We had 2 sacks in this game

1 by Avril. 1 by Bennett. Both forced fumbles.

Those two additions this year have proven to be priceless. Those 2 guys were exactly what we needed to get our pass rush into gear.

I know those acquisitions have been praised many times this year, but I thought it fitting to bring it up again when I saw that those 2 guys had our only sacks of the game.

The entire defense was stellar. And the reason they won.

This is the 2nd game against the 49ers where the defense was put on the position of having to defend against the opponent in the red zone at the beginning of the game. And in both they held, one with an interception and one forcing the FG.

Then holding Gore to below 20 yards rushing TOTAL? Is that true?

The Avril and Bennett pickups were insanely valuable. But the entire makeup of this defense (losing Browner? Maxwell and Lane end up being starter quality) is literally in the same category of those great Baltimore defenses or even the 85 Bears (something I dismissed when someone suggested it at the beginning of the year). And much of that was due to the incredible job they did of shoring up the DL.

Bennett, Avril, McDaniel, and all the rest. Who could have imagined that we would have barely heard from Irvin and Clemons in the playoffs and it would have been a good thing?

I hope we can somehow keep them.

I recall reading that Gore had 14 yards on 11 carries. That's counting one 9-yard run. Otherwise: 10 carries, 5 yards. That's unbelievably good. Except for that late reception, he wasn't a factor in this game at all.

Other than Kaepernick, 49ers rushers totaled 31 yards on 17 rushes. In a close game like this, that's amazing.