Why I'm At Ease For The 49ers Game

The San Francisco 49ers play the New Orleans Saints this weekend at Candlestick Park and I'm at complete ease. Normally I would be nervous if my team is playing in the playoffs. Worrying they might lose despite being higher ranked or someone gets seriously hurt during the playoffs changing the course of the franchise. Those are the wounds I still carry from Sharks and Kings playoff losses. Chris Webber blowing out his knee against Dallas still haunts me and the Sacramento Kings.

For whatever reason though I'm not worried by this for the 49ers. Yes they're the highest ranked team in the game and could be embarrassed and have key players who could get hurt. I'm not worrying about that though and here's why.

I'm Just Happy To Be There: The last time I was just happy to see one of my teams in the playoffs, the San Francisco Giants, they won the championship. Now obviously the MLB playoffs are much different than the NFL playoffs. One mistake and the 49ers could lose. The Giants could make up for a mistake in a 5 or 7 game series (See: Rick Ankiel Home Run in the NLDS).

I'm just happy the 49ers are in the playoffs. They haven't played this late in the season since Terrell Owens played for them. Think for a minute how many teams Owens has played for since leaving the 49ers? So it's been a long time since the 49ers played in the playoffs and I'm just happy they're there.



Everyone Seems To Be Picking the Saints: Pretty much the storyline at the beginning of this week was can anyone stop Drew Brees? Now from everything I've heard and read this morning I'm seeing a lot of swaying towards the 49ers. I still get the feeling though the Saints are still the overwhelming favorites in this game based on this video by The Sports Grid:

I like the fact the 49ers are underdogs in this game even though they have the best defense left in the playoffs and homefield advantage. The "Us vs World" syndrome is in full effect right now with my feelings on this game.

Candlestick Park: This is the part where I'm glad the 49ers play in the dump known as Candlestick. The 49ers ballpark is the great equalizer in this game. Just the 49ers luck though San Francisco is suppose to have record highs tomorrow. I've been to Candlestick Park though and seen the weather out there. While it's warm and sunny in San Francisco, Candlestick can be a cold, windy frozen hell. The field can also get soggy from ocean water seeping into the field. Candlestick is the great equalizer for a domed team.

I'm looking forward to the game and I'm sure if the 49ers lose I'll react like one of my family members just died then deny I'm feeling that way and say things like "I'm just glad the 49ers are in the playoffs."