GREEN BAY, WISCONSIN – JANUARY 22: San Francisco 49ers’ Jimmy Garoppolo (10) smiles throughout warmups earlier than their NFC divisional playoff NFL sport towards the Inexperienced Bay Packers at Lambeau Discipline in Inexperienced Bay, Wi., on Saturday, Jan. 22, 2022. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Space Information Group)
All of the 49ers do is win. And nobody is kind of certain clarify it.
Sure, this group has an excellent protection, they usually’re as robust as a microwaved steak, nevertheless it nonetheless defies logic how San Francisco is taking part in within the NFC Championship Recreation on Sunday.
The reality is that the Niners have been the beneficiaries of some luck over these final couple of weeks. Don’t maintain that towards them — all championship runs require a bit of excellent fortune.
However with a Tremendous Bowl berth on the road, the Niners can’t go into Sunday’s third showdown of the season with the Rams with solely the hope that fortune continues to be of their favor.
“How is that this occurring?” isn’t the query that must be answered heading into that sport.
No, the one query that ought to be requested of the Niners is simple: “Is one of the best but to return?”
Whether it is, San Francisco will probably be taking part in in Tremendous Bowl LVI in the exact same stadium they’ll play in on Sunday.
Whether it is, the Niners can have an impressive probability of profitable that sport, irrespective of which AFC group — the Chiefs or the Bengals — comes out to California.
Whether it is, this Niners group will go down as one of many all-time nice squads on this storied franchise’s historical past. They may even go down as champions.
The excellent news is that the Niners have the expertise to place all of it collectively. It's important to be some form of group to make it to the doorstep of the Tremendous Bowl with out having performed complementary soccer for the previous few weeks.
On the similar time, asking the Niners play in all three phases — for them to enrich one another — is a giant ask forward of Sunday’s sport with the Rams.
The protection is the least of the Niners’ worries proper now, however the Rams characterize the stiffest problem of this postseason for them. The protection has been led by nice linebacker play, a dynamic go rush, and a secondary that has performed its finest soccer as of late, can't slack — not for a second. The Rams have 4 — if not 5 — wonderful pass-catching weapons. They've a quarterback in Matt Stafford who has the arm expertise and confidence to assault any a part of the sphere, as evidenced early and late within the Rams Divisional Spherical win over the Buccaneers. Rams coach Sean McVay may not handle video games all that properly, however as a play-caller, he can nonetheless draw ’em up, and the Rams will run the ball to a middling diploma of impact, not less than. McVay is a disciple of Kyle Shanahan, in spite of everything.
All this to say the Rams are going to attain some factors. Don’t count on hours of shutout soccer we noticed in Inexperienced Bay or the comical ineptitude of the Cowboys’ offense from two weeks in the past.
Because of this the Niners want to ensure their particular groups don’t slack. They bounced again final week after a playoff debut — no, a season — of incompetence, save for kicker Robbie Gould. The Inexperienced Bay sport may not be attainable to copy — the Packers are really abysmal on particular groups — however they can not regress to their prior kind. You may’t win a convention with out being competent within the third section of the sport.
And also you definitely can’t win the NFC in the event you don’t rating touchdowns on offense.
The Niners have been solely the fourth group this century to win a playoff sport with out an offensive landing. Doing that two instances in a single postseason isn’t going to occur.
And whereas the Niners ought to be capable to run the ball towards the Rams — we’ve seen it twice already this season — the Niners’ offensive success and the group’s capability to win Sunday’s sport goes to journey on San Francisco’s capability to throw the ball.
Now, the Niners gained’t have to throw it typically, however they’ll must throw it sufficient.
And it’s honest to marvel if Jimmy Garoppolo is as much as the duty.
The Niners’ quarterback has by no means been recognized for constant play, however as he battles a thumb and shoulder damage, he’s truly settled right into a little bit of a groove — one that's something however advantageous to the Niners’ possibilities of profitable the convention title.
Over his final three video games, Garoppolo has thrown one landing and 4 interceptions. His quarterback ranking is 73.3 — out of 158.3 — and he has seven turnover-worthy performs to solely two big-time throws, per Professional Soccer Focus’ grading system.
Sure, he has proven an unimaginable capability to rally his group and make performs on the finish of the primary half and the tip of the sport, however he'll should be at his finest for the overall of Sunday’s contest to beat the Rams. His quantifiable play might want to match all of these issues he brings to the Niners that can't be put in a field rating.
Once more, he can do it. It’s been some time since we’ve seen it, nevertheless it has been carried out. Garoppolo has an excellent play-caller, excellent weapons, and a succesful offensive line that might have All-Professional left deal with Trent Williams on the sphere Sunday.
Nevertheless it should be carried out on Sunday. Toughness and resilience are unimaginable qualities to have within the postseason, however each coach, pundit, and educated fan would moderately have a high quarterback working an offense that’s buzzing.
Beating a group 3 times in a single season — and for a second time in a month — is not any simple activity. Bear in mind, the Niners have been deemed to have a 0.4 % probability of beating the Rams in Week 18 earlier than staging an unimaginable comeback. The Rams will not be a group to be taken evenly they know the Niners properly they usually’ve saved their finest soccer for this postseason.
The Niners are nonetheless in search of their finest kind. Once more, what a group that they are often this far whereas nonetheless figuring issues out.
However the time has come for his or her finest. This group has one other gear, or two and it could possibly drive them to the Tremendous Bowl.