49ers Blog and Q&A: Road to the Super Bowl goes through Candlestick Park

49ers Blog and Q&A

News, notes and reader questions about the San Francisco 49ers

• Ask Matt a 49ers question

January 15, 2012

Road to the Super Bowl goes through Candlestick Park

Put away the ear muffs and mittens, 49ers fans. The road to the Super bowl won't go through Lambeau Field as most expected but rather Candlestick Park after the Giants knocked off the defending Super Bowl Champion Packers 37-20 Sunday.

That means that the No. 4 seed Giants will fly cross country to take on the No. 2 seed 49ers at 3:30 p.m. Sunday. When the two teams met in Week 10, quarterback Eli Manning threw for 311 yards and two touchdowns. But he also threw two interceptions and saw his last-second pass to the end zone knocked down at the line of scrimmage by defensive end Justin Smith. The 49ers won 27-20.

The Giants defense, meanwhile, stacked the line of scrimmage against Frank Gore, who had rushed for 100-plus yards in his five previous games. He finished with six carries for no yards, and backup Kendall Hunter replaced him in the second half. Alex Smith, meanwhile, had a good game, throwing for 242 yards, including a 31-yard touchdown to Vernon Davis.

The teams have met seven times in the playoffs with the 49ers holding a 4-3 advantage. The last meeting came in January 2003, a game in which the Giants raced out to a 24-point third-quarter lead only to see the 49ers storm back in the fourth quarter.

Down 39-38 at game's end, the Giants attempted a last-second, game-winning field goal, but Trey Junkin's snap fell short of the holder. A non- pass interference call on a desperation pass down field after the errant snap still causes grumbling in the New York area.

Season-ticket holders will get the first chance at tickets to Sunday's game. They will be able to purchase tickets starting at 10 a.m. Wednesday. At 1 p.m., the remaining seats will go on sale to the general public through Ticketmaster.

-- Matt Barrows

About Comments

Reader comments on Sacbee.com are the opinions of the writer, not The Sacramento Bee. If you see an objectionable comment, click the "report abuse" button below it. We will delete comments containing inappropriate links, obscenities, hate speech, and personal attacks. Flagrant or repeat violators will be banned. See more about comments here.

What You Should Know About Comments on Sacbee.com

Sacbee.com is happy to provide a forum for reader interaction, discussion, feedback and reaction to our stories. However, we reserve the right to delete inappropriate comments or ban users who can't play nice. (See our full terms of service here.)

Here are some rules of the road:

• Keep your comments civil. Don't insult one another or the subjects of our articles. If you think a comment violates our guidelines click the "report abuse" button to notify the moderators. Responding to the comment will only encourage bad behavior.

• Don't use profanities, vulgarities or hate speech. This is a general interest news site. Sometimes, there are children present. Don't say anything in a way you wouldn't want your own child to hear.

• Do not attack other users; focus your comments on issues, not individuals.

• Stay on topic. Only post comments relevant to the article at hand. If you want to discuss an issue with a specific user, click on his profile name and send him a direct message.

• Do not copy and paste outside material into the comment box.

• Don't repeat the same comment over and over. We heard you the first time.

• Do not use the commenting system for advertising. That's spam and it isn't allowed.

• Don't use all capital letters. That's akin to yelling and not appreciated by the audience.

You should also know that The Sacramento Bee does not screen comments before they are posted. You are more likely to see inappropriate comments before our staff does, so we ask that you click the "report abuse" button to submit those comments for moderator review. You also may notify us via email at feedback@sacbee.com. Note the headline on which the comment is made and tell us the profile name of the user who made the comment. Remember, comment moderation is subjective. You may find some material objectionable that we won't and vice versa.

If you submit a comment, the user name of your account will appear along with it. Users cannot remove their own comments once they have submitted them, but you may ask our staff to retract one of your comments by sending an email to feedback@sacbee.com. Again, make sure you note the headline on which the comment is made and tell us your profile name.

blog comments powered by Disqus

FOLLOW US | Get more from sacbee.com | Follow us on Twitter | Become a fan on Facebook | Get news in your inbox | View our mobile versions | e-edition: Print edition online | What our bloggers are saying

Please use the form below to submit your question. Because there is a 100-word limit for questions, a word counter is located directly beneath the box where you enter the your question.