The Golden Truth

Disclaimers up front: I am a 49er fan. Born and raised.

That being said, I have been wanting to join this board for a while. For obvious reasons, this board has peaked my interest over the last few years. I truly do believe there are very, very good posters on this forum that know the game well and have a great point of view of the league overall. I like how many topics are started on this forum, many entertaining since they are mostly geared toward :49ersmall: .

On to the game. This will be the most watched Championship Sunday ever. This rivalry reminds me of the 49ers - Cowboys rivalry in the early to mid 90's. Great teams battling for the ultimate prize - going to the Super Bowl.

I think Seattle is the better team. Front to back, up and down they have the best roster in football. Schneider has done an amazing job in the draft with this team:
2010: Okung, E. Thomas, G. Tate, W. Thurmond, K. Chancellor
2011: K.J. Wright, R. Sherman
2012: B. Irvin, B. Wagner, R. Wilson, R. Turbin

I think the 49ers have the second best roster in football. I am not going to name a bunch of them like above because I know seeing that many Niners may make some of you itch. Balke has hit big on early round picks and many of their former first round free agent pick ups have helped: C. Rodgers, D. Whitner and Justin Smith.

Both of these teams are built so similarly. Bruising, physical and relentless defenses with strong running games that eat up the clock and take away opponents will. The difference for me in this game is......Russell Wilson.

I like Colin Kaepernick. He does a lot more for the local community and charitable organizations than he probably gets credit for. He has a LAZER for an arm and runs like a gazelle. What he does not have is the pocket presence that Wilson does. Wilson is so agile, mobile and calm in the pocket that it drives defenses nuts. If time were a stock under the NASDAQ header: RW3, I would heavily invest because he buys so much of it. He has great ball placement and footwork with an uncanny understanding of the game for a player of his age.

Do I think the 49ers can win in Seattle? Yes. What would it take?
1. + 3 in the turnover battle
2. 40% + on offense for 3rd down and 30% or less on defense
3. Kaepernick not burning timeouts/making bad throws and decisions.

Obviously just those things wouldn't win the game alone, but these are three keys to helping the cause. Those are not easily accomplished at your madhou....stadium.

In the end I believe that Seattle will most likely win this game. I also believe that the 49ers have a fairly healthy team and the defense is playing its best ball of the season. For that reason I think it should be hard fought and close.

I am looking forward to a great game and great battles for many more years to come. May the best team win.

I look forward to your responses.

Welcome to .net

Whoa...

Yes

One question: where have you guys been all season? We've had to deal with so many trolls over the year, it's good to see some of these new Niners fans.

Can't argue you with anything you said. My hostility with the Niners has more to do with the fanbase I encounter on a daily basis and Harbaugh's antics. I have a lot of respect for the Niners team and even Harbaugh's coaching though.

Here's to a great battle with minimal injuries. Go Hawks!

Yet another good post by a 49er fan today.

You think you need +3 in the turnover battle. Man I don't think so. With this battle of defenses I would say +1 could be a big determiner.

But you aren't going to lull me into a false sense of security. If I were on the 9ers side, I would legitimately feel I have a good chance of winning.

The 49ers have been 2 or 3 different teams to me this year. There was the first of the year, where KP I think was still kind of trying to find his mojo from the Superbowl loss, along with a bunch of injuries to begin the season it was a "defense save me" first few games. From that point on it's been a slow road to confidence and groove. Then you pulled that 1 point victory out of Seattle at home and I felt like KP started playing with a lot more swagger, like he had passed some invisible wall.

From the Seahawks side, it just about execution. They haven't been executing as efficiently as in the past, but it comes down to tough defense after tough defense. Same with the 9ers though. The west has just had to grind this year. These are two teams that are "well honed" at this point. I hope we don't kill each other to the point we can't get up for the Superbowl. (Not to disrespect the AFC, but this game feels like the Superbowl this year).

Thanks for the classy post from behind enemy lines... The more intelligent, pleasant banter from 49ers fans, the less livid I would be if the unthinkable happened Sunday. Thank you for your part in that.

Any intelligent fan, regardless of which side you are on, cannot argue that this game could easily swing either way. The teams are so similar and know each other so well, this will be a chess match from start to finish. Of course I give the edge to us because at home, in front of the 12's, the Seahawks are as close to unbeatable as it gets in the NFL. Still, this is the NFC Championship and I fully expect the 49ers to give us everything they've got, regardless of how loud it will be.

I am nervous of the trends right now. The 49ers offensive stock has been rising for two months, while ours has been dipping the past month. If that trend continues Sunday, I hate to admit but it may be the end of our great season.

Still, I am feeling pretty confident because we are at home. So much is on the line for us just as much as it is for the 49ers. That reason alone I will give us the edge.

Gonna be an epic battle that is for damn sure.

Aros":3iaaoonp said:

Thanks for the classy post from behind enemy lines... The more intelligent, pleasant banter from 49ers fans, the less livid I would be if the unthinkable happened Sunday. Thank you for your part in that.

Any intelligent fan, regardless of which side you are on, cannot argue that this game could easily swing either way. The teams are so similar and know each other so well, this will be a chess match from start to finish. Of course I give the edge to us because at home, in front of the 12's, the Seahawks are as close to unbeatable as it gets in the NFL. Still, this is the NFC Championship and I fully expect the 49ers to give us everything they've got, regardless of how loud it will be.

I am nervous of the trends right now. The 49ers offensive stock has been rising for two months, while ours has been dipping the past month. If that trend continues Sunday, I hate to admit but it may be the end of our great season.

Still, I am feeling pretty confident because we are at home. So much is on the line for us just as much as it is for the 49ers. That reason alone I will give us the edge.

Gonna be an epic battle that is for damn sure.

Click to expand...

To your point about the offenses (and not trying to get off of the original topic) but were Harvin to have played the past two months I have a feeling that the SEA offense would have been trending upward as well. Circumstance and timing matter but we've done what SF did before Crabtree returned... survive.

Welcome to Seahawks.net

And I concur, its nicer having people that came to talk football than scream about 5 rings.

:les:

Damnit Radish



Ahhhhhhhhhhh Oooooooooooo

See what you did.........................



spelling error by Chris corrected as a favor by radish.

Just who ARE these pod people? Great post but like Aros I am a little worried about the current trends so I have decided to believe in Wilson's mindset....1-0 every week every game a championship.

10/10
Would read again.

You are welcome here, good sir. May good fortune follow you every day of the week but Sunday.

Welcome to .NET.

This should be a very tough and tight game. The previous 2 games here for Colin were under adverse weather, along with him adjusting to playing in this environment. Turnovers have been his big bugaboo in the prior two losses here. I think eventually he will get a handle on playing here, just as Smith did. The weather may be pretty tame, mid-40s with little rain or wind.

Gore seems to have a hard time getting traction up here, though not in San Fran. That is another thing that odds say should change.

I am expecting a game similar to the one in the Stick with a FG making the difference.

The 9ers have been road warriors in the playoffs. We will see pretty soon which organization gets to float on cloud nine. To the victor goes the spoils. Hope it is the Seahawks but that goes without saying.

Wow, I honestly do not care for your team, but your post was very good. Welcome to .net! No doubt this will more than likely be the most physical game many of us will probably have ever seen. I would be lying if I said I wasn't nervous so I won't say it. I have faith in my team that they will prevail and win the day. Again thank you for your post.

I appreciate the responses. The truth is that too many fans have a tough time looking at the game in a non-biased fashion. I am going to always root for my team but I can see what they are up against week by week. I am on the Niners .com mb under the same name. Trust me there are too many fans that just spout off at the mouth.

I felt that the return of Crabtree along with Kap seemingly finding a groove would serve us well going into the playoffs. Our defense is much healthier this year and it shows. Im looking forward to the addition of injured players next year like Culliver, Ian Williams, Tank Carradine and Marcus Lattimore.

Our ability to minimize mistakes will be a massive part of this game. The crowd almost causes a dizzying effect for the opponent.

Shock2k, not trying to lull anyone. I just haven't seen enough from Kap to believe he will not have any problems with the crowd/defense. Hopefully I'm wrong

drdiags, you are 100% correct with Kap and the turnover issues. But again that stems from his difficulties with progressions and not staring down receivers. Your defensive backs are slightly, and by slightly I mean incredibly, physical and force the issue with how to properly gameplan.

Just having watched both this season's games again, I think it'll come down to turnovers and field position. Which QB is going to protect the ball better?

Gore won't have a lot of success running up here, but Kaep might. I have a feeling Roman is going to run more read option, especially on 2nd or 3rd down. The post season is really the time to unleash this.

Through the air, Boldin will probably get some catches against Maxwell, especially if he's in motion. This would have been a good game for us to have Browner.

Your defense is probably going to try to copy Arizona's game plan.

Our offense will obviously need to be prepared for that. They will have to get the TEs involved more. RW will need to run some read option of his own. I hope to see this in the early drives to keep your defense off balance.

Of course, Percy is the X factor.

We have the homefield advantage, but you guys have the momentum.

This is going to be a battle, but I expect Seattle to come out on top.