Was re-watching the game tonight, and a couple of players stood out to me that got little mention or fanfare - Ed Dickson actually made a couple of nice catches that proved to be important in setting up scores, and Jimmy Smith made a few plays, particularly toward the end, that helped seal the deal, and I saw Courtney Upshaw's number a lot, but none bigger than forcing the fumble on James.
And for all the whining and complaining about the holding non-call on Smith, I'll offer up these retorts:
- Crabtree initiated the contact, and did not complain after the play, because I think he feared he was going to be called for offensive pass interference for pushing Smith to the ground - There were multiple non-calls on both sides. I saw two clear offsides by the 49ers (one on the TD pass to Jacoby Jones) that went uncalled, as well as some blatant take-downs by 49ers O linemen that in the regular season would have been flagged for holding, and the 49ers used picks by WRs on at least four plays that I counted. Spare me the officiating excuse, it benefited you a lot throughout the game.
