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.

This