No pity party for Niners

Note: This column was orignially published in the Vallejo Times-Herald on Dec. 24, 2007.

By Dan Nied [send email]

SAN FRANCISCO -- No pity party today.

No wondering how a team can miss so many opportunities. No calling for the head a coach who consistently botches in-game decisions. No picking apart a muddled quarterback situation or a porous offensive line. No reflecting on another loss.

Merry Christmas.

The 49ers win. That’s twice in a row. Tell your friends, take a picture, remember the date -- Dec. 23, 2007 -- because, compared to the rest of 2007, this was something special.

So we won’t get into how Tampa Bay outgained the 49ers 434-213, despite pulling many of their starters before halftime. Or how Mike Nolan declined a penalty he clearly should have taken. Or how the best the team can finish the year is 6-10, and only if they beat Cleveland on the road next week.

Nope, none of that. The glass is half full this Christmas Eve. The 49ers just put a surprising crescendo on an otherwise crummy season. They capitalized on turnovers. They found a quarterback who could throw three touchdown passes in the same game. They relied on their star running back, who surpassed 1,000 yards rushing for the second straight season.

And they stiffened up at the end, keeping the Buccaneers from a 2-point conversion on their final touchdown, preserving a 21-19 win that was much-needed for the psyche of the fans and organization.

So kudos 49ers. It’s taken a while, but you finally put it together.

Despite the gaudy yards-allowed number, the defense was at its best on Sunday. The Bucs drove into the red zone twice in the first quarter, but the 49ers allowed only field goals each time. So when quarterback Shaun Hill found Darrell Jackson in the end zone to start the second quarter, the 49ers had a 7-6 lead and momentum on their side.

They fell behind again 13-7 going into half, but the big plays kept coming from a defense that, admittedly, has been good for most of the year. On Tampa’s first drive of the second half, All-Everything rookie linebacker Patrick Willis forced a Luke McCown fumble which Mark Roman recovered at the Bucs 14-yard line.

A few plays later, Hill found Vernon Davis for a score. The second-year tight end raced through the end zone, hurdled a short wall into the stands, where he was surrounded by a throng of fans hooting and hollering and hugging Davis from all angles. The enthusiasm looked like that of a 10-4 team, instead of a 4-10 team.

The all-out celebrations didn’t stop there. In the fourth quarter, cornerback Nate Clements joined the drum line. Clements had just intercepted a McCown pass and returned it 62-yard to Tampa’s 23. After being pushed out of bounds, he sprinted to the end zone, and grabbed the bass drum sticks from the 49ers in-house band. He pounded the skins euphorically, and it seemed like, for a second, the weight of this dismal year was lifted.

On the next play, Hill found Frank Gore open in the flat, and Gore raced in for what turned out to be the touchdown that put the game away.

For as much heat as the 49ers have taken this year -- for spats between Nolan and quarterback Alex Smith, the dismal run blocking of the offensive line, and for simply underachieving -- they needed Sunday. Everyone did. The atmosphere was a reminder of what professional football could be in San Francisco. The fans were loud until the very end, and the players made timely plays when it counted most.

And there was a very fitting ending.

Defensive end Bryant Young played probably his final game in San Francisco. So as he rushed McCown on Tampa’s final drive, and forced a few hurries, the crowd was waiting for Young to put an exclamation point on a 14-year career that began with a Super Bowl title with the 49ers back in 1994. He didn’t get that final sack, but as the clock ran down, fans chanted “B.Y.” in an emotional cadence.

When the clock expired -- along with Young’s career at Candlestick Park -- B.Y.’s teammates lifted him on their shoulders and carried him to midfield. He was a 6-foot-3, 305 pound lineman getting a ride fit for a king. As he made his way back to the lockerroom, a large group of fans demanded more from the only link left from the 49ers glory days.

He took a quarter lap around the stadium, slapping hands and giving thanks. As he got to the dugout that leads to the lockerroom, the throng was about 20 rows deep and the chants were deafening in a stadium that was 70 percent empty by that point. “B.Y., B.Y.” they went. And B.Y. slapped a few more hands, let the tears flow from his eyes, and disappeared into the noise, leaving the fans behind him chanting.

It was the kind of scene that ends the sappiest sports movies. But it was the perfect ending to the 49ers best day of the season.

So no pity party today. We’ll just let this one ride.