Peon's Place

The New York Giants didn’t beat the San Francisco 49ers so much as the 49ers just beat themselves. Two lost kick/punt returns by Kyle Williams (who I can reasonably see as not making the 53-man roster next year now, despite his fill-in receiving statistics this season) combined with having zero third-down conversions after twelve tries. Yes, the 49ers were 0-for-12 on 3rd down.

How do the 49ers normally win football games? The +28 turnover margin got them to the playoffs. They had no fumble recoveries or interceptions tonight. Notch that as a -2 turnover stat.

The Giants beat the Green Bay Packers last week in overtime with a field goal, and they did it to the 49ers this week in a similar fashion. I don’t feel as if the New England Patriots will be as forgiving two weeks from now, in the Super Bowl. Hey, at least Eli can say hi to his brother’s stadium in Indianapolis.

We knew what this season was coming down to. Why the Colts signed Peyton Manning, one of the best quarterbacks of all time, to a 5-year 90-something million dollar contract after 2 recent neck injuries, is beyond me. But with Andrew Luck from Stanford “Luck-ily” falling into their laps, what happens to their veteran?

Nearly four years ago, when the NFL announced that Indianapolis would host the Super Bowl in 2012, you couldn’t blame fans for being excited. Back then, Peyton Manning was 32, and had never missed a game in his dominant NFL career. He was coming off another stellar season, in which the Colts finished 13-3 and took their fifth straight division title. His Colts had won the Super Bowl the prior year, over the Chicago Bears. The dream of Manning marching off the field at Lucas Oil Stadium, hoisting the Lombardi trophy in front of an adoring home crowd, seemed very real.

Now, the dream has been shattered, in a way that no one saw coming. The only Manning who might be winning a Super Bowl in Indy is Eli, Peyton’s little brother, whose Giants will play my San Francisco 49ers on Sunday in the NFC Championship game (New England hosts Baltimore in the AFC title game). And just as the city he turned into an NFL powerhouse enjoys the spotlight that comes with a Super Bowl, it’s entirely possible that Peyton may have already played his last game for the Colts.  Read the rest of this entry » Peyton Manning or Not, th...

New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees was having a record breaking year and was looking poised to go for a deep playoff run. But the San Francisco 49ers have been revived by head coach Jim Harbaugh and are back at the top of the league with a trip to the NFC Championship for the first time since Steve Young was QB.

With the 49ers holding a small lead at the top of the 4th quarter, the game turned into a gunslingers’ duel as Brees and 49ers QB Alex Smith changed leads throughout the end of the 4th quarter. With 9 seconds left Smith threw a 14-yard touchdown pass to tightend Vernon Davis to give the 49ers a 36-32 win. Davis was crying uncontrollably as the 49ers go from laughingstock to league leader in just one season.

I’m happy that my #1 favorite 49ers beat my #3 favorite Saints, even though I didn’t believe there was a solid chance for it to happen. Best of all, Sunday brought around the fall of my #2 favorite Green Bay Packers, which means the 49ers have a much better chance to get to the Super Bowl. They learned along with the rest of us that instead of getting the team’s road gear ready for the frozen tundra of Lambeau, they can stay settled here at home and face the New York Giants.

Bay Area, are you ready FOR SOME FOOTBALL?!?

Tickets for this weekend go on sale Wednesday through Ticketmaster.

You know that a 6-11 team has turned it around to 13-3, when you put out the highest number of players to the Associated Press NFL All Pro team.

Aaron Rodgers was the quarterback for the first time, easily beating New Orleans’ Drew Brees, 47½ to 2½. Rodgers led Green Bay to a league-best 15-1 record, maintaining the brilliance he showed in taking the Packers to the Super Bowl title last February.

Calvin Johnson and Jared Allen each received 49 votes from a nationwide panel of 50 media members who regularly cover the NFL. It’s the fourth All-Pro team for Allen, who led the league with 22 sacks, one-half short of the record. Johnson makes it for the first time after hauling in 96 catches for a 17.5-yard average and scoring 16 touchdowns.

But the real success, in my opinion, is that of the San Francisco 49ers. Making the playoffs for the first time in nearly a decade. An entirely new coaching staff in a year where there was no off-season practice. The team is chosen by the Associated Press and represents the best players at each position from the NFL season. It is essentially a starting team on both offense and defense as well as a kicker and punter. In total, 28 players were named to the All-Pro team.

San Francisco placed three defensive players on the All-Pro team. Justin Smith made the team at defensive tackle and also received votes as a defensive end. Smith had a great season and should be considered for defensive player of the year honors as well. He ended the regular season with 58 tackles, seven and a half sacks, and three forced fumbles for the 49er defense.

Linebackers NaVorro Bowman and Patrick Willis also on the All-Pro team after having tremendous seasons. San Francisco placing two of the four linebackers on the team is a testament to how well the unit played this season. Bowman finished seventh in the NFL with 143 tackles and had two sacks on the season. His emergence as a playmaker on defense alongside Willis was a big breakthrough for San Francisco this season. Willis had 97 tackles, two sacks, four forced fumbles, and an interception on the season. He accomplished all this while missing four games with a hamstring injury.

San Francisco also placed both kicker David Akers and punter Andy Lee on the All-Pro team. Akers made 44 out of 52 field goals on the season and scored 166 total points for San Francisco. The team will need these two to continue their excellent play in the playoffs if they hope to continue on.

San Francisco placed more players on the All-Pro team than any other team in the NFL this season. Who came in second? Well John Harbaugh and his Baltimore Ravens of course, with three.

Are the Nike jerseys for next year the real thing, or are they glorious redesigns by an artist who worked on the Nike uniforms for College football? Either way, we have your NFC and AFC champions, ready to battle it up over who has the best looking design!

The voting ends one month from now – the night of Super Bowl XLVI – the 46th year of the greatest single-day championship in the world.

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View the full-size images!  Read the rest of this entry » Which team has the best N...

While there was only one mystery to be had on playoff positioning (New York Giants making it, the Dallas Cowboys going home) there were plenty of surprises with the performances of each top player this week. I was able to win my second money league’s super bowl, thanks to my opponent’s Aaron Rodgers resting up for next weekend.

Now that we’re done with the regular season of 2011, enjoy the playoffs, as all 3 of my favorite teams are in it this year.  Read the rest of this entry » Top NFL Players week 17

All year long football fans have witnessed his explosiveness. He won the Super Bowl last season, and sent a message to the other 31 teams in the NFL, “Just you try to stop me”. I wonder how Brett Favre is feeling right now?

I won the Fantasy Football Super Bowl in my $50 entry league (winning $200), and am 15 points up coming into the final game of my $20 entry league’s Super Bowl, with an ESPN projection that may plant me another 30 points over my opponent. Two championship wins out of two leagues, there we go! How have your teams fared?

With one week left to go…  Read the rest of this entry » Top NFL Players week 16

So I’ve made it into the fantasy Football Super Bowl in both of my money leagues, hooray for guaranteed cash! Do you have a little bit more trust in my weekly football blogs now?

Drew Brees, with 2 games left to play, is a meager 300 yards from breaking Dan Marino’s record. The good news is, he’s averaging 340 yards per game. The bad news is, Brees owners need to find a backup, as the Saints not only have a playoff spot locked up, but still have a chance at taking a first-round bye as well. Any game they have a blowout locked victory, you can expect Drew to be eating hotdogs on the sidelines.

Weeks 16 and 17 will be practically here and gone before you can say “Merry Christmas”, so let’s get excited about our upcoming conclusion!  Read the rest of this entry » Top NFL players week 15

So after a couple of power failures and cringing every time Ben Roethlisberger thought he could play football, the question begs to be asked…

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Interceptions were made by Dashon Goldson, Carlos Rogers, and Tarell Brown. Ray McDonald also forced a fumble on a Big Ben sack, which speaking of sacks, Aldon Smith had 2.5 of them, giving him a total of 13 sacks for the year, a 49er rookie record. Pro Bowl? Definitely. Best rookie of the year? You’re damn right.  Read the rest of this entry » 49ers play Lights OUT foo...

I’ve been dominant in my first week of my 2 money fantasy football leagues. It’s all about paying attention to your players and their matchups.

Do you take that average quarterback going up against the Minnesota Vikings or the New York Giants, who have the worst 2 pass defenses in the league? Of course you do!

Should I pick up a Toby Gerhart who has barely touched the ball all season, just because Adrian Peterson is injured? Heck yeah!

If you stay active in your leagues, you win games. If your team consists of players who are outside of the top 20, you can still achieve success. Watch the waiver wire, stay in-tune to player news and injuries, and grab those backups!

Three weeks of regular season football remain, good luck out there.  Read the rest of this entry » Top NFL players week 14