Nope. Super Bowl champs usually get bounced in the 1st round of the playoffs, or not even reach them. At least it has happened recently with GB, NO, Pittsburgh, NYG, Indy, Pitt again, aaaand I got tired of looking any further back. Ths point being, the Giants were shakey as it was entering the playoffs, and had their miracle run, so I don’t even think they qualify. They are a fairly balanced team, and they have a punishing defense, but is it enough? They lost super Mario and Brandon Jacobs among others, and are trying to replace them with draftees (David Wilson-RB-Va Tech and highly regarded Rueben Randle-WR-LSU).
Tom Coughlin seems to be an all-or-nothing kind of coach besides. The players either crash and burn under his unrelenting pressure, or they manage to hold it together long enough to get in and make their playoff run. I mean shit, this was a team that lost twice to the Redskins, and lost to Seattle among their stumbles. I suppose this all has something to do with parity in the league, and Pete Rozelle’s evil socialist plot regarding how any team can retool quickly and blah blah blah. The 49ers certainly are a case in point of this theory. They were an underperforming 6-10 squad under Aluminum Mike Singletary. Poof, add a new head coach, and we are knocking on the Super Bowl door.
So, as I see it, NY struggles to even reach the playoffs as they succumb to the Super Bowl hangover.
San Francisco 49ers Forever 
As Dennis posted last night, the 49er family lost R.C. Owens yesterday. He was 77. Owens became a huge fan favorite when he and YA Tittle made famous the Alley Oop pass play where Owens would simply run to the corner of the end zone, and Tittle (and later John Brodie) would throw a high pass that Owens would simply out-jump any nearby defenders for an easy touchdown. In his 5 years with the 49ers, he totalled 206 catches for 3285 yards and 22 touchdowns.
His best season was his last with the Niners, in 1961, where he had 55 catches for 1032 yards (18.8 avg) and 5 TDs. He also famously blocked a FG attempt by standing on the goal line, and jumping high enough to reach over the crossbar and knock down the attempt. Owens attributed his jumping ability to his college basketball days at the College of Idaho, where he once averaged 27.6 rebounds a game while playing alongside Elgin Baylor. They both averaged double-doubles.
After his playing days, Bill Walsh invited RC Owens back to the 49er family to run the summer camps and to be the director of community relations. A job he held until yesterday. He was inducted into the Bay Area Sport Hall of Fame in 2010.
Thoughs and prayers go out to his family.
RC Owens was here long before that other Owens was giving us thrills and headaches. Good to get some history on him and some personal remembrances. It’s cool that Bill W was the one who invited RC back into the 49er family. Bill knew something about leadership and building team spirit. Now we see Jim H doing a similar number and the ‘old’ dynasty 1 players are starting to draw closer. The other article Del Mar posted about the fundraiser with 5 NorCal QBs including Montana and Young- Would Harris Barton and Ronnie Lott have succeeded in bringing them together prior to the JH regime? I don’t think so.
Hail the Forty Niners, new and old.
Niners have class!
As for the NY dudes- fuck them.
Please don’t, Phil.
Ok! haha
Yer killin’ me Nip…
That brain cancer fundraiser would have happened regardless of the current coach, Phil.
From what I’ve gathered, those guys on those super bowl teams are pretty close.
Ok, now we’re back from another grueling day buying scotch, ahh…shopping, as the good wife calls it down in the Big City.
Well I dunno Chuck, there was no mention of former Niners doing jack shit except Lott pumping up da Sinning Saints before Harbaugh showed up. Don’t ya think Lott, Young, Montana, Seifert, Russ (TE), RICE, woulda said something to help the Singletron out? Well, no. So here’s what I’m sayin’: Because these former great Niners smelled a stinkin’ Rat in the leadershit of .the team–they stayed away -Period.
Now we got the Magical Harbaugh pulling da strings. We got 14-4 not 6-10. See?
Deez guys show up by coincidence? Naw, everybody loves a winnah! Brain Tumors are for losers.
Now we can afford to Honor Our Past- the RC Owens, the Harris Barton parents, the Youngs, the Montanas.
This is now, the JH era. The beginning of D 2. People wanna be on board! Even Joe, Steve, Ronnie, Francis,etc
Dennis wants on board too. He’s pining for his favorite QB, Alex! Likes his toughness.
Correct Nip. There’s a rumor out there that Denny was seen trying to get Alex’s autograph at the fundraiser. Alex turned him down tho
Not that I want to argue about this, but the point is, Ronnie, Joe, Steve did this for Harris Barton. Aaron Rodgers and Tom Brady did it for obvious reasons. Hang out with legendary Bay Area quarterbacks. Both Rodgers and Brady were huge 49er fans growing up.
The point being, this really had nothing to do with the current team. Barton (at Ronnie’s prodding) put this together. It wasn’t sposored or even hosted by the 49er organization in any way shape or form. They all did it for Harris Barton and his cause.
I’m totally down with the new direction and how great things are becoming. But they don’t get kudos for this.
Ok I see your point. Fair enough. It was for Barton, good then.
I do like the fact Rice has volunteered to work out with Jenkins a bit. Another favorable sign. Young AJ better tighten it up!
Speaking of A.J., he and the Niners just agreed on a 4-yr/$6.9M deal. About half of that is a guaranteed signing bonus. That makes all of this years’ draft choices now under contract. Now if we could just get a new QB under contract…
Yep Del Mar would be doin’ cartwheels, backflips, you name it. New QB. Uh huh…
But serious fer a minute. What will Denny DO if Alex actually proves himself More than the best Niner QB in 10 yeahs? (Garcia) and. ya know, brangs us to the big dance? Shit what if he wins it all?
Dunno. I fear a personal identity crisis or two. Poor Denny…poor Denny
AJ Jenkins signs for 4 years- just announced.
Randy Moss- he’s another successful vet who was drawn to the new 49er regime of Baalkebaugh
All Moss is trying to do is gain a little redemption. He went out on a bad note.
And the San Francisco Forty Niners of 2012 are the perfect place to do dat. The best place by far for the likes of Moss. Yes his motivation is self-serving but isn’t that true for most all of us? Except Del Mar who is as pure as the driven snow…
Motives are over-rated until shit happens. But if it’s good shit- and RM helps this sad collection of WRs Do Something all will be quickly forgiven: Moss walks off a fuckin’ hero and we all smile while our guys hold the Lombardi Trophy for the SIXTH time.
Great. Bring on more talented ‘self-servers’
Phil is ready for a WINNER!
New post is up