Antrel Rolle says his team can only beat themselves, the 49ers certainly can’t. Hakeem Nicks says the Saints would have been a more difficult opponent, and plenty of the Giants say they are ‘relieved’ that the 49ers beat the Saints last Saturday. That this is the easier road to the Super Bowl. I guess this sort of makes sense, as the Saints beat the Giants 49-24, and the 49ers ‘only’ beat them 27-20. The only thing I’ve heard from the 49ers is that Anthony Davis rhetorically asked via Twitter, “Are the Giants doing drunk interviews?” Funny stuff. Talk happens, but even the wonks at ESPN buy into the whole Giants-are-going-to-win deal wholeheartedly. There’s having confidence, and then there’s smug arrogance. It’ll be a pleasure to smack the smug off their faces.

The thing that matters more to me is that the Niners beat them once already. They can certainly beat them again. Sure, the Giants are hot. They’ve won 4 in a row. Then again, so have the 49ers. Eli Manning considers himself ‘elite’?  Well, good for him. The Giants think this’ll be easy? Nevermind the 7 RBs we’ve shelved this season? The latest being Pierre Thomas fumbling and getting knocked cold by Donte Whitner on the 3 yard line early in Saints game. Nevermind the #1 hardest team to score against in the NFC this season? 38 takewaways?  

The other thing about this game is that Frank Gore was hobbled in the 1st meeting, and had 6 carries for 6 yards. I think the Niners will have much greater success running the ball this time around. There’s talk that the weather will be less than ideal. If so, this also plays into the Niners hands as I don’t think the Giants will be very successful running this game. Without Gore, the Niners only rushed for 77 yards. The Giants? 93. I’m not saying this game will be easy, but I think this game WILL be easier than the Saints game. Aldon Smith has come a ways since the Giants game, and Justin Smith is on fire. I see the Niners getting 3+ sacks and a lot of hurries on Manning.