Another Bittersweet End

It wasn't the January of 2012 or 2013; it was the January of 2014, but it really didn't matter Sunday evening as it all seemed the same to most 49ers fans. The niners season came to a crashing, bittersweet end for the third time in three years, short of a Super Bowl title. Even though the niners were outsed in 2012 by the Giants in the NFC Championship, and missed winning the 2013 Super Bowl by a couple inches, they weren't able to make it back to the big game as Colin Kaepernick's passed was deflected by Richard Sherman into the hands of Malcolm Smith to seal the deal for the Seattle Seahawks. This is the second NFC title for the fairly new Seahawks franchise, with their last one coming in 2005 in which they lost in the Super Bowl. Although it was a very close game throughout, there were some major turning points, 3 in my opinion to be exact. The very first one being in the fourth quarter when Russell Wilson took advantage of the free play given to him of a 49er false start, tossing it into the hands of Jermaine Kearse for a 35 yard touchdown pass. This play, on a fourth down, gave Seattle its first lead of the game, a major momentum swinger in the favor of the Seahawks. the second major turning point is the fumble (grabaway) recovery by NaVorro Bowman who then ended up losing control of the ball seconds later due to the pain shot up his left leg. None of the refs ever saw Bowman with the football and called it an unreviewable play and major Seahawks possession revival. Even worse and more important, Bowman tore his MCL and ACL and is optimistic to be back for the start of the 2014-2015 NFL season. If the niners got the ball it would've been a three point game in which only a field goal would've been necessary to tie the game. And obviously, the third turning point, the most important play of the game that sealed the NFC championship for the Seahawks, a tip off the hands of Richard Sherman right into Malcolm Smith's hands. There was a huge battle of words and fists between Michael Crabtree and Richard Sherman but let's save that for another blog post. As dawns another long offseason for the niners and their fans, almost everybody in the faithful nation has positive expectations for this young team who can only get better under Coach Harbaugh and a brand new football era at the state of the art Levi's Stadium!