Alpe d'Huez said:
Curious though that you are going so far against the odds, even Vegas odds which have SF favored by 4-5 pts.
And the computers have the 49ers, 28-21, with a nearly 40% chance of winning by more than 10. Foxxy is definitely a contrarian, and he was right when most of us were wrong in picking the Ravens vs. Denver and NE, but 34 points on the 49ers? That's more than they scored against either the Pats or Indy, which have two of the worst defenses in the NFL. They did score 38 against Denver, 35 in regulation, but one TD was a pick-six, and another basically a Hail Mary.
I wonder if it's going to be a distraction for Baltimore, all this focus on Lewis. While the 49ers simply go about their business.
They have their distractions to deal with, too. How about Culliver saying gay players weren’t welcome on the team? That would be an inflammatory comment anywhere, but you can imagine how it went over in SF. The 49er management basically disowned him, and Harbaugh is clearly very angry with him. It has been suggested he might be released after the season is over. He issued an apology today, but it was one of those statements that is written by someone else, dictating exactly what you will say.
Technically, Culliver doesn't start, but he plays a lot, and is definitely needed. He had a key interception in one of their playoff games. I hope for the sake of harmony in the 49ers secondary that none of the DBs is a closet gay. Even if everyone back there is straight, this is the kind of stuff that causes real problems in the locker room. I'd say the potential for disruption is greater than anything Lewis said, though these guys are professionals and probably their play will not be affected by it.
But if the game turns out the way Foxxy is predicting, a lot of people will blame the 49ers' loss on Culliver. I really can't see Lewis' antics affecting the play of the rest of the team. I can definitely see what Culliver said affecting the play of some of his teammates.
Or Randy Moss claiming he’s the best WR in history. He’s being ridiculed by a lot of former NFL players who played against him and Jerry Rice. Again, it would be taken as an outrageous comment by a majority of fans anywhere, but it couldn’t be worse in SF.
It may take all the pressure off the Ravens player who needs to perform the most, the player whose shoulders the team rides on more than Lewis: Joe Flacco.
I agree that the Ravens' chances seem to hinge on Flacco. The 49ers have a great rushing defense, assuming Justin Smith is fairly healthy again, so the Ravens can't expect a lot of production from Ray Rice. Flacco can't be a game manager, he's going to have to be a playmaker. I see a lot of passing on 1st and 2d down.
Edit: Ravens linebacker Brandon Ayanbadejo, a vocal supporter of gay rights, said he estimated that 50% of the players in the NFL have a view like Culliver's, though he thinks it was much worse, like 95%, not so long ago. I saw a video in which a couple of NFL analysts, to my utter shock, described Culliver's statement as a "bad choice of words", that the 49ers just had to teach him how to express himself better. That is total BS, he was saying exactly how he feels. The same analysts didn't think Culliver's words would affect his teammates' play, but they noted he is the 49ers best deep coverage man, and that Flacco is certain to test him now, to see if his play is affected at all by this.