So I had the opportunity to attend the Niners-Saints game at Candlestick Park. Though I wasn’t there with an official press pass or sitting in the press box to represent GuysNation, I am now filing my report that I would’ve filed from Candlestick. I will say it was a very memorable experience, especially since the Niners won, when alot of people expected the Saints to be too much for them.
First of all the game itself was awesome. I don’t think anyone expected the game to start out like it did with the Niners jumping out to a 17-0 lead, on the strength of a fumble recovery and an interception that narrowly missed turning into a pick 6. Of course Drew Brees wasn’t going to be kept down for much longer and engineered two successive drives that resulted in TDs to bring it close. The Niners got a field goal on the opening drive of the second half and the game settled into a defensive battle with both teams exchanging field goals until the last half of the 4th quarter.Actually saying it was a defensive battle is being a bit generous to the Niners, as the offense performed like its usual self. Alex Smith and the offense could never really get drives going and thankfully their defense stepped up and kept the Saints mostly in check. That was highlighted by a very impressive sack of Brees by Justin Smith, who is making a strong case for Defensive Player Of The Year.
The last 7 and a half minutes were a very different story with the Saints pulling close and eventually taking the lead for the first time all game with about 4 minutes left. Alex Smith who had been largely unimpressive so far, silenced a ton of critics by leading a spectacular drive capped by a 28 yard keeper run to the left that had the defense totally fooled. It only took about 30 seconds for the Saints to score to make it 32-29 and put the Niners behind the ball yet again. The haters were expecting Smith to wilt under the pressure but he rose to the occasion again and his TD strike to Vernon Davis with 9 seconds left sealed the deal on one of the greater games in the team’s history. The atmosphere in the stadium during those final few minutes was electric and what sports are all about.
However, the atmosphere in the stadium was also a negative, largely due to the fans I was sitting around. Not only were they incredibly disrespectful, but some of the stuff they said was just absurd. They booed, yelled and otherwise brought down my enjoyment of the game, even though I had awesome seats. Still the 49ers won and we’re one step closer to the rematch people actually want to see, The Super Har-Bowl.
