Until yesterday, Niners Nation had never truly known great pain from the team. The team lost tough battles along the way, but for us as fans, yesterday stands as the worst experience of the last five years. I know the 49ers history dates to well before Niners Nation, but as this community has grown, it has become a bit of a history unto itself. During that time, we've experienced some bitter defeats that felt pretty awful at the time.

Now, we sit here a day later after the toughest loss since Niners Nation has been around, and one of the toughest losses in franchise history. I suppose it is fitting that arguably the two toughest losses in franchise history were both against the Giants ('91, '12), featured a key late turnover (Craig, Williams) and saw the Giants kick a game-winning field goal (Bahr, Tynes) to end the game.

That game was a roller-coaster of emotion and it ended with one final swing through. One minute I'm jumping up and down after a huge sack, the next minute I've been basically knocked on my butt by the Kyle Williams fumble. The Giants ran several plays after the fumble and there were some commercials mixed in, which led to a sort of half-dazed viewing of the final moments of the game. I was hoping we'd see a huge special teams play to save the day, but it was not to be.

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Since the last thread is filling up, I thought I'd open up another one. And I think we all really do need a hug after that finish. There are stomach punch games, and then there is what happened tonight. This is a kick to the crotch like nothing else and it will continue to sting for a while.

The 49ers put together an amazing season that came up short. Kyle Williams is getting plenty of blame here and on twitter, but there are plenty of other issues we'll consider moving forward. This team won 14 games as a team and they lost this one as a team. Williams had the two most visible plays and it is understandable for people to be pissed off at him. At the same time, let's keep in mind that there were plenty of other issues that cost the team this game.

As we head into the offseason, there will be plenty to discuss as the 49ers look to continue getting a little better every day. The 49ers are in a position to build on this awful finish and there is plenty to be excited for in the coming offseason. But you certainly don't need to be excited about it quite yet.

It doesn't get much worse than that. The 49ers had chances to win this game and advance to Super Bowl XLVI, and instead the season is over. This one is going to sting all offseason and beyond. The chances were there and it didn't happen. I don't know what else to say. This is about as low as it can get. Yes it is amazing the team got into this position, but right here, right now, that does not make it any easier to accept what just happened.

I don't know what the posting schedule will be like the next day or two. Right now I just want to dig a hole and hide from the world. Given how old I was at the time of the Roger Craig fumble/Matt Bahr kick, I didn't quite grasp the enormity of it. This one stings like no other loss. I'm happy to look at the bright future some other time.

As for Kyle Williams struggles, he will be the goat for this game, but he and others who struggled have bright moments. Complain all you want, but no need for personal attacks on players who have done so much for this team this year.

I'm not entirely sure if you guys are looking for something terribly in-depth from me tonight, but it's not going to happen. After the jump, I've included some bullet points as usual, but for now, it's all about basics for me. Our San Francisco 49ers went out there and won the same kind of game they've been winning all season, just on a higher level. What we saw today was a good football team.

When the play-calling struggled, one play changed it all, like the Alex Smith touchdown run. When Michael Crabtree had a tough game and dropped some big catches, Vernon Davis came up with 180 yards and two touchdowns on seven receptions. When the defense started giving up big plays, they tightened up when they needed. When Aldon Smith started getting chipped on every play, Ahmad Brooks started brutalizing the other side of the line. It was beautiful.

More in-depth stuff to come for sure in the coming days, but for now, make the jump for some bullet points. Again, I ask you, WHO'S GOT IT BETTER THAN US?!

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What an emotional roller coaster. The San Francisco 49ers came out gunning with multiple turnovers in the first half and a 14-0 lead. Eventually, the Saints brought it within three at the half, and it ended at 17-14. San Francisco came out in the second half and showed questionable play-calling on offense, letting the New Orelans take the lead But it was insanely good play-calling that brought the 49ers right back.

They called a play that sent Alex Smith scampering around on a Tim Tebow play (yeah I said it) ... and it turned into a touchdown. So they had the five-point lead, and of course, Jimmy Graham came forward and scored for the Saints, putting them up again with under two minutes to go. At this point, I proclaimed that the 49ers were done and had no chance to come back.

Kind of a thing I do - because every time I've done that this season, they've come back to win it. I'm happy about that. Vernon Davis came up with two big catches on that final drive, including a touchdown. On top of that, Smith's ball placement in the fourth quarter was insane. Those were some grown-ass-man throws right there and Smith hit them.

Before this game, a Saints fan told me that they were going to play a level of football that we're not used to watching. He told me the game would be too fast for me to keep up. He was right ... those damn fumbles are so hard to keep up with! Davis had 180 yards and two touchdowns off of seven receptions. The play calling left something to be desired, but in the end, the 49ers won the same kind of game that they've been winning all season.

I'll have a second recap with some bullet points later, but until then .. WHO'S GOT IT BETTER THAN US!?

The San Francisco 49ers award machine continues to roll on as David Akers and Aldon Smith took home monthly awards for the December/January final stretch of the season. David Akers was named NFC Special Teams players of the month and Aldon Smith was named the NFL Defensive Rookie of the Month.

There was little doubt that Akers would win the special teams award for this final month. He took home the weekly special teams award the last two weeks and has put together a dominant month. He led the NFL with 58 points and 16 field goals during the month and was arguably as important to the 49ers 4-1 month as anybody else. Add in his first career touchdown pass and it only made sense.

Aldon Smith takes home his second rookie of the month award, having also won in October. Over the final five weeks of the season, Smith compiled 6.5 sacks as he continued his strong rookie campaign. He came up just short of Jevon Kearse's single season rookie sack record, but his 14.0 sack performance was dominant nonetheless.

David Akers received his full season recognition as he was named to the NFC Pro Bowl squad. Aldon Smith was unable to make the team, but still has a chance to bring home NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year honors. He is in a dogfight with Von Miller who won defensive rookie of the month honors for November and possibly Ryan Kerrigan, who took home defensive rookie of the month honors in September. Smith is the only one of the three to take home the honor twice.

ESPN has been releasing their annual awards and they named Smith their defensive rookie of the year. Although Smith did not play every down, he brought an insane mix of athleticism and power to the pass rush and is worthy of the award.

The 49ers have worked their way to 13-3 without revealing a whole lot of strategy in chatting with the media. Coach Harbaugh is turning non-answers into an art form and the rest of the staff follows suit for the most part. DC Vic Fangio and OC Greg Roman will sometimes provide a little more detail in their weekly press conferences, but for the most part they are all strong believers in the old adage, "Loose lips sink ships."

That makes this latest video all the more interesting. Former head coach and current FOX analyst Brian Billick has a recurring video called "Coach Speak" in which he chats with coaches about their teams and things they do. It involves some play breakdown, which can be really interesting to follow.

In his most recent addition, Billick spoke with Greg Roman and had Roman break down a play-action pass the 49ers have run this season (h/t to @49erspr). It involves five specific parts. You can check out the video after the jump, but here are the five parts:

1. TE lines up on right side of the line and goes in motion to the left side, lining up on the hip of the left tackle.
2. At the snap, the left guard pulls to the far right.
3. The running back runs a counter towards the right side with a hard sell from the quarterback
4. The Z receiver wide right runs a deep post pattern
5. The other receiver (I believe X) runs a short crossing pattern at the 18-22 yard mark.

The 49ers used a variation on this play with a 52-yard touchdown pass to Michael Crabtree to take a 16-0 lead on the Rams back in Week 13 and we actually did our own breakdown of the play. The tight end started on the left side, but otherwise there were a lot of similarities to what Roman describes after the jump.

We haven't gotten a lot of in-depth discussion from the coaching staff. Although this is only one play, it is still interesting to get some perspective from Coach Roman.

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The San Francisco 49ers wrapped up the number two seed today with a 34-27 victory over the St. Louis Rams. There were some hiccups in the final six minutes, but the 49ers held on to complete what has been an impressive turnaround from a year ago. A year ago this time, Niners Nation was beginning preparations for a new coach and the upcoming NFL Draft (we'll ignore that stick lockout situation). Now, we get playoff action for the first time in site history!

Although there is hopefully a lot more 49ers football to be played over the next month, that doesn't mean we can't enjoy some of the record-breaking and other historic performances by the 49ers in the 2011 regular season. They lost out on a chance for the fewest rushing touchdowns in a season, but that should not take away from what has been one of the most dominant rush defenses in NFL history.

With the victory today, the 49ers improved to 13-3, marking their first 13-win season since 1997. The victory was their sixth road victory over the season, which is their highest total since 1996. They also had their most 10:00am PT victories (five) since 1990. In recent years we've complained about the early starts and the proven disparity of those starts. All it takes is a few wins to move past that!

There were plenty of MVPs on the day, but Andy Lee deserves special kudos as he set the single season record for highest net punting average at 43.99 yards. His 50.9 gross average is the third best mark in NFL history. One of my favorite sequences of the game came in the fourth quarter and showed Andy Lee's #beastmode in action. Lee boomed a punt 58 yards inside the Rams ten yard line and saw it bounce out of bounds at the seven. The play was called back because of a holding call on Anthony Dixon. Lee then proceeded to kick a 64-yard punt that was down at the Rams one. That is Andy [site decorum] Lee in a nutshell.

One other statistical note is that Alex Smith went over 3,000 yards for the first time in his career, finishing the season with 3,150 yards. He finished with his highest career attempts total by four, but also finished with his highest yards per attempt, finishing the year at 7.06 yards per attempt. He also finished with the third best TD-to-INT ratio in 49ers history, behind only Steve Young in 1992 and 1994. He didn't have a "superstar" season, but he did what was asked of him and he was a key contributor to the 49ers 13-3 mark.

Head after the jump for a rundown of some of the notable stats and performances from today's game.

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