2014 NFL playoffs, 49ers vs. Panthers: San Francisco defense dominates Carolina

Cause of Death:

2. Through those first three quarters, the Saints went one-for-seven on third down and averaged a near-meaningless 0.86 yards per play. That’s a major failure when you consider New Orleans ranked fifth in the league this year in third down conversions and second in yards per third down play.

Afterwards, it was discovered Crabtree had a shoulder injury but should be fine going forward, per the San Francisco Chronicle’s Eric Branch. Fullback Will Tukuafu also left the game in the first quarter with a knee injury and stayed on the sideline from that point forward. He might have an MCL sprain, according to the Sacramento Bee’s Matt Barrows.

• SB Nation’s 2014 NFL playoff coverage and brackets

The Saints got the band back together in 2013. After laboring through a season sans Sean Payton thanks to Bountygate, New Orleans got back to the playoffs in 2013 with a hat tip to Payton, as well as to new defensive coordinator Rob Ryan, whose blitz-happy charges were among the league’s best at shutting down the pass. Unfortunately, a bounce-back season wasn’t enough to claim the division title, or to prevent a team that became known for its road woes from getting bounced from the playoffs in the league’s most hostile environment.

To reclaim the NFC South division crown, New Orleans must find the formula to get better on the road. While Payton and Brees can sort through any play-calling and signaling issues, getting more physical on both sides of the ball is never a bad place for aspiring road warriors to start.

San Francisco fell behind 10-6 in the second quarter but rallied to take a 13-10 lead into halftime. The 49ers then scored the final 10 points in the third and early fourth quarter, with the defense shutting down Cam Newton and co. Newton, making his first playoff start, threw for 267 yards but was sacked five times and threw two interceptions.

Over at Niners Nation, David Fucillo wrote about Kaepernick’s ability to find a way to win:

Pastor Tim, a terribly affable fellow from Gold Hill Lutheran in Butte, Montana, of all places, really wanted to make kickoff. We here at SB Nation understand and approve. So much so that we won’t even make a “Butte” joke. Check it out, because this is great. Make sure you stick around for the big payoff.

Unfortunately, this was just a prank:

It’s good to see that football players are just like the rest of us. They put their pants on one leg at a time and can’t travel on mass transit without having obscenities yelled at them.

(Original photo via @DonBanks)

“Yes it was,” Rivera said in his postgame press conference. “Thank you.”

Rivera didn’t sugarcoat anything, though. The Panthers lacked composure at times, and Rivera admitted that.

After the game, Harbaugh was his usual self in the press conference, not dwelling too much on the win and already focused on the task next week. He did have praise for his team’s defensive performance, stating that “it was a real arm wrestling-like kind of struggle ... shutting them down in the second half was huge.“

• SB Nation’s 2014 NFL playoff coverage and brackets

Newton and the Panthers appeared to have the edge early on -- Kaepernick struggled to start, completing just 11-of-24 passes while Newton gave Carolina the lead with a 31-yard touchdown dart to Steve Smith. The Panthers held the 49ers to just 59 total yards with a few minutes left in the second quarter and looked to be going into the locker room with the lead.

Kaepernick woke up just before the half, though, leading a 12-play, 80-yard touchdown drive that put the 49ers up, 13-10. The 49ers held that lead for the rest of the game while Newton went cold down the stretch. The Panthers held the ball four times in the second half, resulting in two punts, an interception and the end of the game. Carolina went away from the running game and Newton ended up leading the team with 54 rushing yards on 10 carries.

Maybe you watched the 49ers beat the Panthers 23-10 in their divisional round playoff matchup. Maybe you’d like, I dunno, real analysis or something.

But if neither of those things applies to you, check out our @SBNationGIF recap of the game:

UPDATE: Here’s the latest look at the 2014 NFL Playoff bracket following the Broncos’ win over the Chargers on Sunday evening.

The game will kick off on Sunday, Jan. 19, at 6:30 p.m. ET on FOX.

Later, NaVorro Bowman would do it after a sack:

Can we get a redo of Cam Newton’s shoes that says SUPERKAEP?

Vernon Davis’s one-yard touchdown grab with just five seconds remaining in the half was the Niners’ first touchdown against the Panthers in six quarters of play this season and gave them a 13-10 lead heading into intermission. They were limited to just three field goals in a 10-9 loss in Week 10.

It was looking as though that trend would continue during the early going on Sunday. Both of the 49ers’ first two drives stalled in Panthers’ territory and they were forced to kick a pair of field goals, building a 6-0 lead. Colin Kaepernick’s incomplete pass on third-and-goal just before halftime looked as though it would lead to a third kick attempt, but a pass interference gave the 49ers new life and Davis converted for the go-ahead score.

I wrote last night that Pete Carroll and Jim Harbaugh are the undisputed top two GIF-able coaches in the NFL. The order depends on your personal preference for the coach freakout over a call, or the coach smug sideline strut. Carroll’s strut was in full effect on Saturday, and now it’s Harbaugh’s turn. The Niners coach was so apoplectic over a late incomplete ruling that he bolted onto the field and incurred a 15-yard penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct:

Harbaugh was so angry that even Anquan Boldin, the wide receiver who was just head-butting and jawing after almost every play on the drive, tried to calm down his coach on the sideline.

Ahmad Brooks went for the Troy Polamalu perfect-snap-count-read-flying-blitz play. He jumped juuuust a bit early, giving us this moment of unstoppable offsides hurdling glory. Textbook flop by Cam Newton, too.

YOLOOOOOOOOOO

Well, apparently 57 percent is still pretty good. Smith reeled in a 31-yard touchdown pass in the second quarter to give his team the lead, then let everybody know the knee was feeling fine.

• SB Nation’s 2014 NFL playoff coverage and brackets

That flag is slightly more acceptable than the garbage call on Mitchell, but it was probably best to just let it go and separate the two players instead of impacting a playoff game.

In addition to those three penalties, there was also just persistent jawing and chippiness throughout the first quarter, whether is was Munnerlyn, Mitchell, or All-Pro Luke Kuechly getting into it with Boldin and Anthony Dixon on two separate occasions.

Hey, how ‘bout that tip drill interception, huh, Cam?

Cam? Cam, buddy? You doin’ okay?

UPDATE: The 49ers have announced that Tukuafu has been ruled out for the remainder of the game.

Ankles just aren’t supposed to bend this way:

Clay Wendler [8:06 PM]:

Stephen White [7:56 PM]:

It’s been a wild ride for Cam Newton’s pre-game cleats this year. But on Sunday, before the Niners-Panthers Divisional Round playoff game, things reached a whole new level.

I’m just going to choose to believe this is an homage to the Snake Mountain toy from the Masters of the Universe line. Right, Cam? A little Skeletor shout-out? Because otherwise ... yuck.

Stewart missed the first seven games of the regular season after recovering from ankle surgeries, and after playing in six games, tore his MCL and has not yet returned. In those six games, Stewart received 48 carries for 180 yards, ranking second among the team’s running backs with 3.8 yards per carry. He was listed a questionable on the final injury report.

Carolina will have an important piece available, as Steve Smith will return after missing the regular season finale. The veteran has caught 64 passes for 745 yards and four touchdowns this season.

The betrayal of Ric Flair is well-documented at this point. He gave a pep talk to the Niners and supported them on Twitter against the Packers last week. Fans were crushed. Word got out he wouldn’t be at the Niners-Panthers Divisional round playoff game in Charlotte on Sunday. Many thought it was because of the threats he received after outing himself as a turncoat. The Charlotte Business Journal reports that there’s ... probably a different reason.

It has been a rough couple of decades for Flair, legally and monetarily speaking. Grantland put together a comprehensive timeline of Flair’s run-ins with the courts and the IRS in 2011.

Line: 49ers -3; 41.5 O/U

When Carolina Has the Ball: Cam Newton’s big step forward in 2013 ... was largely a fabrication. Newton didn’t fare much differently than he did in 2012. An improved completion percentage came from a slight uptick in accuracy and a focus on shorter throws. Newton actually did less on the ground than in his first two seasons. Of course, Cam Newton was very good in 2012 and 2013. The difference is that the rest of the Panthers finally decided to pull their weight.

Regardless of prior history, when you get to this point in a sudden-death tournament, every game is interesting, and the way the two teams match up with each other becomes the main focus, in my mind. Who has the edge? Which team matches up better? Does one team’s approach and identity favor it over the other? What trumps? Power running or high-octane passing? Stout defense or electrifying offense? Tough to say.

Going even deeper than that, what specific matchups have the potential to put one team over the top? Which players are the X-factor in each game? In a group of teams that now makes up the Elite Eight of the NFL, it’s hard to choose just one for each game, but here goes.