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| ESPN.com |
Joe Buck and Troy Aikman call the game for Fox; Gene Steratore refereeing.
FIRST QUARTER
The 49ers kick off and I assume deferred; Buck never told us. The first play keeps him too busy to, anyway; it's a complete disaster for the Seahawks. Russell Wilson play-fakes, rolls left, and Aldon Smith is on him in a flash, spinning him, knocks the loaf of bread, er, ball, loose, and beats him to the fumble to give the 49ers the ball at the Seattle 15 TEN SECONDS into the game. You never saw a guy cover five yards faster than Smith did there.
Frank Gore left for 2, then Bobby Wagner holds Michael Crabtree to 2 on a quick pass from Colin Kaepernick. Kaepernick runs a designed draw on 3rd-6; I like the call but Wagner shed Vernon Davis and held that short. S.F. takes the free 3 from Phil Dawson, but that could have gone a lot, lot worse for Seattle. 49ers should have gone for the end zone on 1st down. 49ers 3, Seahawks 0
Doug Baldwin only out to the 15 on the kick return. Wilson play-fakes again, rolls right this time and hits Zach Miller for 7. NaVarro Bowman, Glenn Dorsey and others deny Marshawn Lynch on 2nd down, and do it again on 3rd down, with Bowman slicing into the backfield unblocked like he did EVERY PLAY against the Rams this year. Better get a hat on him if you're planning to do any running today, Seattle.
49ers at their 19 after holding on the punt return. Gore gets stuffed for 1 but Kaepernick rolls on 2nd down and hits Vance McDonald for 13. Apparently a designed sweep right for Kaepernick for 17 out to midfield behind typical solid blocking by Gore. Brandon Mebane and Red Bryant blow up Gore for a loss. Seattle flushes Kaepernick on 2nd down but he runs up the middle for 8. No contain up the middle at all. ANOTHER QB draw on 3rd-3, but Wagner and Kam Chancellor stop it short. Jim Harbaugh will go for it on 4th-and-1 at the SEA41, hopefully with something besides a QB draw. No, they just tried to get Seattle to jump offside and failed. On comes Andy Lee.
Perfect work by Kassim Osgood to down the punt at the 1. Wilson hard-counts Aldon offside and Lynch battles for a first down on two carries. Wilson overthrows Jermaine Kearse, who was open behind Carlos Rogers. Wilson gets flushed on 3rd-and-7, then gets shit lucky not to get picked off by Eric Reid. Baldwin catches it behind him for 22. Deep play-action pass over the middle for Luke Willson is broken up by Donte Whitner, but he gets 15 for a, um, shoulder-to-shoulder hit. Garbage call, Gene. Seattle at midfield now. 49ers have been getting constant pressure on Wilson with just 3- and 4-man rushes and draw a hold. 49ers actually bring a blitz on 3rd-9, which is usually a bad move, but Bowman runs past the occupied tight end and buries Wilson to end the quarter.
SECOND QUARTER
Hey, the first quarter was as high-scoring as New England-Denver. And ooh, this punt. LaMichael James tried to field it, muffed it and got DESTROYED by Ricardo Lockette with what looked like a clean hit, till he pulled James' helmet off at the end. That should have been 15, Gene; kindly wake up out there. Rookie Darryl Morris saved S.F.'s ass by falling on the loose ball at the 14. Morris owed James that much for losing Lockette in coverage. Meanwhile, Fox shows us Jeremy Lane taking a shot from somebody in a sweatsuit on the 49er sideline, I assume an inactive player. Might have been Mike Tomlin.
Anquan Boldin DROPS a back-shoulder throw at the 30 on his first target. Gore gets stuffed by Malcolm Smith and Chancellor. Chris Clemons nearly sacks Kaepenick on 3rd-and-9 but Richard Sherman holds Michael Crabtree to let the 49ers off the hook. Clinton McDonald next engulfs Gore for a loss. Frank must think he's still on my miserable excuse of a fantasy team. Seattle flushes Kaepernick yet again but he scrambles out to the 33. Seattle's middle containment has been garbage so far. And here goes Colin again! With center Jonathan Goodwin pancaking Mebane, Kaepernick has plenty of room to step up, outrun two LBs to midfield, break Sherman's ankle tackle at the 40 and get all the way down to the 10 before Chancellor catches up to him. A 58-yard sprint.
Seattle is doing everything on defense fundamentally wrong and you'd think they'd know better, having a mobile QB of their own and facing Kaepernick twice a year. Even the Rams on a bad day don't make Kaepernick look this good, because they know how to contain rush. The Seahawks are just losing their collective defensive minds right now.
Gore up the middle for 2, then he gets down to the 1 before he gets clocked by Earl Thomas. True to Gore's FFL form, Anthony Dixon gets the dive attempt on 3rd-and-goal. He's called in, but review should move it back out a foot, where his arm came down. I expect Harbaugh to go for it anyway. I would, and I'd bootleg Kaepernick all the way. Play-action bootleg. You don't see it a lot any more, but it scored Steve Young a lot of TDs. Nope, they give Dixon a SECOND attempt to vulture the TD, and he crowd-surfs his way across the goal line. Mike Iupati's down after the play. He's helped off and not able to put weight on his left foot. 49ers 10, Seahawks 0
Quick screen to Baldwin for 7. The 49ers blitz on 2nd down and force a throwaway from Wilson though Lynch was wide open a few yards downfield. Golden Tate makes his first catch on a quick out for 5. Two plays later, the lucky horseshoe up Wilson's ass finally kicks in. He rolls right, gets forever to scan the field, gets flushed back to the middle by Dorsey, then rears up and fires deep for Baldwin, who has gotten behind inexcusable coverage and gets down to the 12. 51 yards. Seattle badly needed that play, though Baldwin goes down after it. Blitzing more than usual tonight, S.F. gets Dan Skuta free around right tackle for the third sack of Wilson. Lynch still going nowhere, gains 2. Wilson misses Kearse badly on 3rd-and-13 on a route that would have been lucky to gain 5. Steven Hauschka gets Seattle on the board. 10-3
DROP by Boldin, his second, to start the next 49er drive. Michael Bennett stops an option run for a loss. Useless 2-yard drag to Quinton Patton is lucky not to be called a fumble for the 49ers, who take their first 3-and-out. Osgood shuts Tate completely down on the punt return at the 37, and in honor of Washington's legalization of pot, we hit the 4:20 warning.
Lynch gets rare running room for 7. Good blocking on the left end by Miller. Lynch gets the 1st down off left tackle. Ahmad Brooks blows up the next run and Justin Smith swallows up Lynch for no gain, but Lynch stutter-steps across midfield for 8 at the 2:00 warning. Niners then luck out and get a false start call on Kearse, because they had two blitzers in the neutral zone. No matter, Wilson makes a tough slant pass to Baldwin for a first down. 1:30. Play-action, Ray McDonald blows up the backfield and Wilson runs around 40 yards to gain 2 down to the SF40. Wilson wants to go deep on 2nd down but gets tripped up by A.Smith for the 4th 49er sack. On 3rd down, Wilson drops back about 20 yards under heat from A.Smith and Skuta and shovels a pass to Miller that gains 2. 0:27, 4th-and-6 at the SF38. A punt seems the right move here, but Pete Carroll's going for it. Huge pressure from J.Smith, who was held with no call, flushes Wilson and forces a bad throw to Tate, but Rogers gets flagged for pushing him too far out of bounds. It's a crap call because Tate was actually still in bounds, but it's a dead-ball foul and the ball goes back to the 49ers to kneel out the half. Phew.
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| Seahawks.com |
HALFTIME
Neither team is running well but the 49ers are winning the line of scrimmage. As Rams fans, we know what happens when you play the 49ers and can't run or stretch the field. They eat you alive. Seattle can't stretch the field and has to establish the run in the 2nd half or they're done. The good news for them is they were already adjusting late in the 1st half and got Lynch going some.
Whatever strategy the Seahawks had for containing Kaepernick clearly is not working, and it's shocking to see DC Dan Quinn doing so poorly after his superb work against the Saints last week. If they're going to spy Colin, they'd better do it with Chancellor, because they've got no LB who can stay with him. They also have to do a far better job of holding the middle of the field. They HAVE to give Kaepernick resistance when he steps up. That's on Wagner and Mebane and the other DTs to do better.
Of course, Kaepernick is the 49ers' only offensive weapon of any kind so far. Gore's done little, all Boldin has is two drops and I don't think Vernon Davis has even been targeted yet. With Sherman's attention probably devoted to Crabtree, it's up to Boldin to step up in the 2nd half. I'd think Greg Roman can help his passing game by rolling Kaepernick out. S.F.'s strategy to blitz Wilson more in the first half has been pretty brilliant, and I think they've got the secondary to make that strategy continue to stand up. Even if not, they've been getting impressive straight-up pressure anyway. Keep it up and they'll be facing a much-less mobile QB in a couple of weeks.
THIRD QUARTER
Ha, I had no idea Kaepernick only threw five passes in the first half. They'll start the 2nd half at their 21. Make it the 20 after Tony McDaniel swallows Gore up. Boldin hangs on to a quick slant for 6. Kaepernick scrambles left and Crabtree makes a tough catch in traffic for 12. Byron Maxwell down after the play. Kaepernick and Gore nearly blow the exchange on 2nd-10; Gore hangs on but loses 6. Seattle gets away with a 3rd-and-long blitz and Heath Farwell (?!) flushes Kaepernick into a wild scramble and a bad throw.
Seattle at their 40. Lynch bulls up the middle for 11. They run a lot better when they get a hat on Bowman. Lynch breaks a tackle off LT for 5 more. Smoke route to Baldwin leaves 3rd-and-1, which Lynch converts, and then some! It's raining Skittles in Seattle as he busts loose for a 39-yard TD. A fine block by Miller on A.Smith gave Lynch a big cutback lane, James Carpenter walled off both Bowman and the VERY quiet Patrick Willis, Eric Reid overpursued badly to allow Lynch to break the play wide open, and Tramaine Brock lamely tried to pop the ball out instead of attempting a tackle. And RamView once again nails a halftime adjustment. 10-10 If I could just do that without using a pause button for half an hour, I might have a future in this business.
Seattle's momentum continues as James gets jammed at the 16 on the return. Gore sweeps right for 9 but has to leave the field. Fox gives us no idea why because they're running a promo. Kaepernick finds Crabtree, who makes a slick grab, at midfield. Colin then bootlegs for another 22, getting a solid downfield block from Crabtree. Sweet misdirection play, totally looked like a run right. Gore has returned, btw. My guess is there was a problem with his helmet. S.F. gets away with one the next play. Bennett whips Anthony Davis and gets the sack-and-hack, but they botch the recovery and shoot it over to Goodwin, who picks it up and actually gains a couple. That pays off huge thanks to vintage Kaepernick on the very next play. McDonald burns Adam Snyder to flush Colin, but he scrambles, crow-hops and fires a rocket from the 30 to Boldin for a TD over Earl Thomas' extended hand. Nice pushoff by Anquan, as usual. 49ers 17-10
Whee, what happened to this game all of a sudden? Baldwin brings the kickoff back 69 yards. S.F. lost containment right away thanks to great work by J.R. Sweezy and somebody named Lemuel Jeanpierre on the wedge, and a downfield block by Michael Robinson to spring him down the near sideline.
Seattle at the SF33. Quick screen to Tate for 13. See how Seattle's ability to run the last drive has loosened things up for the short passing game again. Lynch gets 4 on 1st down, but Brooks makes a big play to blow up a sweep for a loss on 2nd. Hmm, I wonder if "Ohio" is Wilson's "Omaha". Maybe not, his center false started. Another blitz on 3rd-and-long, bringing Willis and Rogers, nearly buries Wilson and nearly draws a grounding penalty, but Wilson was just out of the pocket. Hauschka hits from 40 with 4:00 left in the 3rd. 49ers 17, Seahawks 13
49ers have been pretty unconventional blitzing on long-distance downs tonight. It's been a key to their success. McDaniel and K.J. Wright swallow up Gore for no gain at the SF20. He's averaging about 4 feet per carry. Not yards. Feet. Chancellor LIGHTS UP Vernon Davis to break up a pass, pretty tough price to pay on your first target in 3 quarters. Bennett beats A.Davis yet again on 3rd down to fluster Kaepernick into another wild throwaway. S.F.'s inability to run has come back to bite them in the butt as Uncle Mo has clearly jumped on Seattle's bandwagon.
Oh boy, Pete Maragos ran into Lee on that punt and got running into the kicker from Steratore, but Mike Pereira says it should have been roughing the kicker, and first down 49ers, because he ran into the plant leg. Instead we have Lynch thumping out a first down at midfield on two carries. Reid and Whitner break up a deep moon ball attempt to Kearse, but Wilson hits Baldwin on a comeback for 14. We should now have grounding on 2nd-and-6. Brooks about drove Breno Giacomini into Wilson, A.Smith collapsed the pocket, forcing Wilson back at least 10 yards, and his throwaway didn't make the line of scrimmage. They'll start the 4th quarter with third-and-about-Canada.
FOURTH QUARTER
3rd-22 at midfield, and a dumpoff to Miller gets 15 and puts Seattle in FG range. Carroll decides to go for a 53-yard FG, but Hauschka doesn't seem so sure, is way late going onto the field and Seattle burns a timeout. I'd thought that's well within his range but he's being babied like this is a 63-yard attempt. NOW the Seattle offense is back on the field, 4th-and-7.
Oh, hokey smokes. Aldon Smith, lined up at LDT, jumps offside, giving Wilson a free play to fling one into the end zone. Seattle's almost running a Hail Mary, trips across all running straight into the end zone, and Wilson perfectly places a pass inside of Kearse that Carlos Rogers can't get to for a 35-yard TD. Hauschka may get POTG for pussing out on a long FG. Seahawks 20, 49ers 17
And the 49ers are now trailing in a game they've pretty much dominated. And they start at their 11 after a hold on the return. Vernon Davis makes his first catch, for just 4, and Boldin converts on 3rd down on just his 3rd catch of the night and immediately woofs about it. Congratulations, you finally have more catches than drops tonight. Kaepernick sweeps left for 7 to make it 3rd-and-1 at the 34. Ouch, delay of game makes it 3rd-and-6.
And after that, it looks like we can send the Seahawks to the Super Bowl. Bennett and Cliff Avril both burn A.Davis and Goodwin to flush Kaepernick, who should run but slowly pulls up instead, and the terrible pocket presence burns him when Avril pulls off the sack-and-hack. Fumble bounces right to Bennett, who returns it down to the 6-yard line. Seattle ball with a serious chance to put the game away. 10:00 left.
Aldon Smith and Willis combine to stuff Lynch at the 6. And now a false start proves RamView spoke way too soon. Pass way over Tate's head at the goal line makes it 3rd-and-goal. And now, more fun. Wilson hits Kearse with a bullet inside the 5; Willis holds him up and Bowman strips the ball. He appears to have clear possession and is down by contact. Unfortunately, that contact is a pileup that bent his left leg grotesquely and I think he let go of the ball in reaction. It's a replay most people, including me, won't want to watch a second time, but it ought to be 49er ball.
No mercy, says Pete Carroll, going for it on 4th-and-goal inside the 1. Screw you, Pete, says KARMA, as Wilson and Lynch blow the exchange and the ball caroms back out to the 15 before Seattle can corral it. The 49ers didn't just dodge a bullet there, they dodged that Indiana Jones giant boulder.
Hunter works off a good A.Davis block for 11. Uh-oh, Bennett is down. Uh-oh, Kaepernick is awful, making a just-terrible throw Chancellor picks off at the SF40. That really was a what-the-hell-was-that throw. 7:30 left.
The 49ers force Seattle into 3rd-and-8, but Tate, dancing back and forth across the first-down line several times, ends up with 10 to extend the drive. Wilson and Lynch screw up ANOTHER exchange but The Beast somehow turns a big loss into a 2-yard gain. Seattle has to blow a timeout to prevent a delay of game. Bad play coming? Almost. Wilson drops the snap but recovers, wheels and throws the pass away. Seattle still gets an OPI. I'll note here that this game has been a FG from cracking the over since early this quarter, and both teams are going out of their way not to score. Ray McDonald stops Lynch to leave 3rd-and-15. Slant to Tate gets Seattle to the 29, sending in Hauschka. It should be wrong that I'm so tense about this FG. Phew, Hauschka hits from 47, and RamView is not getting skunked today. Seahawks 23-17
49ers at their 22, 3:33 left. The 49ers amazingly tried to start this drive with James sweeping and throwing back to Kaepernick, but he kept the ball on the sweep and ate it for a loss. Might want to step up the pace, eh? 8 to Boldin, 2:40. Chancellor jumps a slant to Crabtree and breaks it up at the 2:00 warning. I'd say Crabtree got alligator arms there, but it was more like he got alligator body with Chancellor lurking.
4th-and-the-season for San Francisco. Bootleg Kaepernick now? It's their best play. Hoo boy, here's some Kaeper-magic, too, as C.McDonald flushes him left but he calmly finds Gore sneaking past Wagner for 17, out to the SF47. The referees added a second to the clock before the play, so we get the actual 2:00 warning now at 1:53.
Kaepernick scrambles and breaks a tackle for 4. They have all three timeouts. Pass to Boldin for another 4. This is taking a long time. Rope to Crabtree at the sideline for 16, down to the SEA29. Though he was right by the sideline, Crabtree stayed in bounds, and the 49ers used their first timeout. 0:55. Kaepernick guns to Vernon Davis at the 18. 0:30 at the next snap, and oh man, should the 49ers have called another timeout. Kaepernick tries to hit Crabtree in the end zone, but Sherman has him blanketed, tips the throw and Malcolm Smith is right there to send Seattle to Super Bowl XLVIII.
In typical fashion, Sherman uses a postgame interview with Erin Andrews to classlessly call himself the best in the game and trash-talk Crabtree. It's going to be a long two weeks of him seeking media attention.
Final score: Seahawks 23, 49ers 17
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| ESPN.com |
This game was so tense I didn't get much chance to think about POTG. I'd like to give it to Hauschka since he kept me from going 0-6 today by STUPIDLY picking the road teams. But because Seattle won with so many lucky-shit plays, the POTG goes to the team of Russell Wilson and the lucky horseshoe up his butt. He didn't play a great game, but they'd never have won without him, either. There was the 51-yard chuck to Baldwin to set up the 1st FG. He avoided a sack to preserve the 2nd FG. And the key sequence that gave Seattle the lead they'd never lose - the 15-yard completion to Miller on 3rd-and-22 followed by the TD laser to Kearse on 4th-and-7. Well-played, Mr. Wilson. Nods to Lynch for his big TD run and Bennett for relentless pressure on Kaepernick.
That leaves us Seattle and Denver for the Lombardi Trophy. Do you pick youth (Wilson) or experience (Manning)? Offense or defense? Lucky or good? Is this the worst coaching matchup in Super Bowl history? Both teams can stop the run. Seattle's secondary vs. Denver's receivers ranks as an all-time best matchup in a Super Bowl. Both teams have very good special teams. Which way to go? The opening line is Denver by 1 1/2, O/U 47.5. The way both teams are playing right now, I just think Seattle's going to run into some kind of trouble they can't luck their way out of, not against the Broncos. Tentative vote right now for the Broncos and the over, though the Manning cold-weather factor looms.
The 49ers are definitely in best-player-available mode in the 2014 draft, and something as simple as good health at fullback might have gotten them to the Super Bowl. Couple of other key things I can think of are Bowman's injury and Boldin's pending free agency. Little doubt the NFC West is going to continue to be a load for the Rams.
As usual, no recap planned here for the Super Bowl. Enjoy the game and try to ignore the commercials.
-$-
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