The San Francisco 49ers had the NFC Championship Game in their hands.
They never trailed by more than three points, their defense seemed to control the New York Giants” offense and they had the homefield advantage.
Unfortunately, some season-long problems plagued the 49ers again – and some new ones just killed their chances.
Everybody knows the key stats by now:
The 49ers” offense went 1-for-13 on third-down conversions; quarterback Alex Smith completed only one pass to a wide receiver; the Giants dominated time of possession; and New York receiver Victor Cruz caught 10 balls for 142 yards.
But most San Francisco fans only point to a single number: two.
That”s how many times replacement punt returner Kyle Williams fumbled the ball, leading to short-field drives that the Giants converted into points (a fourth-quarter touchdown and a game-winning overtime field goal).
Williams has taken a lot of flack the past few days for committing two critical turnovers – something San Francisco had avoided all season.
Some of the criticisms are deserved, but the outrage (highlighted by numerous death threats) is unfortunate, embarrassing and unfair.
Setting aside the fact many unhinged people take sports way too seriously, the fury is simply misguided.
Did Williams lose the game? No.
The team lost because of inefficient play at many crucial moments.
But did he help the Giants win? Certainly.
Williams” two gaffes were some of those important sequences that cost San Francisco.
Nevertheless, it”s insane to threaten a football player or his family because of on-the-field errors.
Williams will hopefully learn from the huge mistakes and mature as a player.
The bigger issue is whether the team will continue to grow after a great season that ended with a devastating loss.
The 49ers finished at 13-3 in the regular season and 1-1 in their first trip to the playoffs since 2002.
They dominated the NFC West, winning by five games, and seem poised to repeat next season because their division foes are struggling. The Arizona Cardinals and Seattle Seahawks have question marks at quarterback and the St. Louis Rams have little stability at any position.
If San Francisco wants to do better in the playoffs, team executives will have to address some key needs in the offseason.
The defense was solid in 2011 (with three guys making All-Pro first team), but it could use help in the secondary, considering the team ranked 16th in passing yards allowed.
The 49ers” offense was suspect all season.
Though Smith had a career-best year, it”s unclear whether the team thinks of him as the long-term solution. And maybe the execs should be apprehensive; after all, 17 touchdowns and 3,144 passing yards aren”t great totals in today”s NFL.
Then again, next year”s starting quarterback won”t have much success unless he gets some help at wide receiver.
Only Michael Crabtree stayed healthy enough to have any sort of regular season (72 catches for 874 yards and four touchdowns), but he was a no-show in the playoffs.
Rather than banking on Ted Ginn and Josh Morgan coming back and avoiding injury, team officials must add a receiver to create more offensive options and lighten the loads for Vernon Davis and Frank Gore.
Still, no matter what the 49ers” additions or subtractions are this offseason, they look ready to enter next season as an NFC contender.
San Francisco came out of nowhere to have a stellar 2011 season, in part because rookie head coach Jim Harbaugh excelled at bringing the team together to prove the doubters wrong.
Now the test for Harbaugh becomes rallying the 49ers when they”re faced with high expectations. Sometimes it”s harder being the favorite.
