NFC Divisional Playoff: San Francisco 23, Carolina 10

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Have the tables turned since these teams played a 10-9 slugfest, won by Carolina, in November? Colin Kaepernick has a healthy Michael Crabtree to throw to this time around, while Steve Smith, Cam Newton's favorite target, seems pretty far from 100%. Aldon Smith could be a bigger factor than he was in the first meeting, too, since that was his first game back from rehab. The 49ers at least can't complain they can't give the Panthers their best shot - will it be enough? And who to root for as a Rams fan? I dislike both of these teams. I actually like the Panthers less because of their classless behavior when the Rams lost there in October. An NFC Championship game in Seattle doesn't figure to be much of a picnic for Rams fans, or either of these teams.

Joe, Troy and Pam Oliver will bring us the game for Fox. And ooh, Panther fans have terrible towels. That's creative. Now that that trumpet player has broken all the glass in Charlotte with the highest-pitched national anthem ever, we can get started.

FIRST QUARTER
You know whoever wins this coin toss is going to defer, and that's what the Panthers do. Charles Johnson sets the tone for Carolina by BURYING Frank Gore for a 1-yard loss. Gore might as well have run into an oncoming truck, though Johnson's the one down hurt after the play. That could be a big injury for Carolina on the first play. Kaepernick rolls right and hits Michael Crabtree on the sideline on a useless 2-yard route. Now Crabtree's apparently shaken up, but his replacement, Quinton Patton, gets open deep in the cover-2 zone for a 23-yard sideline catch. Johnson wasn't out long, nor was Crabtree. Blitz by Thomas Davis on 2nd-and-5 forces a bad screen pass well over Kendall Hunter's head, and probably saved a big gain. Kaepernick gets the first down, though, scrambling up and hitting Gore with a swing pass for 8 at the CAR44. I didn't remember Bruce Miller (shoulder) being out for the 49ers, and it looks like they just lost his backup, too, as Will Tukuafu has his ankle and knee rolled up on extremely awkwardly by Captain Munnerlyn on 2nd down. 3rd-6, and Kaepernick misses Anquan Boldin over the middle badly, but Mike Mitchell gets a roughing penalty for blasting Vernon Davis a little farther downfield. It was a shot to the shoulder, so I really don't get the call, but I also despise Mike Mitchell, so I don't care, either. Same thing when they throw a make-up call at Donte Whitner later. A middle blitz by Luke Kuechly inexplicably lets Johnson come in unblocked off the left edge, but Kuechly beats him to Kaepernick for Carolina's first sack. Phil Dawson hits from 49 to put S.F. on the board and bring this ridiculously long paragraph to an end. 49ers 3, Panthers 0

Justin Smith holds DeAngelo Williams to 2 on a draw, then Steve Smith catches a 5-yard slant and is taunting the 49er sideline like a jackass before he even gets up. Cam Newton to Greg Olson for another 6 and a first down. Smart approach to discourage the 49er LBs from playing close to the line. Crossing route to Brandon LaFell for 8. The 49ers blitz on 2nd down, and it pays off in the form of an INT by Patrick Willis. Newton's intended receiver appears to be Olson but, in front of him, LaFell thinks it's his and tips it, with Willis making a diving catch. The blitz messed up a lot for Carolina on the play, which Olson and Ted Ginn discuss after the play after getting tangled up at the line.

49er ball at the Panther 46. Carolina's not getting the home-cooking calls like they did when the Rams were there; a defensive hold bails S.F. out of 3rd-and-8. And now Munnerlyn gets a personal foul for head-butting Crabtree, who was blocking for Kaepernick on a scramble. Greg Roman breaks out the flanker option on 1st down at the 20, but Boldin's pass is way incomplete. Middle pressure flushes Kaepernick on 3rd-and-5 and his throw is well wide of Crabtree, and Carl Cheffers' crew needs to fly more flags at Carolina until they quit the chippy crap after EVERY play. Speaking of chippy, here's Phil Dawson again, from 33. 49ers 6-0

Idiotically short kickoff called by special-teams genius Brad Seely is returned by Kenyon Barner all the way out to the 34. Big catch by Steve Smith for 28, cutting off a deep route and beating Tramaine Brock but almost crashing into his own teammate Olson doing so. The Panther receiving game looks a little less than organized so far. Williams picks up 7, then a screen to Ginn gets 14 more down to the SF17. Newton makes a great option fake out of a 3-RB formation and rips around right end for 11 more. The 49ers hold at the goal line, stopping a Newton draw inside the 1, followed by Tony Jerod-Eddie and Willis tripping up Mike Tolbert for a loss on 3rd-and-goal. That's the end of the quarter, giving Riverboat Ron a lot of time to think over what to do on 4th-and-goal.

SECOND QUARTER
Riverboat Ron is rollin' the dice. And it's snake eyes. Double fives, actually, as Ahmad Brooks stones Newton on an attempted QB sneak, and what the hell are you doing trying to run at Ahmad Brooks? I'll ride along with going for it on 4th-and-goal, but not running at the best run defender in the league.

49ers at their own 1. They barely budge from the spot, with Kaepernick throwing two dangerous passes, including one nearly pick-sixed but not caught, by a former Ram, of course, Quintin Mikell. Andy Lee hits a clutch 50-plus-yard punt but Ginn outruns 49er coverage for about 20, down to the SF31.

Wow! Newton goes for it all on the first play and hits Steve Smith perfectly down the far sideline for a 31-yard TD. Tarell Brown had Smith blanketed but Newton put the ball in the middle of the bucket. Hell, he would have put that one in a shot glass. Panthers 7, 49ers 6 

Kaepernick beats a blitz with a back-shoulder near-sideline throw to Boldin for 20. Carolina blitzes harder and harder each play after that and forces three straight incompletions.

Panthers at their 20. They're sure looking to pass a lot today; Newton scrambles for 4. Option toss to LaFell gets 6, gets Carolina a first down and Tarell Brown a nice headache. Newton options up the middle for 6 and scrambles for 9 on 3rd-and-4. Justin Smith blows up a Williams attempt off RT for a 2-yard loss, but the Panthers respond by going 5-wide the next play, with Newton hitting Olson wide open down the far seam for 35. Perrish Cox was 7 yards off Olson at the snap and still got beat downfield by 3 yards. Steve Smith for 9 on an out route followed by the requisite preening. Tolbert makes it 1st-and-goal at the 7. Newton goes around left end down to the 1. Carolina wants to play-action pass on 2nd-and-goal but Newton ends up scrambling for no gain. On 3rd-goal, Brooks sets the record for player most offsides, mistiming a leap and going clean over Newton and into the Panther backfield, though Newton also deserved a penalty for taking a dive that should get him demoted to Serie A. Just an 18-inch penalty, though, and the next play, the 49ers hold strong again, with Brooks and NaVarro Bowman getting Tolbert for a big loss after Justin Smith took Travelle Wharton on the other side of the line and THREW him in Tolbert's way. THAT, folks, is some physical football. Riverboat Ron folds his pocket 10s this time and has Graham Gano chip it in from 24. Panthers 10-6

3:41 till halftime. Gore twists up the middle for 4, then Kaepernick hits Boldin on the sideline for 13. Slant to Boldin underneath the zone for another 14 across midfield at the 2:00 warning. Two plays later, Kaepernick slips past a hard-charging Greg Hardy and finds Crabtree, who makes a super leaping catch at the CAR29. A crossing route by Boldin gets S.F. inside the 10, where he gets away with the same head-butt after the play that Munnerlyn didn't earlier in the game. I know Carl Cheffers' crew can't throw a flag after every play, but they need to do something early in the 2nd half to assert some control of this thing. I mean, this is a playoff game. Then again, Boldin head-butted Mitchell, so I could really couldn't care less. 1st-goal, Kaepernick misses Vernon Davis on a slant at the goal line; Mikell limps off hurt. Kuechly breaks up a 2nd-goal middle pass for Boldin. Drayton Florence lets the 49ers off the hook by interfering with Boldin in the end zone. Troy Aikman wants a flag on Boldin for post-play smack-talking, even go so far as to say "I'm tired of watching it," but hasn't said word one today about Steve Smith. 1st-goal at the 1, 0:37 left, and Gore can't run through Mitchell and Chase Blackburn. Though they have one timeout left, the 49ers try to rush another snap, don't get it off till 0:14, and it's a slow-developing rollout pass to Davis in the back corner of the end zone. Davis makes a tough low catch and appears to drag his left foot for the TD, but it's initially called incomplete. Replay review puts the 49ers back on top and sends Panthers fans unhappily to halftime. 49ers 13, Panthers 10

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HALFTIME
Both teams were let down a little in the first half by their pass defense, their pass rush in particular, though that's not a huge surprise given the mobility of the QBs. The Panthers aren't doing a great job of getting to Kaepernick and especially at keeping him in the pocket. They've got to contain-rush him better to prevent him from making plays on the run. That doesn't mean they can't blitz, and it's a surprise to me that they haven't blitzed Kaepernick's head off again when it left him a total wreck in the first game. Meanwhile, I think the 49ers, much against character, have ignored the run a little bit; they may want to make sure they keep the Panther D honest.


The 49er pass rush has been a major letdown so far, and they don't use much blitzing at all, so it'd be nice for them if Aldon Smith would show up. Carolina got the LBs to back off at the start of the game with quick passing but hasn't gone back to it; S.F. can afford to press things a little more with Smith and Bowman. They also need to do a much better job on Steve Smith. Nobody else they've got is going to hurt them. The Panthers are getting undone by their goal line offense as much as anything. They need to be much smarter and run left, away from Brooks, the next time they have one, or maybe use that play-action pass on first down next time.

The last adjustment needs to be by the referees to throw some early flags at players being jackasses before this game gets too far out of control. It walked a fine line in the first half.

THIRD QUARTER
The Panthers run Williams twice for six yards, which I like, but a quick slant pass to Steve Smith is not very good and tipped incomplete by Brock. The 49ers barely miss blocking the punt and take over at their 23.


Big hole outside for Gore but he stays inside for 4. Kaepernick steps up and fires over the middle to Boldin for 16. Gore gets out to midfield with a 6-yard run. Gore again ignores a huge outside lane and goes up the middle for 3. A blitz fails to get anywhere near Kaepernick and Boldin burns Munnerlyn deep inside the 5 for 45 yards. Gore and Kaepernick blow the exchange on 1st-and-goal but Gore recovers at the 4. Kaepernick read-options in from there for the TD, running through Florence's awful arm tackle attempt, then mocking Newton's lame Superman celebration after he scores, following it with his own lame kiss-my-biceps celebration. If the NFL is looking to improve anything for next season, they can start with the end zone celebrations of their signature players. 49ers 20, Panthers 10

Gore's doing a fine job for the 49ers on blitz pickup and the center of the Panther d-line isn't holding up well enough at all to keep Kaepernick in the pocket.

I love the new Domino's ads, btw. Order your pizza online because our employees are incompetent at taking orders over the phone! Even though our company's done it that way for over 50 years!

Panthers at their 24, and they could be in trouble down 10. Newton converts 3rd-and-1 for them at the 35 with a 2-yard dive. Tolbert converts another at the 47. My eyelids are coming to need someone to put the "meth" in "methodical" here. Brock saves himself getting burned on a sideline bomb by Ginn by holding him but gets the flag. Short rollout pass to LaFell converts another 3rd-and-1 in 49er territory. Looks like the Panthers have solved their short-yardage down problems, eh. 2nd-10 at the SF29, here's my Bowman blitz, as Newton takes his sweet time in the pocket while Bowman spins off Tolbert's blitz pickup. Aaand we get another lame mock Superman celebration. Time to do some damn growing up, huh, NFL? McDonald and Brooks beat their men on the right side to make it back-to-back sacks, turning third-and-a-mile into 4th-and-two miles. 49ers come up big with just a 4-man rush. They'll take over at their 12 to start the 4th.

FOURTH QUARTER
Kaepernick scrambles for 8 on 2nd-and-10, then Boldin makes a tough shoetop catch at the 25 for a 1st down. That last Panther drive went 13 plays, 8 minutes, no points. The 49ers use their first timeout on 3rd-1 at their 34. Bad play time? No, very good play time, with Gore going off left guard, cutting back and busting through the wide open middle of the field for 39. Gore followed a big pull block by Alex Boone and cut back off Mike Iupati's downfield engulfment of Kuechly. Gore followed a big pull block by Alex Boone. Reminiscent of how the 49ers clinched their late-season win against Seattle. A 9-yard pass to Boldin, who the Panthers haven't covered much better than the Rams did in December, gives S.F. 3rd-and-1 at the CAR17. Kaepernick uses his 2nd timeout, then gets the first down on a keeper; the Panthers didn't even have a man lined up over center! Thanks for the easy two! Gore breaks a tackle and gets another 5. Kuechly stuffs another run at the 10, but the Panthers now have to use a timeout. That pays off for them as Mario Addison blows up a goofy sweep attempt by Kaepernick to force a Dawson chippie. 49ers 23, Panthers 10

7:35 left, and the Panthers obviously need a TD here. A near pick-six by Cox is not an auspicious start. LaFell beats him at the sideline on a second try for 13. Carolina recovers from a sack as Newton makes a nice throw to Ginn for 14 and then pushes across the line himself to midfield for another 1st down. I think 63, Jerod-Eddie, made that sack, not 53, Bowman. Panthers are no-huddling, but not moving very fast at all, and now the great Panther home crowd boos a 1-yard draw by Tolbert. Dan Skuta then whips Jordan Gross for what looks like a game-clinching sack, but Cheffers tosses the flag because Newton spun into Skuta and Skuta put a shoulder to his head. Boy, somebody tell me how Skuta is supposed to avoid doing that. Aikman and Buck whine that it's a bad call, but should be more clear if they're blaming Cheffers, who I wouldn't, or the lawsuit-fearing NFL itself, which I would. With new life, and a LOT of time, Newton hits Ginn for a sliding catch at the SF28. A beautiful stunt call then hits the jackpot for the 49ers. Justin Smith comes around end and bears down on Newton, who forces a bullet downfield that's off by a couple of yards and right to Donte Whitner. Could indeed be the ball game there.

Two Gore runs eat up the rest of Carolina's timeouts, then after a Hunter carry, an IDIOTIC personal foul by Josh Thomas hands San Francisco a new set of downs. I do not root for the 49ers ever but am enjoying the hell out of the Panthers reaping what they've sown all year. Hunter busts off right tackle and down to the Panther 40 for another 1st down. Enjoy your offseason, Panthers. Maybe you can spend it in front of the mirror refining your smack talk. The 49ers basically grind off the last 4:00 of the game while we're treated to Panther defensive players sniping at one another. Hey, baby, NFC West rules.

Final score: 49ers 23, Panthers 10

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POSTGAME SHOW
Ahmad Brooks wins the POTG award for the 49ers, with 6 tackles, 2.5 sacks and some extremely clutch work at the goal line. He also had one of those back-to-back sacks in the 3rd that I agree with Aikman was probably the turning point of the game. The 49ers will travel to Seattle for the NFC Championship game next Sunday night, and they've shown the stage isn't too big for them. Dare I pick them to win in Seattle's gigantic mosh pit, where they got slaughtered 29-3 in September? Yes, I do. They've got the Crabtree factor, and they can stop Seattle's running game and force Russell Wilson to throw to... who? Golden Tate? Doug Baldwin? Sure, Percy Harvin can open up the field, IF he can even play and last more than three plays if he does. Wilson barely threw for 100 yards against the Saints, and could be looking at even worse results next week unless his line can establish the run. You just don't bet against the Harbaugh brothers on the road in the playoffs. I'll dare to dare and go with the Niners outright. This was another 2-1 game for me, SU and ATS wins but yet another O/U loss.

Carolina's on their way to a Detroit-like thug implosion if they're not careful. They're the first team to bow out of this year's playoffs that I can see affording to go with the simple best-player-available drafting strategy, but Steve Smith isn't getting any younger and they need to add more legitimate weapons even with him. I'd call receiver their #3 need, behind class and humility on the field.

We'll wrap up the weekend in Denver. I'm already about an hour late for kickoff. Just call me on Pacific Time.

-$-