13thMan":1h09emsp said:
volsunghawk":1h09emsp said:
13thMan":1h09emsp said:
I've been trying to convince myself that Carolina can win this game also... At the end of the day though, I just don't see it... Actually, this feels like a foregone conclusion... I will still watch and hope. I would MUCH rather see Carolina in the NFCCG, particularly after a slugfest they have to endure vs. the Niners. But yeah, I won't be holding my breath... The Niners are a better team top to bottom and they are on fire...
Carolina's front seven is flat out BETTER than San Francisco's front seven. It just is.
Carolina led the league in sacks this year.
The characteristics that give our offense fits? Carolina trumps SF in those things.
As for being "on fire," you do realize that Carolina's won 11 of its last 12 games, right? :|
I would say that if Carolina's front seven is 1, then San Francisco's is probably 1A... You aren't going to convince me that the difference between the two is the grand canyon... you're kidding yourself if you really think that. Consider this: SF didn't allow a 100 yd. rusher all season... Couple this with the fact that SF's secondary is considerably better than Carolina's...
And then, on top of all that, as other's have pointed out, the SF offense this time around isn't a one legged dog.
Still, will be hopelessly rooting for the upset....
EDIT: On fire = Longest current win streak in the league.
Carolina has allowed ONE 100 yd rusher this season, way back in Week 2. Spiller got 103. No one else did.
And SF's secondary is nothing to write home about. If it's better than Carolina's, then the gap is similar to what you claim about the front sevens.
Offensively, both teams are comparable, too. The only places where I think SF has a clear advantage over Carolina at all is in coaching and at the TE position. In all other aspects, they're essentially even or Carolina is better.
SF may have the longest win streak, but Carolina's been hotter for longer. Their only loss in the last 3 months was to New Orleans in the Superdome, where the Saints were undefeated this year. No team in the NFL - us and SF included - have a better record in the last 12 games.
No team right now scares me more than Carolina. We've handled SF in Seattle twice before, and I'm confident we'd do it again. We can't say the same about how Newton and the Panthers would react to the 12s. We barely beat them last season, and we were damn lucky to play them in Carolina when we did this season (Week 1, before their coach scrapped a lot of his conservative tendencies and started relying on the talent on his team). Carolina's the 2 seed for a reason.