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The San Francisco 49ers wrapped up their second consecutive NFC West title on Sunday as they put together a dominant second half en route to a 27-13 win. The 49ers struggled early, but a strong defensive effort, and a monster day from Michael Crabtree was the difference. The win clinches the 49ers no worse than the three seed, and they await the result of Packers-Vikings to determine if they will play the Bears next Sunday, or get a bye into round two as the No. 2 seed.
The game was not looking remotely pretty for most of the first half. The 49ers offense could get absolutely nothing going, trailing 6-0 midway through the second quarter. Nothing was going right, including in the kicking game, as David Akers had a nightmare first half where he missed a pair of field goals. Fortunately, Colin Kaepernick and Michael Crabtree figured something out. Kap and Crab connected on a pair of passes for 80 yards as the 49ers took a 7-6 lead into the half.
The second half saw the 49ers flip some kind of switch and just blow things up. Crabtree and Kaepernick remained hot, as Crabtree finished with a career-high 172 yards on eight catches, with a pair of touchdowns. The defense stepped up as well, finally getting to Brian Hoyer, and shutting down the Cardinals run-game. We'll have plenty more on it, but suffice to say, it was truly a tail of two halves.
We'll have plenty more, including an update once the Packers-Vikings game goes final.