Most of the time a team wins a big game they look scary to play against. I still wouldn't have wanted Belichek to have a second chance against a team he played recently.

Both Harbaugh teams were losing at halftime on the road and won. Baltimore didn't make many mistakes and their relentlessness eventually crushed the Pats. The Niners had a more frantic time, but if Akers makes the kick and Crabtree gets that extra few inches it might have been a bigger margin.

But from now on the past is only important in so far as it affects the future.

And I'd love to see Lewis sent into oblivion with a sound thrashing on the field. Other than leadership, his play isn't much above average anymore.

It won't be easy by any stretch, and maybe there is some kind of psychological Harbaugh brother dynamic that does strange things under game pressure. But I feel this Niner team is ready to peak. Two years of build up and incremental progress leading to the big stage and the big show.