Stingy defense, low-risk offense golden for 49ers
The lights literally went out on the San Francisco 49ers, but their season-long iridescence left them shining more brightly than in many years.
For San Francisco, the football fog of recent seasons has lifted. The versatile, resilient 49ers romped to the NFC West crown with a 13-3 record, enabling one of the league’s most successful franchises to return to the playoffs for the first time in nine seasons.
As the conference’s No. 2 seed, San Francisco will play in the divisional round Jan. 14 at Candlestick Park, where, in a bizarre Monday night game against the Pittsburgh Steelers in December, the stadium went dark on more than one occasion.
Before this season’s arrival of feisty coach Jim Harbaugh, the organization posted eight consecutive non-winning seasons. From 1981 to 1994, the 49ers were a model of consistency, winning five Super Bowls, although they have won one NFC title since the ’80s.
Harbaugh brought an inyour-face attitude — just ask Detroit Lions coach Jim Schwartz, whom the 49ers coach agitated during a postgame handshake — and a solid if conservative plan for quarterback Alex Smith.
Smith tossed only 17 touchdown passes but learned to reduce game-killing mistakes. The 49ers tied an NFL record for fewest interceptions (five) and committed 10 turnovers, tying the 2010 New England Patriots for the lowest total since 1941.
The defense was much better — and nasty. Led by middle linebacker Patrick Willis, San Francisco permitted an Nfc-low 14.3 points a game and a leaguelow 77.2 rushing yards, allowing three rushing TDS, the first one coming in their next-to-last game. Their special teams were precisely that — special.
“One of the great things about this 2011 team is their ability to find ways to win and finish games,” Harbaugh said.