When the ride ends..

As a pro football fan, I feel fortunate, as I am sure millions of other fans, to have had the pleasure to watch several exciting, nail-biting football games throughout this playoff period as the last of the best presented some excellent football, including games where the momentum changed several times and the final outcome played out in overtime. In a series of win or go home games filled with drama and specific plays that weighed heavy on which team emerged as the victor, who could have guessed that the teams that would end up representing the NFC and AFC would be the Los Angeles Rams and the Cincinnati Bengals, respectively. But given the fact that any team can beat any other team on any given day, can we at least agree that in the end, the offense puts the points on the board but it’s the defense that wins the game (by being able to prevent or at least limit scoring by the other team). It’s the Joe (Burrow) and Matthew (Stafford) show coming up in about two weeks. The two teams still standing with the playoff dust settled will decide who wears the crown in 2022.

Having moved to the Bible Belt state of Oklahoma from California, and more specifically, the Bay Area, I am a San Francisco 49ers fan. Even after the extremely disappointing loss to the L A Rams this past Sunday, I remain a fan (in mourning) and look forward to what the future holds for Kyle Shanahan and the boys. But not without a little reflection on the game that cost the 49ers an opportunity to play in this year’s Super Bowl. Jimmy G…….there were those who praised him and many who criticized him. All signs point to the likelihood that he will not be on the same team next year. Much will be said about that last interception that may have been seen as the “final nail in the coffin” and just the timing of it may make us forget that (at least in my eyes), is just one bad pass of many good ones that he made during the game. So, is it all his fault that they lost? I don’t think so. From where I sat, in my recliner in the “man cave”, I have to place much of the blame to a defensive effort that gave Matthew Stafford too much time and a secondary that seemed to be in the wrong place at the wrong time giving Stafford’s receivers opportunities to space themselves from the 49er corners and safeties. An overall great season culminating in a game that you (the 49ers) should have won sure can leave a bad taste in your mouth and turn a short trip back to the Bay area in to a long, sad ride. There’s no such thing as a moral victory in this game. It doesn’t matter whose fault it was. One bad pass could not, by itself, lose the game. In any case, it’s over for their season and all the blood and sweat that took them to that NFC championship game, starts all over again in the spring, perhaps with a few new faces and definitely with a different quarterback, Trey Lance, behind center.

I took my 49er hoodie off after the game was over, felt sad about a game that I could only watch from my recliner, put it back on the hanger and returned it to the closet next to my 49er jacket. Thank you, Jimmy G. Although, the season didn’t end the way we hoped, I know you put it all out there for every down you played and the door closes on your last game in a 49er uniform, I am confident that another door will open for you. I wish you well.