By Nicholas McGee
For many sports fans, it is hard to believe just how well John Cleese’s now famous words relate to the ever heartbreaking world of professional sports.
Indeed as fellow Ray Romano stated on NFL Total Access a few weeks ago “the worst thing your team can give you is hope.”
The 49ers, in the past few years and especially in 2009 have become experts in providing you with hope, the belief nay the confidence, that maybe, just maybe we can pull it off, we can win the big games and be in the race to take part in the biggest dance of them all.
If previous years had been a lesson in how to do this, then 2009, under the stewardship of Hall of Fame linebacker Mike Singletary, has been a masterclass rich with a plethora of live demonstrations of this all too common art form.
They did it in many ways, whether it was the Brett Favre miracle heave with 8 seconds remaining or the Joseph Addai trick play to win the game after keeping Peyton Manning scoreless, the 49ers continually held my heart and its hopes in their hands, and continually, they wrenched it out as they transpired to give away numerous winning positions.
However, last week the 49ers did something special, they took away the hope. Perfectly poised at 5-6 to return to .500 after a commanding win against Jacksonville, the 49ers took on Seattle at Qwest Field, a win and an expected loss by division leaders the Arizona Cardinals against Brett Favre and the Minnesota Vikings would put the Niners one game behind the Cardinals heading into a potential division decider at Candlestick Park.
That was the way it was supposed to go, supposed to. Instead the Niners crashed and burned in the North West, a last second Olindo Mare field goal sealing the win for the Seahawks. Whilst in the desert, the Vikings were defeated by the aerial bombardment of Kurt Warner and the Cardinals, Brett Favre the man who broke so many 49er fans hearts in Week 3, left helpless. The 49ers were 3 games back and all hope, was extinguished.
It shouldn’t have happened like this, the Seahawks, by all accounts should have been tossed aside like Tiger Woods’ last condom by a 49ers team that is without a doubt, much further along in the process of building a championship-ready team, alas as always, the 49ers lost a close one.
The one positive from the outcome of the Seahawks game, was that the hope that the 49ers could still make the playoffs, was gone. Still in the race mathematically but to any realistic NFL fan, at 5-7 they were all but out.
Or so we thought, last night the Favre-conquering Cardinals rolled into town hoping to clinch the NFC West Division Crown, as I sat down to watch, all hope gone, I expected nothing but a Cardinals victory, how wrong I was.
In sheer amazement I watched as the 49ers defense destroyed one of the top offenses in the league, forcing 7 turnovers, 2 of them picks by Warner. All of the 49ers 24 points came following turnovers. Frank Gore, who fumbled a week earlier in Seattle to gift the Seahawks field position late in the game, rumbled for 170 yards and a Touchdown. Alex Smith, while erratic got the job done, firing Touchdown passes to Vernon Davis and the ever improving rookie sensation Michael Crabtree. Even when the Cards finally got into the endzone, the 49ers blocked the extra point, summing up a terrific night for the 49ers and a truly awful one for the Cardinals.
While the game, as a 49er fan, was fantastic to watch, it did one terrible thing, it brought the hope back. It wasn’t the result in it self, it was the performance, this wasn’t a defensive struggle or a game where the Niners just did enough, they absolutely decimated the Cardinals, they played like a playoff football team.
The 49ers now stand at 6-7 and are still in the playoff hunt, you may say it is only an outside shot, but if you look at the playoff picture and remaining schedule you will see it is a better shot than originally thought. The division is straightforward, at 8-5 the Cardinals hold a 2 game lead over the 49ers with 3 games remaining, with the Niners holding the tiebreaker between the two having swept the season series. Therefore the 49ers must win out and hope that the Cardinals lose two out of the three. San Francisco goes to Philadelphia on Sunday, then finishes their home schedule against Detroit before finishing the regular season in St. Louis. The Cardinals go to Detroit on Sunday, before facing the Rams and the Packers to finish off.
On the face of it the Niners winning the division seems very unlikely, the Niners will have to match their performance from last night to beat the Eagles at the Linc, while either team doing anything other than beating the Lions and the Rams would be a huge shock. This is the NFL though and anything can happen, if the Niners now get on a roll and the Cardinals slide, we could be in for a titanic turnaround.
It is the Wildcard race that really intrigues me however, with Dallas performing their usual December dive from the top board, the Giants wash in a sea of inconsistency and with Matt Ryan questionable for the Falcons, the Niners now have a real shot at the Wildcard. Again they have to win out, although technically they could make it with an 8-8 record, and hope the Cowboys, Giants and Falcons slip up. Dallas holds the 2nd wildcard spot currently with an 8-5 record, the Giants are just one game ahead of the Niners at 7-6 whilst the Falcons are also 6-7 but hold a tiebreaker over the Niners because of their win in San Francisco earlier in the season.
Again on the surface, the equation is a tough one for the Niners, take a look at the schedule though and it gets more interesting. Dallas travels to the Superdome to take on the undefeated Saints (ouch), then on to FedEx Field to play the 4-9 Redskins in what will surely be their Superbowl before welcoming the Eagles to wrap up. Hardly the easiest schedule, and the same can be said for the hard to figure out New York Giants who travel to FedEx next Monday Night, before welcoming Carolina to the Meadowlands and heading to Minnesota to finish off.
For the Falcons the equation is the same as it is for the 49ers, win out. They have an easier schedule than all three but it all depends on the status of Matt Ryan, they travel to New York to play the Jets on Sunday, the toughest game on their remaining schedule, this promises to be a fight to the death between two teams fighting for their playoff lives. Following that they welcome Buffalo before finishing on the road at Tampa Bay.
If the 49ers do indeed win out, and the Falcons do not, they need the Cowboys to lose 2 of their 3 games, and the Giants to lose 1, this scenario would leave all three teams on 9-7 but the 49ers would get the wildcard spot thanks to having a better conference record. An unlikely scenario, yes, but not impossible in today’s NFL.
All this is academic for me though, the hope is back but I’m banishing it, I refuse to have my expectations built up again only to have them shattered. Therefore I have already convinced myself that the Eagles will beat the Niners on Sunday, at least then just like last night, I can be pleasantly surprised. Here’s to no hope! Smart man you are Mr Cleese, a smart man indeed.
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