The San Francisco 49ers are in the midst of an ;if only ; football season right now. Sunday ;s upset of the previously red-hot New York Jets gave the 49ers and their fans hope for next season. With a 5-8 record, it is almost impossible for San Francisco to sneak into the playoffs this season. One 4 Brett Favre Purple jersey
Wild Card contender in the NFC has nine wins and two others have eight, so even if the 49ers win their remaining three games it will be an uphill battle in order to qualify for postseason play.Nevertheless, the 49ers are playing their best football of the 2008 season. Even if they don ;t make the playoffs, winning will help build momentum for 2009 and will help coach Mike Singletary remove the ;interim ; tag from his title.The 24-14 win over the Jets puts the 49ers in an ;if only ; mode. Like: ; If only Mike Nolan had been fired earlier and had been replaced by Singletary, maybe the playoffs would be a real possibility. ; If only Shaun Hill had been the quarterback the entire season, maybe the 49ers wouldn ;t be on the outside looking in for postseason play. ; If only the defense had been playing all season like it has the past two games against the Buffalo Bills and the Jets, maybe the playoffs wouldn ;t be a stretch this season.Under Nolan, the 49ers were a rudderless team that seemed to be going nowhere. San Francisco was 2-5 under Nolan ;s leadership and had lost four-straight games when he was fired. Singletary has helped the 49ers regroup and has led the team to a 3-3 record and a 3-1 mark over the last four games.If only San Francisco management had pulled the trigger sooner on Nolan, the 49ers might be standing at 6-7, 7-6 or even better. A 6-7 mark would still give the 49ers hope for the playoffs at this point in the season. If only Hill had been the starter all season instead of the inconsistent J.T. O ;Sullivan, maybe the 49ers would be in a better position. When he was the starter this season, O ;Sullivan only threw eight touchdown passes and tossed 11 interceptions. He also only averaged 186.4 passing yards per game.Hill, however, has thrown 10 touchdown passes and only four interceptions since taking over for O ;Sullivan. He has also averaged 225.3 yards per game through the air. If only San Francisco ;s defense had played in its first 11 games like it has in the past two, the team ;s record would be much better than 5-8. In San Francisco ;s last two wins over Buffalo and the Jets, the defense has only given up a total of 17 points. Against Brett Favre and the potent New York offense, the 49ers only allowed a total of Jets 6 Sanchez Jersey
10 first downs and 182 yards of offense.It is probably too late for the 49ers to make a playoff run, but it ;s not too late to win the last three games and end the season with a respectable 8-8 record. The 49ers haven ;t had a non-losing season since 2002, so a .500 record would be a big boost for this franchise.
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