It's been a long time coming and last night that time finally arrived. With San Francisco's shocking 24-17 upset in a soggy Seattle showdown, 49er fans finally can dust off those jerseys hanging in their closets and wear them with pride.
Now although the niners need a little help to make the playoffs this year, its really not a long shot. With the way Alex Smith is palying and the impressive retun of Miami's former monster Frank Gore, this Niner team is certainly going to make some noise in the future.
Seattle who currently leads the NFC West with an 8-6 record still has two tough games left to play. They are against the Chargers(loss), and at Tampa(easily a spoiler). If Seattle happens to continue stumbling down the stretch loosing its next two games then pending if they win out San Francisco could win that division! Heck with the way the NFC has been they could even make a run.
With the addition of Frank Gore the Niners now have a running game to depend on. No wonder they sent Barlow to the Jets with no problem. Barlow hasn't produced anything, and since week ten Gore has been leading the league carrying the pig skin for over eight hundred yeards, pretty impressive for a guy who during his injury plagued college career seemed to be fading away.
Names like Clinton Portis, Willis McGahee, and even Jared Payton owe alot to Frank Gore, because if he never went down in Miami, those guys wouldn't even be where they are today. McGahee and Portis who were both on the same roster as Gore got much more playing time then they would have if Gore didn't go down. McGahee also deserves a round of applause for his suprising comeback after having his knee smashed in against Ohio State in a memorable National Championship game.
Anyway, now that the Niners have a running game, which was established last night during a monsoon in Seattle, Alex Smith who is the real future of this team has more room to develop. It's hard to just stack the box and blitz the young quarterback when there is a dependable and also versatile back lining up behind him. Last night Smith went 14-25 for 162 yards, and not to mention one of the most impressive boot legs this guy have ever seen. Smith certainly got the monkey off his back prooving he is going to be a quarterback in this league.
As the season closes out the fate of this well improved 49ers team will be answered. If they don't make the playoffs that ok, right now compared to many other "rebuilding" teams in the NFC the 49ers are several steps ahead. This season has been a good one with two wins against the current NFC Champion Seattle Seahawks.
At 6-8 Niners fans should be happy, because as the season has gone on the team has gotton better. If they do happen to sneak into the playoffs pending they win out against Arizona and at Denver (who is currently slipping) and Seattle looses out, then thats just desert.
Keep this in mind, if this Niners team does make it to the post season this year, watch out they just might make a run. If they don't, next year they will certainly be contenders. A thought Niner fans haven't had for a while.
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