by David Zizmor

SANTA CLARA–The San Francisco 49ers after their bye week on October 26th got some rest for the players who were injured and who came back. They were looking like they were coming back and they just beat the Rams on October 13th 31-17 which was on Monday Night Football. So at that point there was no way to anticipate that the 49ers would be in the middle of a struggle.

I looked at the 49ers last game they looked really bad and the offensive line in particular was terrific but at the same time the Niners were bad. While the 49ers are not a Super Bowl team this season but they haven’t looked anywhere close to looking that bad either. The way the defense performed it was disappointing, but the offense was not that bad.

When it comes down to it they were facing a team that had a very good coach last Sunday in the Rams Jeff Fisher whom they played twice a year and the Rams didn’t win by much 13-10 in their last meeting. They came into that game having somewhat of an idea of what to expect. The Rams are not somewhat familar with the 49ers even though they play them twice in the last few seasons.

The Niners have to feel somewhat embarrassed for last week and a lot of times it happens. When you get embarrassed one week a lot of times you come back with a wake up call and the following week you come back. If anyone remembers back in the 1994 Super Bowl season for the 49ers they had a fantastic team but in week four the Niners had a humiliating loss to the Eagles they lost to them 41-8.

Not only was the score awful former 49ers head coach head coach George Siefert pulled out starter Steve Young out with eight minutes left in the game. Young was not pulled out for the last play but the last eight minutes. Young was so livid over that decision he was seen on the sidelines shouting, screaming, and yelling at Siefert they just went balistic.

After that game the Niners got everything together and just went on a tear through the league then they won the Super Bowl. I’m not saying the Niners are going to win the Super Bowl that certainly is a possibility but this team is not as bad as it looked last week. With the offensive line you had to look at the tape and you figure what they did wrong and they need to get themselves together.

Let’s face it they faced a team that haven’t been amazing this year but they have a decent defense and New Orleans does not. While the Superdome is certainly a difficult place to play when the Niners went there before. 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick has been there before and they feel like they can get around the dome. It’s not going to be an easy game on Sunday but they put together the offense because they’ve been playing quite well in past weeks.

David Zizmor covers the NFL for http://www.sportsradioservice.com

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