebow connected on an unbelievable 80 yard TD for the victory.  OMG. Take that world.

Now to my little corner of the world, the San Francisco Bay Area.
The San Francisco Forty Niners and their fans have been frustrated and stymied for the last ten years.
We haven’t been in a playoff since 1999.
Now we are all in Niner Heaven. Niner Fever has taken over the SF Bay Area. Everywhere I go I notice that folks have pulled their old Niner gear out of mothballs and are proudly wearing the red and gold.
As one friend said to me about Saturdays’ game, ”this is our Super Bowl”. Yes it is and it feels that way.

Few gave the Niners a chance to be 13-3 with rookie head coach Jim Harbaugh and QB Alex Smith. Few believed we could play defense the way Mike Singletary wanted to, Physical with a F. Few thought we could play special teams they way we have. And now few believe that we have a chance in hell of beating the Saints on Saturday.
I am a die hard Niners fan, in fact my photo has been up in the Candlestick bathrooms all season as part of an ad campaign. Seriously. But I am also realistic, I thought we would get better under Jim Harbaugh, coaching was our biggest problem. I expected we would compete for the division against the Rams (the Rams were a real disappointment), I thought we would get 9 or 10 wins at the most this season.
But to say that I expected a playoff game, no, I did not expect that when the season started. Nor did I expect a 13-3 record, and a real shot at the Championship game. Super Bowl? I still can’t say thoase words out loud.

I have been listening to all the “experts’ make their picks and explain why the 49ers don’t stand a chance against the second coming of the greatest show on turf.
The basis of their conclusions? The 49ers will not be able to stop Brees and will not be able to put up enough points to compete. These are the same people who said Tebow wasn’t a NFL quality quarterback. Theses are the same people who said the Steelers would crush the Broncos.

Here’s what I believe will happen tomorrow, and I will be there in my finest, reddist Niner Gear and screaming like a mother.

The 49ers will win this game because the fans at Candlestick will be frenzied and louder than they have been in ten years.
The 49ers will win this game because they will control the momentum and not allow Brees to put up more than 20 points.
The 49ers will win because the defense will play smash mouth football and force at least one turnover.
The 49ers will win because they are the underdogs in their own stadium and Harbaugh and staff will have them prepared to defend Their House!

Niners vs. Saints: Pick Niners in a stunning upset.
The other games will go according to script:
Texans at Ravens : Pick Ravens. It wll be a close game but look for Flacco to win it in the end.
Giants at Packers: Pick Packers. Although I am hoping the G-Men upset the Pack, I don’t think it’s going to happen.
Broncos at Patriots: Pick Patriots. A nice ending to an incredible season for Tebow.

Go Niners!

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