49ers shock slumping Bills at Buffalo

There’s no comparison whatsoever between coach Mike Singletary’s 1985 Chicago Bears—arguably the greatest team in NFL history—and the 2008 San Francisco 49ers.  On Sunday, however, they took a page out of the playbook that the “Monsters of the Midway” made famous using a stout red zone defense to frustrate the slumping Buffalo Bills.  The 49ers all but ended Buffalo’s playoff aspirations with the 10-3 road upset that gave Singletary his second win at the helm.

Despite the obvious implications of their performance, Niners linebacker Patrick Willis dismissed any suggestion that his team was interested in playing the “spoiler” role:

"Right now, it's all about us being the best we can be. If that means somebody else not making it to the playoffs, that's for them to worry about."

San Francisco’s defense might not have been statistically impressive, allowing 350 yards of total offense, but they “manned up” when it counted limiting Buffalo to one field goal in four trips to the “red zone”.  The Niners scored the only TD of the game in the first quarter when Shaun Hill found Isaac Bruce in the end zone from 12 yards out.  They would add a 50 yard Joe Nedney FG as time expired in the 2nd quarter to take a 10-0 halftime lead into the locker room.  The only scoring that the Bills were able to muster came on a 22 yard Rian Lindell FG midway through the third quarter.

Former Bill Takeo Spikes praised his new team’s performance and suggested that it was indicative of better things to come for the Niners:

"It's big to come into an environment like this and win a football game. Then, you add on top of it they're a potential playoff team, closer than ever. This really shows our true character."

Though there was plenty of blame to go around for the Bills shabby performance, much of the fans’ ire fell on kicker Lindell who had two FG attempts bounce off the uprights after hitting 53 straight from inside 40 yards.  Lindell was clearly shaken by his miscues:

"There's plenty of room for it to go through. I just ...Today, that's ridiculous."

Buffalo will host improving Miami next Sunday before hitting the road the following two weeks for games against the NY Jets and Denver Broncos.  While they may not want to be called “spoiler”, the Niners will have the chance to impact the AFC East race next Sunday as they host the NY Jets and the following week as they travel to South Florida for a game against the Miami Dolphins.  They’ll then head to St. Louis on 12/21 for a game against the lowly Rams.