Loading ...The 2011-2012 NFC Championship game may have been one of the most physical, violent and mentally demanding games played in the NFL over the last decade. It's been referred to as a "blood bath" by several players, and many expect something similar this Sunday when the New York Giants and San Francisco 49ers square off.
49ers quarterback Alex Smith believes they have some "unfinished business" to attend to, while former Giants wide receiver Mario Manningham has already begun his chirping. Thus far, however, the Giants have played it relatively cool – almost like the calm before the storm.
"They have a good defense. You got to give them credit and they touched Eli way too many times [in the NFC Championship game], so that’s something that we got to focus on," center David Baas said.
Like Baas, safety Antrel Rolle has a good idea of what to expect on Sunday … and it's not rainbows and lollipops.
"One of the toughest games I’ve ever played, hands down," Rolle said. "A great offense as well as a great defense and it seems to be even clicking a lot better their second year under Jim Harbaugh and they present a lot of great things. They’re a very effective unit."
However, Rolle doesn't believe San Fran has had this game circled on their calendars … but he would be mistaken. The team has been openly salty about their NFC Championship game loss to the Giants, with some repeatedly claiming it was their game to lose. And former Giants running back Brandon Jacobs, now a member of the 49ers, said earlier this year the team refuses to even discuss the NFC Championship game.
Needless to say, the 49ers are out for revenge on Sunday, and it will be up to the Giants to match their intensity.
photo credit: Rajiv Patel (Rajiv's View) via photopin cc
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Who has put it in the players’ heads that mistakes made on the field are not their fault? In the evaluation of a player or team’s performance, is the number of mistakes made not counted?
If a WR is open on 75% of this routes, but only catches 50% of his passes, is he a “better” football player than a WR that is only open on 60% of routes but catches 90%? Is consistency not an attribute included in overall “talent”?
Would it not stand to reason then, that a team that collectively makes less mistakes than another might just be the “better team”? Hypothetical comparisons of what each team might look like in a game devoid of unforced errors is irrelevant, as such situations do not exist in real life.
This “we beat ourselves” stuff is getting so old. The other team made mistakes too. Making less of them is one way for a team to beat another. It’s part of being a good team.
Oh and by the way, Nicks lowering his shoulder into a DB and knocking him into next week before racing off for a TD and Jaquan Williams knocking the ball out of Kyle Williams’ hands are not unforced errors…those are plays being MADE by football players. They were not accidents and they were not flukes, they were one guy being BETTER than the other guy on that play.
I don’t think a single member of the Giants, or any one of their fans, believes that the Giants were “given” that NFC Championship game. That kind of “we are the better team and should have won” stuff is for losers like Green Bay and San Francisco.
Don’t pay attention to what the Niners are spouting. They got beaten, and they know it. This is a game like any other in the NFL: one both teams want to win. I actually think that the fact that we know that the Niners are going to try to be physically intimidating is just what the doctor ordered for our defensive front that seems to have forgotten how to get physical of late. It may also allow Prince to start to play freely a bit more. He has done a good job out there but was a VERY physical player in college, and I think he may “get into the spirit” of things.
I expect to see a really good football game that we should all look forward to watching. I’m only sorry it isn’t a home game. I’d like to be there, but I’m not flying across the country for a regular season game.
Carlos Rogers admires Victor Cruz’s dancing.
But he’s not going to back down from doing it himself, even if Cruz takes offense.
“I like the dance, actually,” the 49ers cornerback said, via Matt Barrows of the Sacramento Bee. “I really can’t do it as good as him but. But if I make a play or get an interception on him in my mind, just do his dance.”
Rogers did his version of the dance after an interception in their regular season win over the Giants, and Cruz said prior to the NFC Championship Game it was a “little disrespectful.”
He devoted a longer passage in his book “Out of the Blue,” to it as well.
“Then with his teammates cheering him on, he did a sarcastic salsa dance over me,” Cruz wrote. “The Candlestick Park crowd went ballistic, but I wasn’t laughing. It was a sign of disrespect. Instead of getting up and retaliating, though, I sat and watched Rogers finish his cheap Victor Cruz imitation. I promised to never forget it. I wasn’t sure when the opportunity would present itself but I was confident I’d get payback for that dance.”
Cruz proceeded to catch eight passes for 125 yards in the first half of the NFC Championship Game, and has been an a similar roll this season, tied for the league lead in touchdown receptions, and in the top 10 in both receptions and yardage.
That matters much more than the dance, but the dance is adding a little **** to a game that won’t need much more.
http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/10/10/carlos-rogers-not-afraid-to-do-his-own-version-of-the-salsa-again/
Really? The word “****” got censored?
Spi.ce?
We’ve been getting a lot of random words ***** out lately. Not sure why. We’re looking into it.
No need to go to this game. SF was once a great city, but now it’s completely gone. My last trip to downtown SF, which wasn’t long ago, was tremendously sad. Drug use is out of control, sloth through the streets, dirty naked people in my face, the place is lost. We all go the hell out of there and went to wine country for the rest of the trip. Sad.