This game was billed to be one of the toughest and dirtiest games all season. There was trash talk all week and vows by both teams for revenge for the last time these two met in the NFC Championship game. The 49ers were considered the best team in the NFC and felt that the Giants snuck away with one last year. While that may be true, the Giants showed today that it was not luck, but talent that got them to the Super Bowl and people need to realize that.
The first quarter was surprisingly dominated by the 49ers. They controlled the clock for twice as long as the Giants, however kicker David Akers made only one out of three field goal attempts, something not often seen. This was when the Giants turned it up. They took the lead into half time and they only seemed to improve.
The Giants defense has been under major scrutiny all season long. Just where did the dominant pass rush go that we saw in the playoffs? It must have been hiding in San Francisco because the defense came out to play today. Antrel Rolle who has been battling with injury, had two interceptions on his own. Prince Amukamara contributed one earlier in the game and showed that he has stepped us his game. The defensive line had six sacks, three coming from defensive ends and kept constant pressure on Alex Smith.
Not only does it seem that the Giants have gotten their defense together, but they have put together back to back weeks of over 100 running yards. The 49ers had the best rushing defense, however Ahmad Bradshaw seemed to have no problem picking up yards. Rookie David Wilson also got a few carries when Bradshaw came out of the game due to cramping showed he can also some of the running ability. That is,when he is not busy running for 30, 40, or even 60 yards for a kick return. It seems that the role of kick returner has been filled by the rookie as he nearly ran one all the way back for a touchdown. It gave Eli a good balance and a weight off his shoulders. If this can continue, he will no longer need to put the entire offense on his back like he did all of last season.
I think that this was a monstrous win for the Giants and an extremely humbling loss for the 49ers. Everyone expected the 49ers to play tougher than ever, but they just came up empty. The Giants showed that they were mentally as well as physically prepared for this game and showed that the team we saw last year is still there. Hopefully this team can build momentum for next week as they will face a division rival next week. They are 0-2 so far agains the NFC East and face the Washington Redskins who they just could not beat last year. It is yet another big game for the Giants.
Being a Niners fan I was extremely disappointed in the offense. The defense held as much as they could. The real problem with the Niners is the same problem as last year, being ineffective in the redzone. Until the Niners can fix that problem and start getting 6 instead of 3 or 0, they wont win a super bowl. 2 bright sides though 1. We will stomp Seattle Thursday. 2. It is hard to beat a team twice Giants, we learned that last year being the Giants in the regular season and we all know about the playoff loss.
Have not watched the game yet…have it DVR’d, but I heard they looked great. It’s amazing that they are first place in the NFC East and have yet to defeat an opponent in the division yet. Still, what a statement win!