Giants vs. 49ers: 4 Big Storylines No One Is Talking About

Of course there are certain things that will get a lot of play heading into a conference championship game. After all, there remains only three games to be played before the 2011 NFL season is over with. 

With the advent of the 24-hour news sports cycle, some things are overplayed just a little bit. For example, Eli Manning as an elite quarterback. This shouldn't even be a talking point right now. 

Didn't he win Super Bowl MVP just a few seasons back? 

That said, there are certain things that the national media is overlooking. This morning, my plan is to give you five different storylines from the San Francisco 49ers vs. New York Giants NFC Championship game that no one is talking about. 

4. Jim Harbaugh's Feat as a Rookie Head Coach

No matter where your allegiance stands, you really do have to be taken aback by the success that Jim Harbaugh has had in his first season as an NFL head coach. 

He stepped in and immediately transformed an under-performing San Francisco 49ers team from a 6-10 record to 14 wins (and counting) this season.

This is an organization that was an absolute mess just 13 months ago. They had just fired their head coach prior to the 2010 season finale, their general manager up and quit, there was no organizational structure in place and a young owner looked completely lost. 

In just over a year's time, Jim Harbaugh has brought the 49ers from the scrap heap of the NFL back into elite status.

That alone should get him Coach of the Decade, if there was an actual award. 

He has transformed Alex Smith from an absolute bust (in the minds of many) to a clutch playoff performer and a quarterback that captivated a national audience last Sunday, accomplishing something that no other signal-caller has ever done in the history of the NFL—lead his team to two consecutive come-from-behind touchdown drives in the final four minutes of a playoff game. 

Despite what happens this afternoon in San Francisco, Jim Harbaugh is the real story here. His success with this beleaguered quarterback and franchise just cannot be overstated right now. 

3. Alex Smith's Historical Season

Lost in the success of the San Francisco 49ers as a team and their amazing comeback victory against the New Orleans Saints last Saturday is the fact that Alex Smith has had a rather historic season for a franchise with the greatest quarterback legacy in the entire league. 

The franchise marks that he has set this season might not be too sexy, but they are a primary reason the 49ers are in a position to go to their sixth Super Bowl. 

Last Saturday, Alex Smith set a franchise record that was previously held by the venerable Joe Montana.

Smith threw his 221st consecutive pass without being intercepted when he found Vernon Davis for the game-winning touchdown. Montana had previously held the record (180) passing attempts in the 49ers' 1989 Super Bowl-winning campaign.

This just goes to show that mistake-free football is just as, if not more, important than throwing for 5,000 yards and 40 touchdowns. Don't turn the ball over, and you are going to win a lot of football games. 

Alex Smith has now led the San Francisco 49ers to six fourth-quarter comebacks this season, once again one-upping Joe Montana, who had five in 1989. 

This matched Smith's total from his first six seasons combined. "Clutch" is a word that can best describe a successful quarterback in the NFL. At this point, you would have to say that Alex Smith stands with the best in the league in regard to this. 

No. 11 has now thrown 20 touchdowns compared to just five interceptions this season. For those of us, including myself, not adept at mathematics, that is one interception for every four touchdown passes. More than that, it means that he has thrown one interception per 97 attempted passes, by far the best ratio in the entire NFL. 

In 1997 and 1998, Steve Young had a touchdowns-to-interception ratio of about 3.2-1, which was a franchise record at the time—Alex Smith crushed those statistics in 2011. 

Smith also became the first quarterback in NFL history to lead two come-from-behind touchdown drives in the final four minutes of a playoff game. As random as this statistic might be, just think about how amazing of an accomplishment it was. 

All said, it has been an amazing season for redemption for Alex Smith. He will need to continue this strong play today in order for the San Francisco 49ers to become unlikely NFC Champions. 

2. The Home-Field "Factor"

These aren't your parents' San Francisco 49ers, nor are they your parents' San Francisco 49ers fans.

A lot has been made in the national media about the incidents that occurred at Candlestick during and immediately following last Saturday's improbable 49ers win.

However, it must be noted that this happens all around the league on a consistent basis. In San Francisco, it isn't anything new, either. 

This slide isn't meant to talk about the few bad apples that may ruin the experience for others. Rather, it is about the fact that Candlestick has become a "fortress" as best defined by Jim Harbaugh. The home-field advantage is simply amazing at this point. 

While it may not yet compare to Seattle or Kansas City, Candlestick is starting to draw buzz around the league as one of the most difficult places for a road team to come and play. 

If you were at the game last Saturday or had the pleasure of watching it on television, you know exactly what I am talking about in regard to the effect that 49ers fans have on their home games.

It is a dramatic shift from the wine-drinking, cheese-eating fans of yesteryear. These are hardcore individuals that are taking out nine years of frustration, through the vocal chords, on game day. 

The feeling is electric, the environment is amazing and the advantage for the home team if obvious. They could come up big against a New York Giants team that has had some tremendous success on the road over the course of the last few seasons, especially in the playoffs. 

1. A Rivalry Renewed

This will be the ninth playoff meeting between these two heralded franchises, the first of which took place in the 1949, when the Giants were named the New York Yankees and the league was called the All-American Football Conference.

There have been some memorable matchups between the two clubs, the majority of which took place in the 1980s.

As much as the Dallas Cowboys and San Francisco rivalry defined NFC playoff football in the 1990s, this rivalry did in the 1980s. 

The two teams met four times in the playoffs during that decade, with each squad winning two apiece. The winner of these games went on to win the Super Bowl three times during the 1980s as well. The first of these matchups might be lost in collective minds of both teams' fans. 

It was the 1981 NFC divisional playoffs, and New York had traveled to San Francisco to take on an upstart 49ers team. San Francisco jumped all over the Giants by a final score of 28-10 with Joe Montana throwing for more than 300 yards.

The next week, San Francisco, behind The Catch, defeated Dallas in their first Super Bowl appearance. 

However, these teams saved the best for their last two playoff games prior to today. It was the 1990 NFC Championship game. and San Francisco was looking for their record third consecutive Super Bowl Title. New York, on the other hand, had renewed the dominance of the NFC East that we had seen in the mid-1980s. 

With San Francisco leading 13-9 in the fourth quarter, Leonard Marshall laid a hit on Joe Montana that reverberated around the NFL. No. 16 would never be the same again, missing the large majority of the following season and being traded just a couple years later. This was the closest that he would get for an opportunity at a fifth Super Bowl Championship. 

Matt Bahr connected on a game-winning field goal as time expired, leading the Giants to a 15-13 victory and a trip to the Super Bowl—a game they eventually won against the Buffalo Bills. However, it was a Roger Craig fumble just outside of two minutes remaining in the game that doomed the 49ers on that day 

San Francisco's last playoff win prior to last weekend's stunning defeat of the New Orleans Saints was in the 2002 NFC Wild Card playoffs. The characters might have been different, but the drama was just as ample.

New York raced out to a 38-14 third-quarter lead before the San Francisco 49ers staged a comeback for the ages. They ran off 25 consecutive points, capped of by a six-yard touchdown pass from Jeff Garcia to Tai Streets, giving the 49ers a 39-38 lead with just a minute remaining in the game. 

New York traveled down the field for a would be 41-yard field-goal attempt by Matt Bryant. Long snapper Trey Junkin, who was just recently signed, snapped the ball into the turf, New York proceeded to throw the ball downfield, where there was an apparent pass-interference penalty.

However, New York had an illegal man downfield, which ended the game. 

Since then, the NFL has come out and said that the pass-interference penalty should have stood, because Rich Seubert had actually reported eligible for that play, meaning he wasn't downfield illegally.

Despite this, there are 49ers fans that will tell you the Giants had another illegal player downfield, which they did. 

Either way, it was a simply amazing ending to one of the greatest playoff games in the history of the league. 

Check out highlights from this amazing game here. 

Will history repeat itself this afternoon? This could be a game for the ages.