49ers Win NFC Crown

It was billed as another NFC title matchup, but in reality it was just one big coronation for the San Francisco 49ers.

Officially, it goes into the books as a 37-20 victory against the Green Bay Packers that sends the 49ers back to site the franchise’s last Super Bowl triumph – Miami, SB XXIX. But it was hardly a game.

 If it were a heavyweight fight, they would have stopped it. TKO.

 It’s why they have the Mercy Rule in Little League Baseball. Go home, kids.

Showtime at the Apollo? Call the Sandman and get the Packers off the stage.

Too bad, the Packers – blown out at Levi’s Stadium in November – had to stick around 60 minutes of another thrashing that minted the new NFC champs. Sometimes, we all draw the short straw.

 Raheem Mostert rushed for 160 yards and 3 touchdowns – by halftime. He finished with 220 rushing yards and 4 TDs. Remember the film of, well, Packers legendary coach Vince Lombardi breaking down basics of the running game? Lombardi barked, “A seal here. A seal there. And up the alley.”

Yes, the 49ers embodied that Lombardi clinic with their zone blocking scheme. Repeatedly, multiple linemen would move the Earth in one direction while someone else, maybe tight end George Kittle, would seal the backside. Mostert would rumble, dart, dash, accelerate, cut – and sometimes all on the same play – through a gaping hole. When this happened, it was like a football version of a police escort.

Meanwhile, the 49ers defense showed up as advertised. They pitched a first-half shutout. Crafty Richard Sherman didn’t get many passes thrown his way, even when he flipped over from his usual left cornerback post. Sherman was beaten for a 65-yard completion to Davante Adams in the fourth quarter, but the star receiver hardly scorched the 49ers in the manner that he burned the Seahawks. And naturally, it was Sherman who snagged a game-sealing interception.

It has been three short years since Kyle Shanahan became the 49ers coach, ushering in yet another regime change that included the installation of GM John Lynch. When Shanahan was hired, he was the 49ers’ third coach in four years. They finally got it right. Now Shanahan (whose daddy, Mike, was the 49ers O-coordinator when they clobbered the Chargers and Steve Young threw for 6 TDs in XXIX) is back on the Super Bowl stage.