by Daisy Barringer

There are 4 billion reasons living on the West Coast is the best and only one reason it occasionally sucks: 10 a.m. NFL games. In truth, the 10 a.m. game isn’t bad if enjoyed from the comfort of one’s couch in jammies with a cup of tea and some toast and eggs. The problem with the 10 a.m. game is really just when one decides she must watch at the bar and is on her second Bloody Mary before the second-quarter even starts. Don’t agree? Then likely you’re still in your 20s and all I have to say to that is enjoy it while it lasts. Cause it’s all downhill from there. (No seriously.)

Another thing to enjoy while it lasts is the 49ers' ugly win over the NY Giants. Gone was the Kaepernick of yesteryear (or rather: last week) and back was the guy who throws incomplete passes (15 of 29 for 193 yards) and couldn’t find his run game. To be fair, Kap did just enough for the 49ers to win, including not turning the ball over (despite fumbling the ball once), and he did have one impressive scramble for 16 yards as well as a clutch 48-yard touchdown pass to Crabtree. I say “clutch” because it was the only touchdown of the game for the 49ers, a team who officially has the worst red zone offense in all of the NFL.

Just to rub that in (a part of my job in which I take no pleasure):

• They got just three field goals in the red zone. No touchdowns. Just three measly field goals.
• They managed to score only THREE points off of turnovers. This would be a perfectly adequate stat if there hadn’t been FIVE turnovers.
• Gore fumbled on 1st and 10 on the Giants 16 during the first drive of the game. It was kind of a freak fumble with Gore tripping over Kap and Miller kicking the ball out, but still. A fumble is a fumble and it hurt even more because it happened at what should have been the “end” of a beautiful drive.
• All three of the 49ers fourth-quarter possessions ended with an Andy Lee punt.
• Oh, and all of that happened against the NFL’s WORST-RANKED defense.

So yes, the 49ers won. And yes, we are definitely in the NFC’s wild-card race, but wow. It’s not looking pretty. Like: at all. Because, facts are facts: If it weren’t for our defense, the 49ers would have lost that game completely. Okay, our defense and the fact that Eli Manning has a really horrible day. (Five interceptions: yay!) I want to say that our defense was the reason Eli threw those five interceptions and, for the most part, they were. Except that one pass where Eli literally seemed to make eye contact with LB Michael Wilhoite and say, “This one’s for you, buddy” and then threw it directly into Wilhoite’s hands.

As has already been mentioned, the 49ers offense did a terrible job of capitalizing on the five interceptions though, so the defense was still somehow in a situation where the Giants, trailing 16-10, had a chance to win it with five minutes left. It was 1st-and-goal at the four-yard line so Eli Manning and crew had four chances to go four yards. Three incompletes and one Borland interception later (his second of the game, NBD), the defense won the game for the team.

Clearly, just like the past couple of weeks, I can’t talk about the 49ers defense without raving about Chris Borland. Seriously, sooooo many people hated on him (and still do), but dude is legit. Yesterday he had a team-high 12 tackles and those two aforementioned interceptions. He’s just a complete beast. Make fun of his short arms and call him a T-Rex if you want, but who would you rather have on your team: A massive meat-eating predator or Inspector Gadget?

Unfortunately, we can’t discuss this lights-out defense without discussing Ahmad Brooks who spent the second half sitting on the bench after taking himself out of the game. Listen, I like Ahmad Brooks. He has been huge for the 49ers all season. I mean, he won the game for us against the Saints. And as Harbaugh said after the game, “We need [him] to win a championship.” But duuuuude. C’mon. Taking yourself out of the game because you’re butt hurt about losing playing time to Aldon Smith and Aaron Lynch? You’re on a TEAM. If you don’t like sharing playing time, take up golf. I want to say that Brooks pulling this move only serves to remind me how young these guys are, but Brooks is 30 years old, so, um… yeah: no. Still: I’m going to chalk this up to him having a bad day and hope that he can put it behind him and play hard and strong for the rest of the season ‘cause we need him out there.

Another thing to note is Chris Culliver handing Jim Harbaugh the ball after his interception. We hear all day long that Harbaugh is leaving after this season and that the players are miserable and they hate his coaching style blah blah blah blah. Just like I pointed out a few weeks ago when Perrish Cox ran directly to Harbaugh after an INT to give him a hug, Chris Culliver doesn’t give Harbaugh the ball if he hates him. And that is all I have to say about that.

So here we are with a 6-4 record. The Cardinals proved they can win without Carson Palmer yesterday with a 14-6 win over the Lions to give them a 9-1 record and first place in the NFC West. But the Seahawks lost to the Chiefs, so they are also 6-4. The 49ers can definitely still make the playoffs, but we are clearly fighting for a wild card spot, so it’s time to start rooting (even more so than usual) for the Seahawks, Lions, Packers, Eagles, and Cowboys to lose lose lose.

Next up for the 49ers: the 3-7 Washington [redacted]’s at home. There is no reason the 49ers should lose that game. But, well, it’s the 49ers. Anything could happen. Anything. Guess we’ll see on Sunday. Until then… Go Niners!