It’s Super Bowl time once again and I find myself at a loss of words since my team the Niners did not make it.
If you look at the game as a whole, the Seahawks played a very good game. They were able to shut down Frank Gore. In fact, the only thing they did not shut down was Colin Kaepernick.
For those wondering about Colin, I am too. What was Kaepernick thinking that he was the great Joe Montana, coming from behind and throwing to Dwight Clark in the final seconds of the NFC championship in 1982? Even if he had made that throw, I would never say such a thing. I would never compare Kaepernick to Joe Montana. Montana is in a completely different category than Kaepernick. It’s like apples to oranges. There is no comparison.
Do the Niners have a great quarterback in Kaepernick? He is a good quarterback, but his greatness has not materialized yet and he is only in his second year as a starting QB.
Look what the Niners have done with a soon to be great quarterback. Niner fans can not complain. We went through a long drought and now we are back in the playoffs.
Can Kaepernick really be compared to the greats of the game like Fran Tarkenton, Roger Staubach, John Elway, or even Joe Namath? In my book this kid has a ways to go, but he will be there.
He is certainly ahead of the class and on his way, but he needs to really look at this game and the fourth quarter. Learn to read what an open receiver looks like. You can’t be considered one of the greats if you fail to pass this class. It is sort of one of the prerequisites to becoming a great quarterback. Look at Peyton Manning, how many times has he been intercepted while making a great comeback?
George Arceo of Custom Health and Fitness is a true 49er fan was not pleased, but he knows the Niners will be back next year. He too has recovered. Things were not broken at his house. Just some minor yelling, but life goes on.
My wife and her teaching partner at Rosemary Clarke Middle School suffered too. They had decorated their classroom in 49er colors and took a ribbing for it all week from the students.
So, did I throw things at the end of the game? Was I all out of sorts? Did the neighbors hear me scream? Actually no, I was good. My wife even wanted to be with me at the end of the game for dinner. I surprised myself on that. I know a few other notable Niner fans in town that did not fare so well.
Brett Chumley of Mom’s Diner fame also took the loss hard. His wife said after the game he cried like a baby. Chumley did not deny it.
Chumley couldn’t understand why Kaepernick tried to squeeze the ball into double coverage when they had all the time in the world to take several more shots to the end zone. A whole 55 seconds! That’s a lifetime in the NFL.
“We have a hell of a quarterback and we are finally winning games at the end of the season. We will be there. We are spending the money again. I am just happy to have a winning team again and that is what all true 49er fans should be saying,” he said.
Now that we know the teams in the big show, I believe the Broncos have the edge in quarterbacks. Russell Wilson is nowhere near the quarterback that Peyton Manning is.
Peyton Manning has a 97.2 quarterback rating with 491 TDs and 64,954 yards in his career and is destined for the Hall of Fame. The Seattle Seahawks’ quarterback is a little bit more maneuverable than Manning but has nowhere near the stats. Wilson has 26 TDs on the year for 3,357 yards. For this year, Manning has 55 TDs with 5,547 yards. There really is no comparison.
I would take Manning over Wilson in a heartbeat. What we have in this game is a running team going up against an unbelievably great passing team in the Broncos and the Broncos have more weapons than the Seahawks.
The key to the game will be the run defense of the Broncos. Can Terrance Knighton, a 335-pound defensive tackle for Denver and linebacker Danny Travathan shut down Marshawn Lynch, the brute who rushed for 1,257 yards for the Seahawks? It will be a brutal battle in the trenches as Seattle tries to keep Manning off the field.
The fans for Seattle often forget that Denver also has a running back over 1,000 yards. Knowshon Moreno has 248 attempts for 1,038 yards. The game will not be close — 35-14 Broncos.
Oh, and one last thing. I would like to thank Shawn Raberge, a die-hard Seahawks fan, for not taunting me at church. I wish her luck — not.