And then there was one

I can’t say I am “surprised” by how many Seattle Seahawk fans have become “fans” of “rival” San Francisco. While it’s hard to imagine this being the case in the NFC North or East, here it can be easily theorized; fans here see in the 49ers—and in particular quarterback Colin Kaepernick—a “validation” of the “read-zone” or “zone-option” or whatever it is called version of offense that Seattle currently runs, and of Russell Wilson. Although in their win against Atlanta in the NFC championship game that offense wasn’t much in evidence—Kaepernick rushed only two times for 21 yards after blitzing Green Bay for 180 yards—the Falcons success in keeping the corner lanes closed was only temporary; on several occasions Kaepernick froze defenders who thought he might run, leaving receivers open. Nevertheless, this was a game that could easily have gone the other direction, and Atlanta had more than its share of squandered opportunities; I thought they needed to score just one touchdown in the second half to win the game after scoring 24 points in the first half, but the Falcons were shut-out in the second half despite having 180 yards of total offense. Atlanta lost this game much more than San Francisco won it.

The question then is did this game “validate” the “read-option” (the whatever) offense. Three teams in the NFC entered the postseason running some form of it, and one is still standing. I’ve heard at least one “expert” say that Kaepernick has a greater “upside” than Robert Griffin III or Russell Wilson (at least physically), but quarterbacks like him can be “coach-killers.” I’m not certain this is necessarily the case in this instance, since Kaepernick actually made it to a Super Bowl while Michael Vick and Randall Cunningham—the one and two all-time leading rushing quarterbacks—never did.  If San Francisco actually wins the Super Bowl, this will no doubt be seen by some who have a “stake” in their success as the means to their own teams’ success (that is the Seahawks and the Redskins). Will this signify a new era--or a temporarily confusing gimmick, or passing fad? We shall see. 

Trivia question: What is the most rushing yards by a quarterback in a Super Bowl? 64, by Steve McNabb; the most by a winning quarterback was 59 yards by Joe Montana in Super Bowl XIX; Montana actually rushed for more yards in the post season that year (144) than he did in the entire regular season (118). 

The 49ers now face a Baltimore Ravens team that once won with defense, but which is now aging and was ranked in the bottom half of the NFL. Kaepernick has a chance to become only the third minority quarterback to win a Super Bowl; Kaepernick is mixed-race (his name was given him by his German-American foster parents). Doug Williams was a quarterback on a Super Bowl winner—but he was not the first minority quarterback to be so; people conveniently forget that the first minority quarterback to win a Super Bowl—in fact, two of them—was Mexican-American Jim Plunkett.I remember being at some hands-on science exhibit in Golden Gate Park over 20 years ago; I was looking through some telescopic device, and when I looked up, he was standing right there with his kids. He caught the attention of a few other people, but like me they didn't intrude on his family time.