EYE OF THE STORM: Slowing down Giants running back Ahmad Bradshaw will be the prime focus of the 49ers, who allowed just 77.3 yards rushing a game to opposing teams in the regular season.
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SAN FRANCISCO — These 49ers are in severe attack mode.
They’re not just looking to beat the Giants and knock them out of the playoffs — they are looking to knock them out of the game, starting with running back Ahmad Bradshaw. There might as well be a bull’s-eye on Bradshaw’s back. Six times this season the 49ers have knocked an opposing running back out of the game.
That is how they win games. That’s what they did to Pierre Thomas last week in their 36-32 victory over the Saints.
They are looking for No. 7 in the wind and rain to come down on Candlestick Park today in this NFC Championship battle. The winner goes to the Super Bowl. The 49ers expect to win using the same type of punishing play.
That is what the Giants are up against, and the Niners think they can pull it off with hammer hits on Giants running backs and wide receivers. Safety Donte Whitner, who polished off Thomas, basically put the game plan out there for all to see with his comments on Friday. Six backs down and out, one win to go.
“We play physical,’’ Whitner said. “Whenever you play physical, people get hurt.’’
Then came the disclaimer followed up by another warning.
“We don’t want to go out and intentionally hurt anybody,’’ Whitner said. “But when you play this game the way we play, we play fast and carefree, some guys are going to end up getting injured. We are not going to stop playing physical. Guys come out of the game, hopefully it’s not too bad of an injury.’’
As for Bradshaw, Whitner praised him, saying he was a power back in a scat-back’s body.
“He’s going to be where our focus is this week,” he said. “We have to take him out of the game.’’
Take him out like the six other backs they took out this season or maybe the safety just means take Bradshaw out of the game by shutting him down.
Either way, they want Bradshaw and the Giants to tap out.
The 49ers take the ball away or take the back away. They won the turnover battle in brutal fashion during the season with a 38-10 bulge and crushed the Saints in that department last week, winning, 5-1.
Their beast of a defensive tackle, Justin Smith pointed it out as well.
“As long as we have some back-end guys flying around, hitting people like that, we stand a pretty good chance at winning the game,” Smith said. “To me, it’s all about turnover ratio and taking points off the board.’’
And taking bodies off the field. Essentially, the 49ers started over this season — the so-called 49ers winning tradition had been lost, noted defensive coordinator Vic Fangio.
“There was a lot of talk about the great history and tradition of the 49ers,’’ Fangio said. “But my message to them, there has been a great history, but the tradition was lost. You can’t go nine years without a winning season and think you have tradition, and we’ve restored that.’’
Tradition — and the hits — have been restored. The 49ers defense allowed opponents to score on just 23.3 percent of their possessions during the regular season, which ranked first in the NFL. They started 37 drives in their opponents’ territory, first in the NFL.
That’s the method to the physical madness. Jim Harbaugh’s team is cocky and plays with brute force.
“The only thing we have to fear is being unprepared,’’ Harbaugh said.
The 49ers don’t fear the Giants. They respect them. Harbaugh was a cocky player, who would not be afraid to guarantee a victory. He’s still confident.
“Like I’ve always said, you damn sure got to be confident,’’ he said of his coaching style and team mindset heading into this battle. “All these guys are.’’
The Niners want to take that running game away and make the Giants one-dimensional, If they happen to take the running back out of the game, too, consider it just another notch on what they believe is going to be their championship belt.