SACK MAN: Mathias Kiwanuka (left) sacks 49ers quarterback Alex Smith during the Giants’ 26-3 victory over San Francisco yesterday at Candlestick Park. (Getty Images)
SAN FRANCISCO — Tom Coughlin needs to get a new rallying cry.
The “Nobody expects us to win’’ guns he rolled out for this game is going to have to be cast aside, along with the notion that the big, bad 49ers are the rightful heir to the Giants throne. If the Giants could travel this far out west and completely dominate a bona fide conference powerhouse then what can they not do?
“We all know what it takes to win a Super Bowl and you don’t win it in October,’’ Justin Tuck said. “But this is a huge building block for us.’’
The Giants said they would know much more about themselves after this battle and the lesson they administered was loud and clear. The defending Super Bowl champs are back in business after they stood toe-to-toe with a team that won its last two games by a combined 79-3 and delivered all the knockout blows in a thorough 26-3 thrashing of the Niners.
“A good football game for our team,’’ Coughlin understated.
That does not begin to describe the way the Giants (4-2) cut the 49ers down to size, the way they out-ran them, the way they outlasted them and the way they took the fight to them. This rematch of last year’s riveting NFC Championship Game overtime classic turned into a one-sided display of power and poise as the Giants beat the muscular Niners at their own game.
“We knew last year wasn’t a fluke, we knew we earned it and we wanted to come out and make a statement,’’ said Ahmad Bradshaw, who became just the third running back in the past 43 games to crack the 100-yard barrier against the 49ers defense.
“We aren’t the king of the NFL, the Giants are,’’ 49ers cornerback Carlos Rogers said. “They won the title last year and they are still the team to beat.’’
The team that put a beat-down on the 49ers now quite suddenly finds itself alone in first place in the NFC East, with the Eagles and Cowboys both losing in the division. The Giants finally rediscovered their pass rush, sacking Alex Smith six times and intercepted the NFL’s most difficult quarterback to pick off three times, with safety Antrel Rolle getting two of them.
Bradshaw, bottled up in the first half, powered for 93 of his 116 rushing yards after halftime and his touchdown plunge in the third quarter, putting the Giants ahead 17-3, was set up by a 66-yard kickoff return by rookie David Wilson. Eli Manning, pummeled with six sacks and 12 hits in the NFC title game, was barely touched this time and calmly fired a touchdown pass to Victor Cruz in the second quarter — helped along by Prince Amukamara’s interception of Smith — to put the Giants ahead 7-3 in a game they would never trail again.
“I think everyone was sick and tired about hearing about last year,’’ guard Chris Snee said. “The only way to put that to rest was to go out and keep him clean.’’
It wasn’t easy for Manning but he kept the ball moving, finding a leaping Domenik Hixon (4-78) and slowly working Hakeem Nicks (3-44) back into the flow after a three-game absence. Soon enough, Manning realized he wasn’t going to need to pile on the points with the way his defense was shutting down the run and forcing Smith to throw his way to victory, which is not the 49ers way.
Smith had only five interceptions the entire 2011 season and came into this game with only one interception in his last 364 passes. He simply doesn’t give up the ball but the Giants swiped it away three times, with safety Rolle coming away with a pair of third-quarter interceptions. Those picks were turned into two of Lawrence Tynes’ four field goals.
“I could tell at times we had him a little bit rattled,’’ Rolle said.
It also was readily apparent that the Giants took the life out of the 49ers, grinding them down on a time-grinding drive lasting 7:10, one running play after another, 13 in all, the sort of endgame dominance that punctuates a rout.
“We’ve been counted out against a lot of teams and this week was no different,’’ Mathias Kiwanuka said, “but we understood what we brought to the table and we had to show it.’’
No longer able to state no one believes in his team, Coughlin set sight on the next motivational maneuver, starting with Sunday’s game against the Redskins. “Here we go now in the division a couple of weeks in a row,’’ Coughlin said, “and we haven’t done well in the division.’’