* Indianapolis vs. Chicago (in Miami)
Sunday, February 4, 2007. 3:25 PM, PST.
Super Bowl XLI
The Battle of the Tampa 2

What's this, then? A Cover -the-what, now?

Well, it's a form of defensive scheme honed by Indy's Head Coach Tony Dungy back when he was coaching the Tampa Bay Bucs. The scheme is predicated on a simplified format, player discipline in their roles, and team speed. A swarming, patient, ball-hawking bend-don't-break style. The "2" in the Cover 2 refers the base set of the scheme, wherein both safeties play deep from the ball, bisecting the field horizontally into two zones for each to cover.

What sort of players would a team need to run a Cover 2? The front four must be light on their feet and able to generate a pass rush on their own without sending five men at the quarterback. The linebackers must be quick and able to diagnose the offensive playcall from their respective zone. The cornerbacks must be tactful enough to stop a running back in the open field, since their zone is often at the line of scrimmage. The safeties must have the fundamentals to be able to help out in stopping the run (due to the overall form of the Cover 2 favoring speed over strength), and smart enough not to be drawn out of position by offensive chicanery. There can be no freelancers in a Cover 2 scheme. Each man has a part to play, stretching a taut membrane of denial from sideline to sideline. It's about responsibility. For in this scheme, the D truly is only as strong as its weakest link.

Dungy mastered this D in his time at Tampa, with Lane's dad, Monte Kiffin as his defensive coordinator.

Lovie learned it working under Dungy, and brought it with him to the city of the big shoulders, revitalizing the Bears franchise from a bunch of chaotic years under Head Coach Dick Jauron and www.firejohnshoop.com.

These two friends, Lovie and Dungy, pit their shared defensive scheme against one another in a battle of the utmost politeness for all the marbles. Politeness? What is this, the Canadian Football League? Well, it's refreshing. Nice guys, those two.

Back to the show. So, how does one beat a Cover 2?

It's the best American football wknd of the year. The four still-standing franchises slug it out for a slot in the Super Bowl. Awesome.

Oh sure, that whole Super Bowl thing is great too, what with its championship bestowing and all -- but the culmination of the playoffs leading up to the Super Bowl's spectacle seems somehow sweeter. Everything is heightened, and the promise of fulfilling dreams drives each team's every action.

Instead of weight of finality that soaks through each Super Bowl, Conference final games are about taking that next step, getting the final stage.

Ahh, American football, your spectacle mercifully distracts from the intractable pain of the everyday.

* New Orleans vs. Chicago
Sunday, January 21, 2007. Noon, PST.
2007 Divisional Playoffs
The One-Sided Battle

At last check Chicago had a 90% chance of snow for Sunday.

Excellent.

All the better to set up this epic battle between the NFL's #1 offense against one of the league's very best defenses.

Going into last wknd’s action, there were no “complete” teams left – only those who had outweighed their weaknesses enough to advance to the NFL’s Divisional Playoff Round.

* Indianapolis vs Baltimore

Baltimore’s ball-control running game could get no headway against the uber-maligned Indy run defense. I mean seriously, the Ravens only rushed their battering ram RB Jamal Lewis 13 times? Bad call, coach.

Both sides threw two interceptions, but only one side controlled the ground. Thusly did the Colts advance past the #1 NFL defense.

* Philadelphia vs New Orleans

Part of the reason New Orleans' offense was #1 for the 2006 NFL regular season was due to its balance. Were a defense to load the line of scrimmage to stop the run, the Saints could pass. If the D dropped more men into coverage, Coach Payton could hammer up the middle with Deuce. Balance and adaptability equal points. Usually.

The opposite of this is the Philly offense. Mustachioed Philly Head Coach Andy Reid's offensive style is a form of the West Coast offense grown wild in the backyard. Folks forget that Bill Walsh's original West Coast Offense relied upon threat of the run to set up the pass. Reid's unpruned style uses the pass to set up the pass. Then they pass some more. The run is used only as a change-of-pace, and when it comes, as it did for a long TD in this game, it's a surprise to opposing defenses.

Not having a run game has tons of attendant problems: short-yardage plays become an ordeal, and it's far harder to kill the clock when the clock needs to be killed.

As the final drives went up and down the field, the Saints could rely on the run, while Philly to go pass.

* Indianapolis vs. Baltimore
Saturday, January 13, 2007. 1:30 PM, PST.
2007 Divisional Playoffs
The Battle Of The Stolen

Much has been made of the Colts' exit from Charm City -- one of the most ignominious financial maneuvers in American sports history. Cue the footage of the Mayflower moving trucks leaving in the middle of the night.

But the Ravens are no better, are they?

Once the Cleveland Browns, the franchise went from Ohio to Baltimore for sake of money as well. Owner Art Modell is reviled in CLE, even after a fresh expansion Browns team was seeded.

So which is better? The team uprooted Baltimore, or the team uprooted to Baltimore.

Obviously, the most exciting matchup within this game will be between the Ravens' marauding, adaptable defense and the Colts' led-by-Peyton Manning spread offense.

Peyton is unquestionably the best (regular season) quarterback in the NFL. You notice the parenthesis. He leads his squad with poise and play-calling. Then comes the post-season. And he has his reputation of not being able to get over the hump of the Big Offseason Game.

The Colts had no postseason bye by this season. No homefield advantage No safety of the Indy Superdome to coddle their precision-based offense. The Colts have an uphill climb up the steepest hill -- the Ravens' defense.

Stumbled across two ideas while walking through the Powell cable car area.

First up, no. Just no.

Yes, Jeff was good. He is good. It is hard to watch him now making the same sort of gutty on-the-run improvisational plays in a green jersey for Philly.

As we recall, T.O. did make a huge difference on the field when he was a Niner. He was good. He was a rising star.

Then he soured, and became a relentless douche. Began believing his own wacky logic. He believed that regular sorts of contracts and common sense and rules didn't apply to him. Now that he's a Dallas Cowboy, it makes him all the more reprehensible. Enjoy the rest of the playoffs from home, jerk.

And J.J. Stokes. Oh, J.J. -- your level of bust-ed-ness is one of the few things that make the current hapless RT Kwame Harris look like a good draft day decision. In the textbook under "squandered potential," there is a photo of Stokes sporting #83 for the 49ers.

Dear sweet baby Jesus, how many times were we galvanized into shouting towards the television screen because of the lackadaisical #83?

"Fight for the ball! Fight for the ball!" would be a common refrain. Timid fool, you weren't worth trading up the draft ladder for.

(Of course, an added irony is that Stokes obtained a Super Bowl ring for riding the bench for the 2003 New England Patriots. Expletive.)

"Big Three," hmm? Naw. More like a Scrappy One. And a coupla negatives.

Yet the 2006 season-ending upset over the Denver Broncos meant so much more the Niners: it revealed a team that believes in themselves. And believes in their coach's plan for the future.

Before this game was played, San Francisco's prospects in it were the opposite of good. To upset a powerful-yet-flawed Bronco team that would be out of the playoffs with a loss? Unthinkable.

Yet when the two teams hit the field, the 49ers looked like were the team that had playoffs on the line, playing with conviction and vim all the way to the Nedney's final issuance to win a game that they didn't need to win.

"You better believe it felt good taking them out," an eyeblack-sportin' Alex Smith said afterwards. "If we were going to be home for the playoffs we wanted them to be right with us."

Today Coach Nolan II dropped the gauntlet, saying that he expects playoffs next year. OK, excellent.

Whereas it would've been a silly notion for a blue chip free agent to want to sign with the Niners in last year's offseason, now San Francisco will be seen as a place where players would want to sign.

In the 2006 offseason, the 49ers got (the currently suspended) WR Antonio Bryant because no one wanted to deal with his hothead reputation despite his skills, and CB Walt "I'm Not That Fired Stanford Guy" Harris because he was considered old for a defensive back. Both scrap-heap signings worked out to in-game production, a credit to the 49ers' scouts.

Success breeds success in the NFL. It's difficult to start and easy to lose.

The Art Shell drink works like this:

* Drop a shot of Jagermeister into a pint of O'Doul's.

* Toast to Art.

* Slam it.

* The drinker of the beverage must then hold a stoic Art Shell face post-chug to their spectators' satisfaction. If the drinker flinches, they pay for the beverage. No flinch? The friends pay.

Much like poor honorable Art himself, the Art Shell beverage should never be your first pick of imbibments. But if you can get through it, more power to you.

Have a Happy New Year. Let's be safe out there.

In the 49ers' final game of the 2006 regular season, the team will have something more important on their mind than football.

* San Francisco vs. Denver
Sunday, December 31, 2006. 1:00 PM, PST.
Week 17
The Battle Of Remembering #72

Last time the Niners were in Denver was Week 2 of the 2005 preseason.

At the end of the game, 49er offensive lineman Thomas Herrion collapsed in the visitor's locker room after running off the field with the team. He died from a heart ailment: Ischaemic heart disease.

This game is San Francisco's first at Mile High since that day.

The team will head to storm-swept Denver, pay their respects to Herrion, and then play the Broncos.

Sport seems insignificant in light of a life ended early.

The 49ers have begun an annual award to recognize a young player who embodies Herrion's ebullient spirit.

His locker still sits undisturbed in the 49ers' practice facility.

He may have left too soon, but the big man from Utah with the fine singing voice won't soon be forgotten by the team.

Expect the 49ers to come out fighting in Denver today in his name.

It couldn't have come quickly enough for the Raiders.

* Oakland vs. New York Jets
Sunday, December 31, 2006. 10:00 AM, PST.
Week 17
The Battle Of Motivation

In Week 17, with nothing left to play for, some guys on the Raiders will be playing to show other teams what they can do.

Some guys will be playing for pride.

Some guys will be out on that field just 'cause it's their job.

Some guys, we'd like to think, will play hard for love of playing the game.

It's a tough thing to watch each year at season's end: when the games become meaningless, some guys will still be fighting, and some guys won't.

The New York Jets, on the other hand, can get into the playoffs with a win.

Baby-faced Head Coach Eric Mangini has had this mixed bag of players overperforming all season long, and now they may well make it into the postseason in his rookie year.

Plenty of tickets still available for the game. Well, there must be, since the NFL is blacking the game out on TV.

* St. Louis vs. Oakland
Sunday, December 17, 2006. 1:00 PM, PST.
Week 15
The Unseen Battle

The Rams still have a rather capable offense what with QB Mike Bulger, WR Torry "Big Game" Holt, trusty veteran WR Isaac Bruce, and the beast of a player that is RB Steven Alexander.

Of course, all the so-called "skill position" players in the world won't help when you're playing behind a dinged-up offensive line and are in the first year of using a brand new offensive system under rookie Head Coach Scott Linehan.

The Rams can be hot, the Rams can be cold -- there's no telling which team will show up on Sunday. Two weeks ago they lost to the Arizona Cardinals, one of the absolute worst teams in the league as they play out the rest of their schedule waiting to fire Head Coach Dennis Green. One week ago the Rams traded blows with the Chicago Bears' taut defense before succumbing to a couple of special teams touchdowns, and failing to adjust to how the Bears had adjusted their D to STL's strategy.

The Rams are potentially a mid-range team even as they rebuild. The remnants of a proud offense saddled with a useless defense. This week is going to be a meeting of two teams with nothing but next year to play for.

If the Raiders do beat St. Louis this Sunday, it could be considered a mistake for the franchise, and here's why:

Wow. was unforeseen.

That's a sweep of the division series on the year, keeping the Niners' tiiiny window of playoff chance alive. How could this have happened? Here's how:

The whole enterprise began with all sorts of foreboding against SF, what with the weather knocking out power in parts of Seattle's stadium, and walls of water descending on the field.

As expected, the same 49er problems that've been going on all year manifested: couldn't convert 3rd down and couldn't harangue the opposing quarterback.

As the game began, the Seahawks were able to complete passes at will, despite the rain continuing to come down strong.

As he stood wet but unscathed, QB Matt Hasselbeck just kept feeding WR D.J. Hackett over and over. It was teeth-grittingly frustrating to watch.

The 49er secondary had a couple hobbled DBs, a few safeties playing out of position, and were more talent-thin than American Idol.

And the Niners' offense? Three-and-out, three-and-out went the mantra. The Seahawks did the sensible thing and brought the safeties allll the way up to the line, flatly daring QB Alex Smith to throw the ball through the wind 'n rain.

Smith notched his first completion with 2:12 remaining in the first quarter. Seattle had already completed five passes by that point.

* San Francisco vs. Seattle
Thursday, December 14, 2006. 5:00 PM, PST.
Week 15
The Battle Of The Woken Dragon

It can be figured that the Niners snuck up on the Seahawks earlier in the season when Seattle got beat here at Candlestick. The Seahawks had just gotten back RB Shaun Alexander from his (Madden Curse) broken foot injury, and perhaps they figured to put it in cruise control against one of the NFC West's not-so-good.

The Niners beat 'em in a wild-and-wacky finish that saw a slough of turnovers and sloppiness for both teams.

Now, after losing to the lowly Arizona American football Cardinals last week, the Seahawks will absolutely not be "sleeping on" the 49ers. Oh no sir. The Niners are full in the attention of the Seahawks.

Seattle is going to come into this game focused and charged up by the three prongs of: 1.) last week's disappointment with ARI, 2.) the early season loss to SF, and 3.) the possibility to clinch the NFC West with a win tonight.

Quite-efficient QB Matt Hasslebeck is back at the helm after being hurt, and the prospect of him against the Niner pass defense is not good.

"What we have to do quite honestly is attack each goal that we have one at a time, and our first goal is win the NFC West," Hasslebeck said to the AP. Uh-oh. This is that focus thing going on there, y’see?

"

He's on pace for yet another outstanding season, is leaving defenses grasping for air, and as promised, has brought swagger back to the Dallas Cowboys.

Vote Now http://www.nfl.com/probowl/ballot/vote "

This may mean that Owens isn't doing that well in the Pro Bowl voting this year. Hmm.

First, let's examine his claims: