The San Francisco 49ers’ Super Bowl-stopping loss to the New York Giants cannot be blamed entirely on the mistakes of wide receiver Kyle Williams, but on the lack of offense and player errors.
Many people contribute the 49ers’ loss to Williams’ not one, but two huge turnovers at the end of the game. First, a punt bounced off Williams’s knee allowing New York to score a touchdown in the fourth quarter, giving the Giants a 17-14 lead. Then, Williams fumbled a punt return in overtime, which gave the Giants the ball deep in 49er territory; New York then kicked a game-winning 31-yard field goal. It is absolutely ridiculous that Williams received death threats for his mistakes in the game, even though his team supported him.
Yes, those mishandled punts by Williams affected the outcome of the game, but it was not solely his inaccuracies that held the 49ers from a win; it was a combination of errors that prevented the team from going to the Super Bowl.
The 49ers had two obvious opportunities for interceptions that were blown by their own players colliding. Both Dashon Goldson and Tarell Brown were right under a Giants ball when they crashed into each other, and the impact kept Brown on the ground for nearly five minutes. As a fan, it was disappointing to see a simple lack of communication between players keep the 49ers from re-gaining the ball.
San Francisco’s defense may have been dominating, but their offense had trouble protecting quarterback Alex Smith on third downs.
The 49ers ended the game 1/13 on third down conversions, while the Giants were able to convert 7/21 on third down. This is a part of the 49ers’ game that has been lacking for years and it’s absurd the team and coaches have gone this long without trying to correct their non-existent third-down conversions. With 12 missed opportunities on third down in a National Football Conference Championship, the 49ers needed more from their offense and from their quarterback, who completed a mere 12 of 26 passes for only 196 yards and two touchdowns. Two of those completions were to tight end Vernon Davis that accounted for 101 of Smith’s 196 total yards.
Throwing only 26 passes in an NFC Championship game is a problem. I absolutely believe Smith should have given his team more opportunities to receive the ball. Maybe he was afraid the ball would slip out of his hands in the rain, but that didn’t stop QB Eli Manning, who had 58 attempts with 32 completions for 316 yards in Sunday’s game. Even though I was wearing his jersey, I was very disappointed with Smith’s performance but all in all he had one of his best seasons. Luckily, this game he had his defense backing him up and holding New York until the fourth quarter.
Defense can hold opponents, but ultimately the team needs to put more points on the board for the win.
It was the strong defenses that resulted in the low scoring game on Jan. 22, as the Giants and the 49ers battled for a spot in Super Bowl XLVI. As a 49er fan, I was frustrated by the team’s performance in overtime as it was unable to score on its possession and lost its chance to the Super Bowl by three points. For any fan, it is devastating to watch your team lose by one field goal, especially in overtime.
Despite the many 49ers team and player errors in the NFC Championship game, making it that far was unforeseen, yet well deserved. The San Francisco 49ers’ 2011 season is one to be acknowledged and proud of. At the beginning of this season, the 49ers were not even considered play-off contenders with only six wins in 2010. Yet they ended this season with an impressive 13-3 record and were only one game short of the Super Bowl.
The 49ers have come a long way this year with new head coach Jim Harbaugh and look hopeful in another successful season next year. I expect the 49ers to be just as strong next season, if not better, as their team continues to unite and correct their weaknesses.