San Francisco’s win in Washington may not have been good football, but it was beautiful in its way.



At a rainy, sloppy Landover, the Niners slip-slid their way to a 9-0 win that was a wholesomely good time—for the winners, anyway. “It takes you back to being a kid: You’re out there, you’re sloshing around and your shoes are full of water and mud,” Richard Sherman said. “It’s still a kid’s game at the end of the day. Guys had a lot of fun slipping and sliding out there, but winning’s always fun.”



From the dry warmth of my living room, muddy football rules. It feels like a throwback, tickling some atavistic nerve that desires to see the game as messy as it can possibly be. These photos do a great job of capturing that, especially the shots of 49ers guard Mike Person looking like a mud-splattered Viking berserker defending Stamford Bridge.


Photo : Mark Tenally ( AP )

Photo : Patrick Smith ( Getty )

Photo : Patrick Smith ( Getty )

Photo : Alex Brandon ( AP )


Photo : Alex Brandon ( AP )

Photo : Julio Cortez ( AP )

Photo : Patrick Smith ( Getty )

Photo : Alex Brandon ( AP )

Photo : Patrick Smith ( Getty )


Photo : Scott Taetsch ( Getty )

Photo : Mark Tenally ( AP )

Photo : Patrick Smith ( Getty )

Photo : Julio Cortez ( AP )

Photo : Alex Brandon ( AP )


Photo : Patrick Smith ( Getty )