SANTA CLARA, Calif. — The 49ers insist they aren’t going to be one of those teams that gripes about the physicality of the Seahawks’ secondary. At least that’s what they say now.
Win or lose, they promise there will be no complaints about the officials not calling enough holding or grabbing. As far as San Francisco’s receivers are concerned, the more physical Sunday’s NFC Championship game is, the better.
“It doesn’t matter to me,” Michael Crabtree said. “I’m one of those guys. If you want to play physical, play physical.”
Seahawks Pro Bowl cornerback Richard Sherman isn’t shy about using his 6-foot-3, 200-pound frame to harass receivers. He already has warned the game “is going to be “intense and it’s going to be physical.” Pro Bowl safeties Earl Thomas and Kam Chancellor also like to intimidate through contact, with Thomas saying the Seahawks like to be the “bully.”
That has led to Seattle often being accused of holding and grabbing more than should be allowed. It has also led to a league-high 28 interceptions. Sherman offers no apologies.
“DBs playing physical is the way football should be,” he said. “We stand up there and have a dogfight every play. There’s going to be some pushing off and some grabbing here and there. That’s the game of football. That’s the way it’s always been.”
The 49ers insist they’re not going to complain if the officials don’t call every bump downfield.
“If you get called for it, it’s holding,” Niners wideout Anquan Boldin said. “If is not, it’s not holding. So you just play football.”
In truth, the 49ers welcome a good tussle. The officials put away their whistles to the zero degree weather at Green Bay and Crabtree caught eight passes for 125 yards in their wild-card playoff win. The Panthers’ secondary spent most of the day in Charlotte, N.C., trying to taunt the Niners’ receivers, but Boldin responded by catching eight passes for 136 yards. The more physical the game becomes, the better as far as Boldin is concerned.
“That’s just my personality,” he said. “It’s always been the way I played the game. I was always told if you don’t play the game all out, then you’re cheating yourself.”
Sherman primarily shadowed Boldin in the teams’ first meeting in September when Crabtree was out recovering from a torn Achilles tendon. Boldin caught just one pass for 7 yards in the Seahawks’ 29-3 win in Seattle. Crabtree was playing in just his second game when the Niners won the rematch, 19-17, at Candlestick Park in December.
Boldin caught six passes for 93 yards in that game, while Crabtree caught four balls for 40 yards. Don’t forget about tight end Vernon Davis, who has had a touchdown reception in each of this season’s playoff games.
“It’s tough on defenses when you have two guys outside capable of having big games and then you have Vernon inside matched up with linebackers,” Boldin said. “It gives defenses fits.”
Niners linebacker NaVorro Bowman admitted he wasn’t all that enthused when he first heard Boldin had signed with his team. The sting of watching Boldin help the Ravens beat San Francisco in last year’s Super Bowl still hurt.
“We had just lost the Super Bowl, so I was a little yea and nay on that one,” he said. “But just to come here and see how committed he is to another team just shows the character and the type of guy that he is. We knew in training camp that we’d get his all. He’s done that and showed that for this team.”
It’s why neither Boldin, Crabtree nor Davis are worried about the game getting too physical. That’s how they like it.