The End of Tebowmania, The Catch III, Battle: Los Angeles

49ers Head Coach Jim Harbaugh embraces TE Vernon Davis after
his game-winning touchdown catch with 9 seconds left in the game.

On Sunday, Tim Tebow was finally exposed for the shitty quarterback that he is. His Denver Broncos lost to the New England Patriots in an outright beating, losing 45-10, thanks to Tom Brady tying a record 6 TD passes in a postseason game, including a new-record 5 in the first half. Tebow was absolutely atrocious, passing 9/26 for 136 yards, rushing 5 times for 13 yards. Brady was magnificent, passing 26/34 for 363 yards, scoring 6 TD with 1 INT as a minor blemish. Brady also compiled a really unusual statistic, he punted for 48 yards on 3rd down, with 3 minutes left in the 4th quarter. The Patriots advance to the AFC Championship Game for the first time since 2007, where they went on to lose in the Super Bowl.


Before that game was easily the best game of the postseason thus far. The New Orleans Saints and their top-ranked offense with record breaking passer Drew Brees were looking to roll into San Francisco and collect the Saints' first ever road win after being favored to win by 3.5 points. It seemed written in destiny from the beginning when Alex Smith threw a 49 yard TD Pass to TE Vernon Davis. Both players had been benched during Mike Singletary's tenure as head coach, having criticized both Smith and Davis as "not being winners."


The final 4 minutes of the game proved to be a straight up shootout, featuring 4 touchdowns, 2 from the 49ers and 2 from the Saints. The Saints' TDs were typical Drew Brees fare, but the 49ers touchdowns were something else. The first was to take the go-ahead points, from a 28 yard rushing TD by Alex Smith. The 28 yard rush TD from Smith is the longest such play by any 49ers QB, beating the legendary Steve Young. With 14 seconds left, Alex Smith pulled off the improbable Joe Montana impression and connected on a 14 yard TD pass to who else, Vernon Davis, making the catch with 9 seconds left on the clock. Only 4 game-winning TD passes have ever been made with less than 10 seconds left on the clock and the 49ers have made 2 of them.


The 49ers advance to their first appearance in the NFC Championship Game since 1997.


Lakers vs Clippers 2012 Edition Part I after the break, as well as my personal feelings as a 49ers fan.

In the most hotly anticipated match-up of the early season, the Los Angeles Lakers and Los Angeles Clippers met in Staples Center on Saturday night in what was technically a "home" game for the Clippers, despite both teams sharing the same building. The game was Clippers from beginning to end, with the Lakers only capable of getting within 3 points, other than the opening moments of the game; the Lakers never led at any point.


Despite the loss, Kobe Bryant collected his 4th consecutive 40 point game, giving him his 6th such streak during his career. Michael Jordan only had streaks of 4 40+ point games twice in his entire career. The reason the Lakers lost can clearly be pointed to the Lakers' struggles in offensive rebounds, allowing way too many fastbreak points, a recurring problem for this Lakers squad dating back several years.

49ers QB Alex Smith and TE Vernon Davis celebrate after scoring the game-winning
TD pass with :09 seconds left in the game versus the New Orleans Saints.

When I saw Alex score that first TD pass to VD on a 49 yard pass, I knew I was about to witness something special. Alex Smith was drafted with the #1 draft pick in the 2005 draft out of Utah, controversially over future Packers QB and Bay Area native, Aaron Rodgers. Vernon Davis was drafted with the #6 pick in the 2006 draft out of Maryland. After six years of playing together, their careers finally reached the big time, especially after both Smith and Davis were benched by Mike Singletary because Singletary "wanted winners, not quitters."


The game started and ended the same, with Smith passing to Davis for go-ahead touchdowns. Davis also had a monster game besides those 2 TDs, getting 7 receptions for 180 yards. I've had mixed feeling about Alex Smith for years, but I've always believed in Vernon Davis. Despite my feelings towards Smith, I was pissed beyond belief when he decided to bench Alex even after he came back from his injury last season in favor of Troy Smith, and even more pissed when he benched Vernon Davis.


Mike Singletary is now the linebackers coach for the atrocious Minnesota Vikings and Troy Smith is yet another Heisman Trophy winner who isn't even playing in the NFL anymore. Karma is a bitch, huh? With the overwhelming success of the 49ers this season, Singletary will probably never be a head coach in the NFL ever again, having failed to lead pretty much the exact same roster to a winning record.


When Smith and Davis connected for that final TD, I was beyond happy to see my 49ers finally win after 10 long years of waiting for the days of success once again. And then I saw the video of Vernon Davis crying after scoring the TD and running over to coach Harbaugh, just as Terrell Owens had done to then-coach Steve Mariucci after The Catch II. I cried along with him, remembering how successful the 49ers had once been and realizing in that moment that I was just a fan and Davis was the guy out there scoring touchdowns. Alex Smith and Vernon Davis have struggled for years on end, yet they finally got their big opportunity when it counted.


The 49ers have been derided all season long and not taken seriously by anyone covering football, other than Steve Young, Trent Dilfer, and Chris Berman, all from ESPN. Even after today, the big story on ESPN was how Tim Tebow played like... well he played like Tim Tebow. He was awful. He played like shit. He's clearly not ready to be an NFL quarterback and should be a 2nd or 3rd string QB until he can totally learn how to throw a fucking football. Most people even admit they don't take the 49ers seriously because they keep waiting for the 49ers and Alex Smith to play like the 49ers of the previous 10 years.


Well, it hasn't happened yet.