Super Bowl 2012: 49ers Defense, Alex Smith Have San Francisco as Super Bowl Lock

Interestingly enough, the No. 2-seeded San Francisco 49ers were underdogs in the divisional round against QB Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saints.

The insurmountable hype surrounding this Saints was the recipe to a 49ers win, and in turn the key to a ticket to the Super Bowl for this team.

This sound 49ers team has played with a chip on its shoulder for the entire 16-week regular season. The 49ers were expected to fail yet again, despite boasting one of the more talented, well-rounded teams this league has to offer.

Not to mention, the team has one of the more motivating, knowledgeable head coaches in the NFL. The acquisition of Jim Harbaugh has had this team improving in nearly every facet of the game.

The key to trip to the Super Bowl for this 49ers team will be the play of not only the team's hard-hitting defense, but also the play of QB Alex Smith and the offense.

In spite of boasting the most productive defense in the league, the 49ers win games when the offense gets enough done to control the clock and wear down an opponent. When this team clicks both on offense and defense, it is just short of impossible to take down this 49ers team.

Against the Saints in the divisional-round matchup, the 49ers defense was outright scary. It was able to come at the Saints early with explosive hitting and a constant habit of getting hands on the football nearly each time the team made a tackle.

Dashon Goldson and the 49ers defense came up with all three of the fumbles it forced, while also managing to pick off Brees twice in the contest. Goldson was arguably the most significant player for the team in the win, recording a team-high 11 tackles (all solo) and one interception.

The five turnovers were as significant as anything for this team in the 36-32 victory.

Combining this tremendous defensive effort with a step-up performance for QB Alex Smith was what made this team look all the more solid. Smith pulled off what a younger Ben Roethlisberger was able to do years ago with the Steelers, putting together enough offense late to come out on top in the postseason.

Down 32-39 with 1:37 left on the game clock, it was Smith who ran a two-minute drive to perfection to take his team to the NFC Championship Game.

His ability to find TE Vernon Davis from the start was what opened up this game. Davis recorded 180 yards and two touchdowns on what was easily his best performance of the season. Smith understood that when Davis catches balls, the 49ers win games. The 49ers are a whopping 13-1 this season when Davis goes for three or more catches in a game.

A tenacious, unforgiving defense and a QB finding a way to win football games makes this 49ers team an outright favorite to make the Super Bowl and win this the NFC Championship matchup against the New York Giants.

Make no mistake about it, these 49ers are for real.