Dear Niner Nation, NFC title edition

Happy Friday Niner Nation: Hopefully you ditched last weekend’s hangover sometime between the Packers losing and the Ravens airing out their locker room issues over the radio.

But we have more important business to discuss. Eli—yes, Peyton’s lispy little brother—is bringing his buddies from New York out to The City By The Bay for more playoff madness.

Yes, the 49ers and the football Giants have a long history. And yes, those Giants have been on a serious winning streak as of late.

We know all that already! Anyone that has watched two seconds of ESPN this week is aware of those issues.

So, should you happen to enter a certain bar in West Portal and find this sports writer shouting at the TV screen, feel free to pull up a stool, grab a Guinness, and keep me entertained with some of these FF fun facts:

Everyone needs to stop fixating on the weather. Frozen tundra didn’t stop the Giants at Lambeau last weekend, and rain isn’t going to stop them either. The Niners can’t get comfy just because they’re accustomed to the forecast. If the turf is slippery, it’s going to be slippery for everyone. We still need to see SF play with the same bite that they did last weekend against the Saints.

On that note, we need to see that No. 1 Niner defense, times 20. I don’t care if New York is only ranked No. 5 in overall passing yards. Patrick Willis and company need to be on this Giants team like white on rice.

And I do NOT want to see any salsa dancing in that end zone. Because that will mean that Victor Cruz just nabbed himself a TD, and the 49ers can’t be letting that happen.

Then, there’s the issue of health on both sides of the pigskin. Frank Gore is still probable for Sunday’s game, and he’ll need to be in good shape to shoulder that offense. And then Eli has some stomach bug thing-y that has cut into his practice time. Could that slow down New York’s offense? We can certainly hope so.

And last, but certainly not least …

The coaches. I am so stoked for a split-screen shot of these head coaches. For two reasons:

1)      Tom Coughlin always looks like he’s on the brink of turning green and ripping his coaching staff to shreds.

2)      Hell hath no fury like a Harbaugh scorned.

No Saturday night clubbing for you, Niner Nation. We have a game to win on Sunday.

See you then. Cheers.