Vernon Davis gives 49ers “The Catch III” to defeat Saints (VIDEO)
We’re obviously a little late to the party on this, but the San Francisco 49ers took down the New Orleans Saints 36-32 in the game of the Divisional Playoff weekend, with Alex Smith delivering the game-winning TD to Vernon Davis on what will undoubtedly forever go down in San Francisco sports history as “The Catch III”.
Both Smith and Davis turned in career-making performances and Smith finally delivered on his #1 pick expectations by out-dueling the NFL’s all-time single season passing leader (Drew Brees) in a game that saw four lead changes in the final 5 minutes! Smith had his NFL bar mitzvah and became a man on Saturday, finishing with 299 yards and 3 TDs passing, 0 INTs and one 28-yard rushing score to pus SF ahead late in the 4th.
For his part, Vernon Davis cemented himself in Niner lore with 7 catches for 180 yards and 2 TDs, including the game winner on a 14-yard strike from Smith with nine seconds remaining. After dominating all day long and when his team needed him most, Davis delivered a huge blow to Saints safety Roman Harper in the endzone and managed to hang onto the ball for the win.
On what was very nearly the 30th anniversary of the original “The Catch” – Dwight Clark‘s infamous touchdown grab in the 1981 NFC Championship game (1/10/82) – Davis’ play more closely resembled “The Catch II” by Terrell Owens in 1999, right down to crying on the shoulder of head coach Jim Harbaugh as he ran to the sideline (pic above).
VIDEO OF ALL THREE 49ERS “CATCHES” AFTER THE JUMP
It’s Bizarro Sunday in the NFL (PIC)
And so it was that bizarro NFL Week 15 ended the quest for both the perfect and winless seasons in 2011.
Packers lose, Colts win. Up is down, in is out, bad is good … except for the Saints crushing the Vikings, not much from the early round of games made sense today.
Let’s see if Tebow can restore some sense of normalcy by pulling out a miraculous win against the Patriots.
UPDATE: Nope. Not only couldn’t Denver summon the late-game magic today in their 41-23 loss, but “Tebow Time” actually came during the first quarter instead of the fourth, with the Broncos scoring on their first three possessions and New England forced to mount the comeback.
Bizarro Sunday remains fully intact.
Dominic Raiola thinks it’s time for the Lions to “grow the f@#K up” (AUDIO)
This season, the Detroit Lions have been working hard to change their image from perennial NFC North doormat to the new bad boys of the league. And along the way, part of this new image has included getting busted for dirty play and – as exemplified by Ndamukong Suh – committing all sorts of foolish personal fouls that ultimately hurt the team.
Well, following their week 13 loss at the hands of the Saints, in which Detroit committed 11 penalties for 107 yards, including several critical unsportsmanlike conduct calls, Lions’ veteran center Dominic Raiola had finally seen enough. Check out this profanity-laced, post-game diatribe from the Lions’ captain, in which he delivers a fairly singular message to his fellow teammates: “Grow the f@#k up!”.
Audio below (Curses are bleeped out, so its relatively SFW):
Coach Payton tells PFT that kickoffs could vanish from football
New Orleans Saints coach Sean Payton spoke with ProFootballTalk.com’s Mike Florio on Tuesday about the future of kickoff returns.
Payton understands that fans — and many players — are miffed about kickoffs moving from the 30 to the 35, effectively reducing chances for big kick returns. He also knows that with the information the league had about injuries, kickoffs were a central target for change.
“Then you have to be able to take steps, so that 10 years down the road when someone is asking you, ‘Hey at this time, when you knew it was such a dangerous play and you continued on with the kicks from the 30 — and now you have someone who is seriously injured.’”
Payton acknowledged that kickoffs could eventually vanish from the landscape of football.
“Sitting in on John Madden’s coaches committee, and discussing this topic, this is a tough one, in regards to trying to reduce collision speed. There are a number of things you can do offensively and defensively, but when it comes to kicking that ball and these guys are running down the field (at) a pretty good rate of speed, even if they have a five-yard start as opposed to, last year, the 10-yard start. I wouldn’t be surprised, Mike, if down the road that’s where it was headed. Unless we come up with some good answers. And that’s the trick.”
Payton is clearly not on board with the league removing onside kicks.
PFT did the hard work on this one, so here’s the link to the story.
Mark Ingram, Jr. gets an emotional message from his dad after being drafted (VIDEO)
This might have been the most emotional moment from last night’s 1st round of the NFL Draft.
Alabama RB and former Heisman Trophy winner Mark Ingram found himself waiting the longest to hear his name called in the draft’s green room, as he slid farther and farther down the board. But after being selected #28 overall by the New Orleans Saints, Ingram was overcome with a sense of relief and emotion, as ESPN’s Suzy Kolber shared an email she received from Ingram’s father, Mark, Sr.
Ingram, Sr was also selected #28 overall back in 1987 by the New York Giants, and went on to be an integral part of the club that won Super Bowl 25. He is currently serving a 7-year federal sentence for bank fraud and laundering. When Kolber shared the father’s message to his son, Ingram, Jr. simply couldn’t hold back the tears:
With the addition of Ingram, the Saints now have a crowded backfield, with Pierre Thomas, Chris Ivory and Reggie Bush already in the fold. Shortly after the draft, Bush sent out this tweet, indicating that he’s aware of the writing on the wall:
Seahawks stun Saints, Marshawn Lynch delivers an incredible final blow (VIDEO)
Well that right there is why they play the games.
Everybody’s least favorite playoff team, the 7-9 Seahawks, upset the defending champion New Orleans Saints today in Seattle, hanging on for a shocking 41-36 win. The game was a shootout from the very beginning, with both defenses seemingly taking much of the afternoon off. Seattle was led by QB Matt Hasselbeck, who threw for 272 yards and four TDs in leading his team to a 24-17 halftime lead. And the offensive fireworks didn’t stop there, as both teams racked up almost 900 combined yards of total offense in the game.
Just when it looked like Drew Brees and the Saints were going to overpower the lowly NFC West champs down the stretch, RB Marshawn Lynch broke away for an incredible 67-yard 4th quarter touchdown run that put the game out of reach. The Saints seemed to have Lynch bottled up near the line of scrimmage, but the man who Carroll traded for mid-season broke loose around midfield. At least six members of the NO defense had a legitimate chance to bring him down on the play, but Lynch simply wouldn’t be denied the end zone:
Crazy. It’s already being called one of the greatest runs ever, and considering the breadth of skills Lynch used to elude defenders on the play (power/speed/shiftiness/field vision and one nasty stiff-arm), along with the fact that it sealed one of the bigger playoff upsets in recent league history, it certainly deserves to at least be in the conversation.
In the end, the Seahawks – who were roundly derided as the worst team to ever make the playoffs – once again proved that on any given Sunday, any team in the NFL can beat another … and that we don’t know a damn thing about how this post-season is going to play out.
BONUS GIF OF LYNCH TOSSING TRACY PORTER AFTER THE JUMP
Carl from ATHF on the Seahawks playoff travesty (VIDEO)
Our old pal Carl from Aqua Teen Hunger Force is back with his hilariously unique perspective on the NFL, and delivers big time this week with his prediction for today’s Saints-Seahawks Wild Card playoff match-up. As usual, Carl succinctly sums up our feelings about Pete Carroll’s team hosting a playoff game with a losing record.
Best line: “We give out another trophy for teams that finish 7-9 … it’s called a high draft pick. This aint pee-wees where everyone gets to have a pizza party. It’s the NFL.”
Unfortunately, if Carl picks a team, it’s pretty much the kiss of death. So you might want to throw a few bucks on Seattle at the last minute … if you’re into that sort of thing, I mean.
NFL Week 13 Power Rankings (featuring the “Berserker Number”)
Note: For the teams from 32-17, I’ve tagged them with my BERSERKER NUMBER (B#). Ranging from 1 to 100, it rates a team’s ability to cause havoc for teams attempting a playoff run. Young, developing squads just beginning to show power (but stuck with losing records) are helped, in my rankings, by a high B#.
For the teams from 16-1, I’ve added my DESTINY SCORE (DS). Again, 1 to 100. Here, I’m attempting to weed out teams resembling, for instance, the 1988 Chicago Bears. Teams with towering regular season records that (we all know) will not get to — back to — the Super Bowl. Teams, well, missing something special.
My (totally subjective, imperfect) Week 13 Power Rankings:
32 Carolina Panthers (1-10) (B#4)
31 Arizona Cardinals (3-8) (B#8)
30 Cincinnati Bengals (2-9) (B#14)
29 San Francisco 49ers (4-7) (B#22)
28 Denver Broncos (3-8) (B#33)
27 Detroit Lions (2-9) (B#28)
26 Buffalo Bills (2-9) (B#68)
25 Dallas Cowboys (3-8) (B#41)
24 Minnesota Vikings (4-7) (B#42)
23 Oakland Raiders (5-6) (B#52)
22 Washington Redskins (5-6) (B#43)
21 Seattle Seahawks (5-6) (B#54)
20 Cleveland Browns (4-7) (B#73)








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