49ers can no longer play underdog card SUNDAY PUNCH

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Last week the 49ers overcame heavy adversity, beating the mighty Packers at Lambeau.

This week the 49ers must deal with a tougher foe: love.

Football experts are falling in love with the 49ers. One place that is reflected is in the betting odds, where the 49ers went from a preseason 7-to-1 to win the Super Bowl, to 5-to-1 this week, same as Houston (Bovada odds) and just behind the favorite Patriots.

Last season, you may remember, coach Jim Harbaugh played the no-respect card by noting that highlights of a big 49ers' win weren't shown on ESPN. He seemed to hint at a greater conspiracy afoot to kill the 49ers' spirit by ignoring them.

Harbaugh, then, subscribes to the concept of inspiration by lack of acclamation, but he no longer can play that no-respect card.

I asked him Wednesday, "Is that a psychological challenge? Now that you can no longer, if you ever did, play the underdog card? You're the big target now, the big dog."

The big dog didn't bite.

San Francisco 49ers head coach Jim Harbaugh and quarterback Alex Smith talk during a time out during an NFL football game against the Green Bay Packers Sunday, Sept. 9, 2012, in Green Bay, Wis. By Matt Ludtke/SPECIAL TO THE CHRONICLE less San Francisco 49ers head coach Jim Harbaugh and quarterback Alex Smith talk during a time out during an NFL football game against the Green Bay Packers Sunday, Sept. 9, 2012, in Green Bay, Wis. By Matt ... more Photo: Matt Ludtke, SFC Photo: Matt Ludtke, SFC Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close 49ers can no longer play underdog card 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

"Well, just because you say that doesn't mean that that's what we think," Harbaugh said, evenly. "That's not the way we think. 'The team,' that's your words. For us, it's just our team."

He went on to explain that it's all about hard work and continued improvement, leaving the original question flying away like a wind-whipped hot dog wrapper.

I'm guessing that Harbaugh doesn't give a fig what experts, or I, say or think. But he does try to provide his players with constant motivation. Disrespect from outsiders is a solid, go-to tool. Now, for the first time in more than a decade, that card is not in play for the 49ers.

What to do? Maybe Harbaugh can tell his players that the experts are trying to undermine the 49ers by deliberately over-respecting them.

Deep thoughts, cheap shots & bon mots ...

-- Manager of the Year: Bob Melvin or Bruce Bochy? I gotta go with Alex Smith.

-- Really, baseball's Manager of the Year is such a regional-bias award that it's all but meaningless. Except to the guy who wins it.

-- Buster Posey for MVP? He'll be in the running, but how about Melky Cabrera? He helped get the Giants off to a roaring start, got busted early enough that they could regroup, his departure opened some room for Gregor Blanco and Brandon Belt, and he gave the Giants home-park advantage if they get to the World Series.

-- Also, Melky gave baseball a boost by making MLB's very-flawed testing system look a lot better than it actually is.

-- Most impactful midseason acquisition? The Sporting Green signed Ann Killion, killer sports columnist. We just got so much better than any other sports section in the western USA that it's stupid.

-- The Handshake was no accident. Before last season, Jim Schwartz told John Harbaugh that Jim Harbaugh would have a tough season, because he was a rookie coach working with too little preseason prep time. John told brother Jim what Schwartz said, and that lit Jim's fuse.

-- When David Akers' 63-yarder took that big bounce, I was hoping it would come back down and perch on the crossbar. Just to see how the replacement refs would handle it.

-- Yes, it was a bad idea to give Darren McFadden 28 touches against the Chargers. The good news: Dennis Allen and Greg Knapp learned a lesson ... and McFadden survived!

-- Not to pile it on poor Vernon Davis, but I dunked a football on a 10-foot playground hoop when I was 51.

-- Bay Area's best football coach? My vote goes to George Rush of City College of San Francisco. With Saturday's Rams' win over West Hills College, Rush's record at CC is 300-86-4. Winningest coach in U.S. community college history. But wins, schwinns. Rush builds character, one kid and one team (and one win) at a time.

-- It's the garage band of charity golf tourneys, Monday's Have-a-Ball fun- (and fund-) raiser at Crow Canyon Country Club. The event's daddy, Bob Hammer, two-time prostate cancer survivor, has raised a quarter million bucks for charity. It's now two tournaments (Have Two Balls?), 562 golfers, and Bob and family do it all out of their garage.

-- Andre Ward must look terrible on film. Every opponent staggers out of the ring a loser, sputtering that he was surprised by Ward's (fill in the blank - power, speed, etc.). They must think Ward got this far on charm alone.

-- TV watchers (I was at the game) tell me David Akers' kick, when it doinked onto the crossbar, actually made a "doink" sound.

-- Fortune cookie: This will be a bad, bad week for NFL replacement refs, as karma and (lack of) competence catch up with 'em. Coaches will turn up the sideline pressure on the refs for two reasons: Coaches hate stupid calls, and coaches can smell fear.

Knucklehead of the week / Lance - uh, Lane - Kiffin

USC's boy wonder said there would be no "What's your deal?" run-in with Stanford's David Shaw, because, basically, Lance is above the fray.

Yep, same Cool Hand Lane who whined his way through his Raiders gig, taking shots at the owner and the defensive coordinator, then took a cheap shot at Urban Meyer.

Last week Kiffin, girding the ramparts against barbaric outsiders, had his Trojan henchmen ban a newspaper reporter from practices and games for the crime of reporting a legitimate and innocuous story.

Great recruiter, good college coach ... and increasingly drunk with power.