After an up-and-down start to the 2021 NFL season, the 49ers are one win away from a ticket to Super Bowl LVI.
As San Francisco (10-7) prepares to come face-to-face with their division rivals, the Los Angeles Rams, The Ringer’s Bill Simmons made a unique comparison to this Niners team.
Simmons compared the 49ers to the 2007 Eli Manning-led New York Giants.
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SIGN UP HERE “It’s hard to deny this Niners-2007 Giants thing,” Simmons said on a recent episode of his podcast. “I did some work. I went back, I went over that Giants season. And the parallels, so Giants on the road that whole time, punishing front four, which I think we’ve really seen with the Niners. Couple of really high-end playmakers, a frustratingly decent QB, is that fair for Eli? Is that a fair way to assess Eli in 2007? Yes, that’s how Eli was that season.”
Of course, that “frustratingly decent” quarterback for the 49ers is Jimmy Garoppolo, who is often criticized for being on a winning team despite not being a standout QB.
New York went to Super Bowl XLII with a 10-6 regular-season record and ended up upsetting Tom Brady and the undefeated New England Patriots.
“Tough as s--t team,” Simmons said. “That team was 10-6 but had that famous Week 17 Pats game when they were like ‘Holy s--t, they’re going toe-to-toe with the Pats’. And this is the big quality other than everything I just mentioned. This is a really important quality with the Niners: A big drive every time they actually need one. No matter how they look for the rest of the game, I think when they actually really need a drive, they’ve shown over and over again they can get it. And I really value that. Even that Lambeau [Field] game, Rodgers, choke job. Just flat out choke job. Two three-and-outs in a row when he had a chance to put the game away.”
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San Francisco's winning success throughout this playoffs has shocked many. Shutting down Dak Prescott and the Dallas Cowboys in a crazy Wild Card Game then upsetting Green Bay at a freezing Lambeau Field has opened the eyes of pretty much the entire NFL world.
This 49ers team can compete.
“It’s the kind of team I just like betting on,” Simmons said. “I’ve liked them for six, seven weeks. It’s just my kind of team. They can play in a dome, they can play in zero-degree weather. They can win a 17-14 game. I feel like if they had to, they could win a 30-27 game where you’re like ‘How did they get to 30 points?’ and it reminds me of that annoying Giants team.”
Manning was in his fourth season with the Giants. Jimmy G is in his fifth season with the 49ers.
The grit and relentlessness both teams showed are nearly identical.
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The similarities continue, but ESPN’s Brian Windhorst agreed with the comparison.
“[The Giants] beat Tampa 24-14,” Simmons said. “They win in Dallas 21-17, which if you look at the stats, if you remember what happened, it was unclear how they were winning it as they were winning it, at the end of the half, Eli had an amazing drive and it was like the Giants are in this game. Then they win in Lambeau, which is a game that popped up last week overtime 23-20, freezing weather, and then they beat the Pats 17-14. Just close games, tough pedigree, a quarterback that’s a heart attack half the time, but just over and over again just seems to make plays, the team really seems to believe in him for whatever reason and I think [the 49ers] remind me of them.”
The 49ers hope the comparison remains true throughout the rest of their season, so they can be crowned champs at Super Bowl LVI.