Post by wegotcha on Jan 5, 2020 19:27:52 GMT -6
The 49ers can breathe a bit easier this week knowing that the Saints, who gave the 49ers everything they could handle jn a December meeting, are gone. There’s comfort in knowing that Drew Brees and Sean Payton won’t be waiting for them in the NFC Championship game.
Instead, it will be either Green Bay (the worst 13-3 team in NFL history, for my money), Philadelphia (marginal winners of the worst division in football), or Seattle coming to Levi’s Stadium on Jan. 19. Only one of those three teams should even remotely scare the 49ers, and the Niners might have exorcised those demons last Sunday night in the Pacific Northwest.
To get to that Jan. 19 game, though, the 49ers must beat the Vikings next Saturday at Levi’s.
If San Francisco plays even adequately next Saturday, victory shouldn’t be a problem. San Francisco opened as seven-point favorites in Las Vegas sportsbooks on Sunday.
A word of warning ahead of the 49ers’ first playoff game since 2013: Don’t let Sunday’s win over the Saints sway your perception of Minnesota. They were not some sleeping juggernaut, now awoken, as many will allege in the coming days.
The Vikings are no doubt talented — supremely so, in fact. They have one of the most talented rosters in the NFL. But that’s been the case all season, yet they lost six games and wound up with the lowest possible seed in the NFC playoffs.
Yes, the Vikings’ win over New Orleans was impressive, if only because the Saints were the choice of many “experts’” to win the NFC this season. But the Vikings will come to Santa Clara on a short week and will be traveling 2,000 miles and two time zones after a road game.
More importantly, they’ll be facing a rested, relatively healthy, and far more dynamic 49ers squad.
The 49ers also have the most important advantage in football. In the NFL playoffs, we’ve seen time and time again that among evenly matched teams, the determining factor is often which squad has the better head coach and quarterback.
Instead, it will be either Green Bay (the worst 13-3 team in NFL history, for my money), Philadelphia (marginal winners of the worst division in football), or Seattle coming to Levi’s Stadium on Jan. 19. Only one of those three teams should even remotely scare the 49ers, and the Niners might have exorcised those demons last Sunday night in the Pacific Northwest.
To get to that Jan. 19 game, though, the 49ers must beat the Vikings next Saturday at Levi’s.
If San Francisco plays even adequately next Saturday, victory shouldn’t be a problem. San Francisco opened as seven-point favorites in Las Vegas sportsbooks on Sunday.
A word of warning ahead of the 49ers’ first playoff game since 2013: Don’t let Sunday’s win over the Saints sway your perception of Minnesota. They were not some sleeping juggernaut, now awoken, as many will allege in the coming days.
The Vikings are no doubt talented — supremely so, in fact. They have one of the most talented rosters in the NFL. But that’s been the case all season, yet they lost six games and wound up with the lowest possible seed in the NFC playoffs.
Yes, the Vikings’ win over New Orleans was impressive, if only because the Saints were the choice of many “experts’” to win the NFC this season. But the Vikings will come to Santa Clara on a short week and will be traveling 2,000 miles and two time zones after a road game.
More importantly, they’ll be facing a rested, relatively healthy, and far more dynamic 49ers squad.
The 49ers also have the most important advantage in football. In the NFL playoffs, we’ve seen time and time again that among evenly matched teams, the determining factor is often which squad has the better head coach and quarterback.
... and neither is this Chris guy.