While we have all posted and reflected about the past season, there is something I wanted to bring up because of how much talk there has been on this subject. Recently, I have heard it countless times on different sports talk radio programs, as well as read a few articles, about what it is going to take for the 49ers to overtake the Seahawks as the best team in the NFC West again. People have different theories and ideas, but ultimately, they seem to agree on one thing: that we need to do something to sway the tides back in our favor.
Well, I am going to show you guys that I dont agree with that at all. What I am about to post may be construed by some as hate on the Seahawks, or not acknowledging how good they truly are. Stop. The Seahawks are clearly legit. Clearly one of the best teams in all of football. BUT, I dont really think people understand how truly lucky they were this past season. They literally had EVERYTHING go right for them.
Examples:
- Week One against the Panthers. DeAngelo Williams fumbled on the 8 yard line with less than 5 minutes left in the game (down 12-7). If he simply goes down, the Panthers are first and goal from the 8 yard line. Not to say they clearly would have scored, but they very easily could have. The Panthers were in the middle of 72 yard drive. The fumble ends the game.
- Week Four against the Texans. There is a little more than 5 minutes left in the game, and with the Seahawks down by 7, and Russell Wilson throws a pick in Texans territory. Then, Matt Schaub inexplicably throws a pick 6, instead of simply trying to run clock. The game goes to overtime and the Seahawks win in overtime.
- Week Eight against the Rams. The Seahawks could do nothing offensively this entire game. Down 14-9 with less than a minute to go, the Rams had first and goal from the 6 yard line with 3 timeouts left. You know the story. Richardson gets to the 2 yard line on first down, Clemons throws an incompletion on second down, Richardson gets stuffed on third down and Clemons throws another incompletion on 4th down. Game over.
- Week Nine against the Bucs. Now we all know the Bucs are terrible, but they had a 21-0 lead in this game at one point. They had a 10 point 4th quarter lead. I know good teams figure out a way to win, and bad teams figure out a way to lose, but when you are down 3 touchdowns, you need almost everything to go right to win the game. For the Seahawks, everything did, and they won in overtime.
If ANY ONE of these four bullet points dont go Seattle's way, the 49ers win the division. If any one of these bullet points happen, the road to the Superbowl goes through Candlestick....a place the Seahawks haven't won at since 2008.
Now flip it. Look at these examples that go against the Niners:
- Week 10 against the Panthers. We are struggling offensively all game long. Close to the end of the game, Kaepernick throws a beautiful pass down the seem to Vance McDonald that he drops. He catches the ball, we are in field goal range, and win the game.
- Week 11 against the Saints. If the refs keep their flags in their pocket with the Brooks sack/strip/fumble recovery like they should have, we win the game.
Now, regardless of all those things that went right for Seattle, if any of these two bullets that went against the Niners go the other direction......the 49ers win the division.
Anyways, sorry for the rant. I just have been hearing a ton of talk lately about what we need to do to beat the Seahawks. And all I am saying is that this "we need to do ____ and _____ to beat Seattle" talk is crazy to me. We can beat them without making huge changes. They were just a team of destiny last season as, like I illustrated, they had so many things go their way in their quest for the Superbowl.....when the fact is that if just ONE of the many things I listed went the other direction, these endless conversations dont even happen.
