Those of you who aren't particularly fond of The Vulture can engage in a little bit of schadenfreude this morning, courtesy of Brett effing Fav-re.
[O]n Sunday, Favre's 32-yard touchdown pass to Greg Lewis with two seconds remaining in the game was exactly what we expect from the future Hall of Famer.It was 24-20. The Niners were winning; winning ugly, to be sure, but winning nonetheless. Then that rat bastard Fav-re went to work against the prevent defense. I wasn't really worried; there were 12 seconds left when the game winning play snap occurred. Fav-re was flushed from the pocket and had to buy time; I STILL wasn't concerned. Then he threw the ball. Then it got caught.
In a game in which the 49ers contained Adrian Peterson, lost Frank Gore and unleashed Vernon Davis, it was Favre that wast he difference maker in the Vikings 27-24 victory.
If you heard an extremely loud cry of "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!" at 4:14 EDT yesterday, that was me.
2 seconds. 2 frigging seconds! Talk about a gut punch!
It was made all the more frustrating when you stop to look at what the 49ers accomplished in just BEING in this game. "The offense", Frank Gore, went down on his first carry. Suddenly that 3rd round pick spent on Glen Coffee didn't seem so irrational (apologies to the GM).
The offense never really got it going for any extended stretch, but did enough to score on two beautiful passes from Shaun Hill to Vernon Davis, who is suddenly looking very much like a budding superstar.
Special teams both came up huge AND let us down. The blocked punt returned for a touchdown by Nate Clements (who's no longer in my dog house; apologies to Nate for having been a hater) was a very palpable momentum changing moment in the game. So, however, was the 101-yard kickoff return by rookie Percy Harvin, a wide receiver who actually signed a contract and reported to camp to help his team instead of being a diva like that bitch Michael Crabtree.
Manny Lawson had his best game since he blew up his knee two years ago. He was a beast. Justin Smith and Patrick Willis were also beasts! The entire defense played exceptionally well.
Shaun Hill overcame a dreadful start to post an extremely clutch performance. He may not look pretty, but he's a winner, pure and simple.
I am more and more impressed with Coach Singletary with each passing game. The man INSPIRES. When the team looks shaky, he simply calls time out, gives them the pep talk (or the ass chewing, whichever is required), and the next thing you know the team looks confident and capable. He makes great in-game adjustments, particularly defensive adjustments. Example: the Niners were getting KILLED in the first half by Fav-re every time they blitzed him. In the second half, the strategy changed and Fav-re didn't do squat until the prevent defense was employed.
The referees were dreadful. EJ Henderson's head was PAST THE BALL on the first snap of the game and he wasn't flagged for a neutral zone infraction. There was the pass play where Brett Fav-re was easily 2 yards past the line of scrimmage when he threw, but the line judge (the same dope who missed the Henderson offside) completely missed it; thankfully, it was overturned on review. And I will insist until the day I die that, on the game-winning catch, the receiver's toes were on the end line!
Nevertheless, this was a VERY positive showing for the Niners, the result notwithstanding. My boys stood toe-to-toe with a team that many have picked to go to the Super Bowl this year, and did it in their stadium.
Well done, lads! And, curse you, Brett Fav-re! Go retire already!
