For the second straight year the San Francisco 49ers are heading to the NFC Championship and are once again one win away from their sixth Super Bowl appearance. What started off as an early scare for the 49ers and their fans alike, soon turned into the Colin Kaepenick show as the second-year QB out of Nevada turned Sunday's playoff meeting versus the Green Bay Packers into a track meet. Showing a bit of postseason jitters in his playoff debut to begin the ballgame with a number of erratic passes including a pick-six on San Francisco's opening-drive that put his team in an early hole down 7-0, Kaepernick would eventually come into his own before setting an NFL record for the most rushing yards ever by a quarterback in a single game.
Following his early mishap, Kaepernick gathered himself and answered back as if he's been starring in the league for 8 seasons rather than just 8 games in which he's started since taking over for the injured Alex Smith back in week 10. Facing a third and long situation on San Francisco's ensuing possession, Kaepernick hit his running back Frank Gore down the sideline with a lob pass for a gain of 45 yards in what would eventually be the play that would wake the QB from his slumber and help him find his groove. Three plays later Kaepernick would give the Green Bay defense a tiny dose of what they would be in store for all day long as he trotted into the end zone untouched from 20 yards out to tie the game at seven all. Equally as sluggish as Kaepernick was on the 49ers' opening-drive was the San Francisco defense which allowed back-to-back big plays to Aaron Rodgers and company, giving the lead right back.
With special teams being a vital ingredient in the 49ers success this season, the squad made no exception on Sunday night, making a huge play on a muffed punt by the Packers' return man Jeremy Ross. After recovering the fumble inside the 10-yard line, Kaepernick capitalized on Green Bay's self-inflicted miscue by finding a wide-open Michael Crabtree who ran a slant route and split two defenders for the touchdown. Another turnover on Green Bay's ensuing possession this time in the form of an Aaron Rodgers interception would allow the 49ers to take their first lead of the evening. Already in good position near midfield thanks to the 39-yard pick-off return by Terrell Brown, Kaepernick didn't have a long way to go in order to revisit his favorite target in the end zone as he connected with Crabtree for the second time in as many possessions, this time giving San Francisco a 21-14 lead.
But given the back and forth affair it would only be appropriate that Green Bay would respond. Leading the league in touchdown receptions this year, Packers wide-receiver James Jones continued what he's done all season long by adding a 20-yard touchdown grab to pull even. With the game tied for the third time in the first half and the two-minute warning approaching, Kaepernick had just enough time to march his team down field and put them in field goal range to give them a lead at the half. Having struggled mightily in 2012 after putting together a season for the record books in 2011, David Akers shook off the cobwebs and came through in the clutch by kicking a 36 yard field goal to give the 49ers a 24-21 lead heading into the locker room at the half. But unlike the first half which saw both teams counter one another blow for blow, the second half would be much more one-sided.
After a Mason Crosby field goal tied the game at 24-all, the 49ers would string together three consecutive touchdown scoring drives, all of the rushing variety. While Frank Gore, Anthony Dixon and Colin Kaepernick all contributed to San Francisco scoring 21-unanswered points with big plays, none was greater than Kaepernick's quarterback-draw which he ran in from 56 yards out to give the 49ers the lead for good. Showing shades of the great Randall Cunningham who he grew up studying footage of and molding his game around, the young Kaepernick would have 181 rushing yards by the games end, setting an NFL record for the most rushing yards ever by a quarterback in a single game, shattering the previous mark of 119 yards set by Michael Vick. However, that wouldn't be the only record set in the game as the 49ers combined for a postseason franchise record 579 total yards, 323 coming on the ground. 119 of Kaepernick's 263 passing yards went to wide-out Michael Crabtree who also caught both of Kaep's touchdowns.
Packers QB Aaron Rodgers would find Greg Jennings in the back of the end zone to make it a 45-31 ballgame but it would be too late as a pair of kneel downs was all it took for the 49ers to reign victorious and punch their ticket for a second NFC Championship in as many years. With the number one seeded Atlanta Falcons taking care of the Seattle Seahawks the following day by a final score of 30-28, the table is now set for the NFC title game which will take place this Sunday at Atlanta. Having already faced some of the game's most mobile QB's this season in Robert Griffin III, Cam Newton and most recently Russell Wilson, the Falcons should have an idea of what to expect from Colin Kaepernick which is why I believe it'll come down to how well the 49ers QB does in the passing game. And after out-dueling the reigning MVP in Aaron Rodgers, I like Kaepernick's chances of duplicating his success against the Atlanta Falcons defense which allowed Seattle to come back from a 20-0 halftime deficit just a week ago. Expect a 27-23 win for the 49ers, sending the franchise to its first Super Bowl since the 1994 season.
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For the second year in a row the San Francisco 49ers are NFC Western Division Champions. After punching their ticket to the playoffs last season which ended a nine year playoff drought, head coach Jim Harbaugh entered his second season at the helm of the 49ers with lofty expectations and was considered by many as the favorites to not only make it to the Super Bowl this season but also win it. And after coming so close last year before falling in the NFC Championship to the eventual Super Bowl Champion New York Giants at home in overtime, anything short of the franchise's sixth Lombardi Trophy this time around would be a disappointment.
Though their journey to the postseason this year has been much more difficult than it was a year ago when the team locked up the division with four more games to play as the second seed, the 49ers (11-4-1) still managed to lock up the no. 2 seed in the NFC on the last day of the regular season thanks to a Week 17 win over the division-rival Arizona Cardinals and a little help from the Minnesota Vikings who knocked off the Green Bay Packers to claim the final Wild Card spot, only to lose in the rematch the following week, 27-10. In that 27-13 win over the Cardinals, 49ers running back Frank Gore ran the ball into the end zone from 2-yards out in the fourth quarter for his 51st career rushing touchdown, surpassing both Joe Perry and Roger Craig to become the franchise's all-time rushing touchdowns leader. And while Gore has failed to eclipse the century mark in yards in nine consecutive weeks, he might be primed for a big game facing a Green Bay Packers team that he had one of his bigger performances against this season back in Week 1.
Compiling 112 yards on the ground to go along with a touchdown, Gore helped lead his team to a 30-22 victory over the Packers at Lambeau Field back in August. Though a lot can change for a team in nearly four months, the only major adjustment the 49ers have made is at the starting quarterback position which now belongs to second-year QB Colin Kaepernick. Kaepernick, who was born in Wisconsin and grew up in northern California, made his desires to want to play professional football known at an early age by writing a letter in the fourth grade saying he wanted to play for either the Niners or Packers. Little did he know he would be playing in a playoff game that featured both teams in only his second year in the league, much less starting.
A similar childhood dream was that of Packers QB Aaron Rodgers who grew up a huge 49er fan, idolizing the great Joe Montana and hoping to one day be drafted by his favorite team. Those dreams were shattered however, when San Francisco instead used the no. 1 overall pick in the 2005 NFL Draft on Alex Smith. While being passed on by the team he grew up rooting for is something he'll always have in mind, there's nothing Rodgers would like more than to send the 49ers packing and reminding them of what they could have had. Already with a Super Bowl MVP and ring on his resume as well as an NFL MVP Award which he took home last season, Rodgers is still seeking that second Lombardi Trophy that would help him leapfrog Brett Favre in popularity for good. Hoping to get in the way of those plans will be the 49ers defense which will be fresh off a BYE week.
A vital part of the vaunted 49ers defense has been the one-two punch of Aldon Smith and Justin Smith who's missed the last two games due to an elbow injury but should benefit as well as anyone from the extra week off to recover in time for Saturday's meeting. Prior to Smith's injury which occurred in San Francisco's win over the New England Patriots in Week 15, 49ers defensive-end Aldon Smith needed only three sacks to pass Michael Strahan's single-season sacks record of 22.5 sacks but failed to log a single sack once his partner in crime fell to the injury bug. But with the one they call "Cowboy" healthy and hungry for a ring, expect the Smith brothers to be a pain in the backside of Rodgers and a key reason as to why the 49ers will be making back-to-back trips to the NFC Championship. My Prediction: 49ers 27, Packers 20.
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