Once again, Hill leads 49ers to victory

By Marc Hudgens  |   Monday, December 24, 2007  |  Comments( 6 )

San Francisco 49ers
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Outside of his three touchdown passes, Shaun Hill's numbers weren't spectacular during the San Francisco 49ers' 20-13 win over Tampa Bay on Sunday. Heck, the quarterback only completed 11 of 24 passed for 123 yards, and he was picked off once. And yes, the Niners were going up against Tampa's reserve defenders, but that wasn't within Hill's control.

At the moment, it's hard not to heap praise upon Hill, who has won each of his two starts since taking the 49ers' reins earlier this month. It's also difficult to say the 27-year-old Hill isn't the catalyst behind 5-10 San Francisco's newfound success.

Judging by various quotes from his teammates, it's clear Hill has brought the 49ers together. That's a far cry from a month ago, when teammates were throwing their own under the bus, including the coaching staff. The Niners clearly needed a leader, and Hill is definitely filling that void. Further, followers of the team have learned that a united San Francisco squad is a competitive one.

Fans will look back on this season with disgust more than anything else, even if the 49ers upset Cleveland this week. But they will also remember the bench-warmer who came seemingly out of nowhere and upstaged ex-No. 1 pick Alex Smith and longtime NFLer Trent Dilfer.

Hill was the catalyst in making the 49ers' home finale a special one for teammates Bryant Young and, quite possibly, Larry Allen, two 14-year veterans and potential Hall of Famers who will likely hang up the red and gold for good after next week and retire.

Finally, Hill could end up being the reason behind the possible exit of coach Mike Nolan, who was resolute in sticking with losing scenarios (Smith and Dilfer) for too long before taking a chance on Hill, who has won games and manifestly united the Niners in the process.
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About Marc Hudgens

Marc Hudgens has been with RealFootball365 since 2007, covering college football, specifically Clemson and Oregon. He also writes for SouthernPigskin.com covering the ACC. He enjoys the acidic wit of Hunter S. Thompson, is a freelance graphic designer and has written several screenplays. He...
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CommentsComments: 6  |  Sign Up  View all comments
No.1
trueniner16		03:41 AM
12/24/2007
You've made some really good points, the fact is Nolan never had an answer for the team's problems. If it were'nt for both dilfer...
No.2
OG9R		03:34 PM
12/24/2007
Ditto, Trueniner16. If Nolan was a good coach, he would've pulled Dilfer long before he got injured. By the way the team responds...
No.3
Andy		11:47 PM
12/24/2007
So I'm sitting here reading the "if we had just put Shaun Hill in earlier, we could have salvaged the season" posts and my...
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