The four that got away

ChrisB Bacon

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Arizona, St. Louis, Detroit, and Miami all should have, or could have easily I should say, been wins. Think about how close we are to being 11-1 and sitting pretty for the #1 seed right now. Life would be so much less stressful, and we wouldn't have to worry about what other teams are doing and who we need to lose.

The flipside is that Green Bay, New England, and Chicago all could have easily been losses, and even so a 9-4 is so much better than an 8-5 right now. It just kills me knowing that we probably won't get that first round by despite being so close.
 

Scottemojo

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History lesson:
in 2001, a team based on defense and running with an inexperienced QB went 11-5. Three of those losses were by a touchdown or less, and their offense only eclipsed 30 points 3 times for the entire year. They had a 5 game winning streak to close the year, but most of those 5 games were hard fought bare knuckle brawl type games, with the defense making the plays to win and the quarterback making the late game drives he had to. The secondary was depleted, but they found a way to cover up that weakness. Their quarterback was known for his calmness under pressure, and wasn't asked to do too much except be clutch.

The parallels between us and the 2001 Patriots are kind of uncanny, including close games we could have won, but also some close games we could have lost. I don't know if we can win our last 5, but we have won 2 so far.
 
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ChrisB Bacon

ChrisB Bacon

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Largent80":1u3wndje said:
Why leave off the SF game and all those drops?

Because that was the only game where I feel we were truly beaten. They physically dominated us in the second half. Yes we could have won it if a lot of things went our way, but I, personally, didn't feel like we lost to an inferior team on that day.

That doesn't mean I think we are a worse team that San Fransisco, because I don't, but the other losses felt like we lost games in which we played better than the opponent. I didn't feel that way after Week 7.
 

Largent80

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They physically beat us because we couldn't sustain drives with all those drops. Lots of points left out on the field as well. And they attacked our worn down defense up the middle where we were not stopping them.

That was a winnable game that we let get away.
 

SomersetHawk

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ChrisB Bacon":3het6bfs said:
Arizona, St. Louis, Detroit, and Miami all should have, or could have easily I should say, been wins. Think about how close we are to being 11-1 and sitting pretty for the #1 seed right now. Life would be so much less stressful, and we wouldn't have to worry about what other teams are doing and who we need to lose.

The flipside is that Green Bay, New England, and Chicago all could have easily been losses, and even so a 9-4 is so much better than an 8-5 right now. It just kills me knowing that we probably won't get that first round by despite being so close.

I'm not too bummed, in fact, sounds stupid but I'd rather be 8-5 the way we are than 9-4 in the scenario you write about.

We've proven we can hang with the big guys and get wins, which stands us in far better stead for the play-offs, cause they're the sort of teams we'll face. Psychologically it's pretty huge too.
 

PlinytheCenter

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The early games with Arizona and St. Louis were certainly winnable but I just attribute those losses to growing pains for a young team and QB. What may come back to bite us in the ass is that damn Miami game. That was a team meltdown that never should have happened.
 

Missing_Clink

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It is infuriating to think about what could have been record-wise for this team. So close to having only 1 or 2 losses. But then, as you said, some of the wins could have very easily gone the other way too. Ah well, at least we are in the hunt right? We could be Cardinals fans or something
 

hawker84

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ChrisB Bacon":lqb6sgae said:
Largent80":lqb6sgae said:
Why leave off the SF game and all those drops?

Because that was the only game where I feel we were truly beaten. They physically dominated us in the second half. Yes we could have won it if a lot of things went our way, but I, personally, didn't feel like we lost to an inferior team on that day.

That doesn't mean I think we are a worse team that San Fransisco, because I don't, but the other losses felt like we lost games in which we played better than the opponent. I didn't feel that way after Week 7.

na, not buying it.. they didn't truly beat us, we truly beat ourselves.. they may have moved the ball on us, but they in no way dominated us... all those missed opportunities dictated how that 2nd half played out.. that was a game we could have and should have won.. or at the least made it more competative.
 

blue 22

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Remember the niners gaame was on a thursday?
at their house?
after the new england game?
and we still should of beat THEM...

things will be different this time around. :49ersmall:
 

XxxZagnutxxX

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Losing does build character. Wilson has grown a lot over the season and I'm betting some of those losses have actually helped him along.
 

AbsolutNET

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I don't count Arizona and SF as games we really should have won. Arizona was a tough place to start, especially with a rookie QB. Don't forget that they went to NE and beat the Patriots not long after. Our D was lousy for a part of that game, but we didn't look good enough to win, imo.

SF is a good team and some things didn't go our way, but going to their place on a short week and getting the ball shoved down our throats isn't a "should have won" in my book.
 
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