Niners put away Panthers with ease for NFC title game berth
Kevin C. Cox/Getty ImagesAnquan Boldin averages 17 yards per catch on eight receptions against the Panthers.
49ERS 23, PANTHERS 10
CHARLOTTE - The San Francisco 49ers traveled cross-country to face the Carolina Panthers Sunday afternoon, picked up a win in the divisional round of the playoffs and button hooked back west to prepare for their third consecutive NFC Championship game.
Led by wideout Anquan Boldin, who won a Super Bowl with the Baltimore Ravens last season, San Francisco claimed a 23-10 victory over the Panthers. Boldin caught eight passes from quarterback Colin Kaepernick for 136 yards. Tailback Frank Gore added 84 yards on the ground. In celebrating big plays and touchdowns, several 49ers, including Boldin and Kaepernick, mocked Panthers quarterback Cam Newton's shirt-ripping exercise, and silenced a Carolina crowd that has not witnessed a home playoff win since 2004.
Plenty of action filled the 60 minutes on the field. Panthers cornerback Captain Munnerlyn head butted Niners wideout Michael Crabtree in between plays. Niners linebacker Ahmad Brooks leapt over the line of scrimmage and Newton at one point - before the snap. San Francisco coach Jim Harbaugh was flagged for running on the field in protest of a call, and no flag was thrown despite the fact that 12 Niners were in the huddle before that touchdown play. With four minutes left and the game mostly decided, Panthers cornerback Josh Thomas was penalized for 'attempting to strike an opposing player.'
There was no more impressive statement than by the 49ers offese. Kaepernick mocked Newton, then did his touchdown celebration of kissing the biceps. Newton looked perfect at times, and helpless at others, unable to escape a San Francisco defense that collapsed the Panthers' pocket. Newton completed 16 of 25 passes but was sacked five times. Fans started to leave the stands when he threw an interception with less than five minutes left.
No battles better exemplified the tension between the two teams than those that took place at the goal line in the second quarter. First, Brooks stopped Panthers quarterback Cam Newton at the line of scrimmage on fourth and one at the start of the period. Then, Brooks, feeling as though he had the snap count timed, proved overzealous was whistled for jumping over the line, over Newton and into the backfield on a separate serirs. His trail cleat nicked Newton in the helmet before he landed. Brooks was flagged for encroachment, and Carolina settled for a field goal two plays later to take a 10-6 lead.
Panthers wideout Steve Smith played possum during the week regarding the health of his knee, assigning random percentages to the odds that he would play Sunday. He sprained the posterior collateral ligament in his left knee Dec. 22 against New Orleans, and tested the knee on the field prior to the game, and looked like the same old sparkplug when he hauled in a 31-yard touchdown pass down the left sideline. Smith caught the ball in stride. The pass came on the first play of the drive.
His presence was not enough, though, as the Panthers went home for good and the 49ers flew west, ready to engage the rival Seahawks for a chance to fly back east for the Super Bowl in New York.
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