Who's Better Than The 49ers? NOBODY!
The San Francisco 49ers are headed back to the Super Bowl because they can win any style of game. Sunday's NFC Championship showed the 49ers can be comeback artists when they need to.
The 49ers overcame a 17-0 deficit to defeat the Atlanta Falcons 28-24 in the NFC Championship game after the Falcons turned the ball over on downs inside the red zone with under two minutes remaining.
San Francisco's defense couldn't stop anything in the first half, giving up 24 points and 297 yards. But the 49ers turned up the defensive heat after halftime, holding the Falcons scoreless. Self-inflicted mistakes didn't help the Falcons' cause.
Roddy White slipped on a route in the third quarter, which led to an interception. Matt Ryan saw a 49ers blitz coming, took his eyes off the ball, and fumbled a snap. Still, Atlanta had a chance to win until stalling in the red zone on two straight incompletions with time running down.
On the final two plays, the 49ers had linebackers covering Roddy White. And they forced an incompletion on both plays. No defense has a more versatile group of linebackers, which helped make up for a sagging 49ers pass rush on Sunday.
San Francisco's offense showed off its versatility as well. One week after Colin Kaepernick ran wild against the Green Bay Packers, he mostly handed off Sunday. Frank Gore and LaMichael James continued to gash the Falcons on read option plays in the second half. Kaepernick, meanwhile, hit the Falcons vertically again and again with passes up the seam to Vernon Davis.
It was only two years ago when the 49ers out-maneuvered the Miami Dolphins in their bid to hire Jim Harbaugh. The organization's profile changed on that day to a physical football team that is extremely hard to prepare for. San Francisco can win defensive battles, and the 49ers are as explosive as any team offensively since Kaepernick took over at quarterback.
This is a 49ers squad that doesn't flinch. If you stop one part of their team, another will step up. They can win games in so many different ways.
Win one more, and the 49ers will be world champions again.