In a game that truly lived up to the title of a championship game, the San Francisco 49ers led by Head Coach David Pactor defeated the Oklahoma Outlaws to win the Frozen Tundra Super Bowl number six. Click for Game Box Score: Congratulations to Coach Pactor for winning and thanks to all the other Frozen Tundra coaches and especially Commissioner Garry Nagata for a competitive and enjoyable season. A lot of work when into making this season possible and it ran smoothly from beginning to end. Hopefully we will all be back again next season to take aim at the new kings of the league, the San Francisco Forty Niners.

This is one of the rare moments where the seeding is justified and the fans get what they want, a battle between the number one and number two teams for league supremacy in 2012. The deciding game will be held on March 17 at 8:00 am Pacific time in order to be viewed live in prime time in Kabul.

Both teams ride long winning streaks on their path to the title game. San Francisco lost their last game back in week 8 (more on that later) while Oklahoma has been without a blemish since way back in week 2 of the Frozen Tundra season. In fact, the Outlaws haven't been involved in a one score game since back in week nine. In the playoffs the Forty Niners survived a big test from the Cincinnati Bengals, then rebounded with a convincing semi-final victory over a very good New York team. Oklahoma used their defense to suffocate Tampa Bay and in their semi-final game the Outlaws were clicking on all cylinders in downing Seattle.

Through the regular season San Francisco led the Frozen Tundra on both sides of the ball. They allowed the fewest points and scored the most points. Oklahoma was nearly as impressive, finishing second only to the Niners in both categories. Individually San Francisco's Quarterback Drew Brees was the league leader in Completion %, Passing Yards & T.D.'s. San Francisco Defensive End John Abraham was fifth in the F.T. in sacks with 12. The Outlaws counter that with their trio of standouts. Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger finished with the highest Q.B. Rating in the Frozen Tundra and was second in the league in Passing T.D.'s. Defensive End Trent Cole was tied for third in the league in sacks with 13. Wide Receiver Nate Washington pulled in a league high 17 touchdown passes while averaging 18.5 yards per catch! Both teams have respectable running games led by double threat backs. San Francisco has the dangerous Ray Rice who accounted for over 2000 combined rushing and receiving yards. Oklahoma boasts the veteran Frank Gore who produced over 16oo yards of offense for the men in black.

Taking a deeper look at what worked this season for these two teams. San Francisco just brutalized teams with their offense. The 49ers produced over 5900 yards of offense, averaging over 370 yards per game. With their opponents playing mostly from behind the San Francisco defense showed little mercy as they allowed just over 240 yards per game, finished 4th in the league in sacks and produced 31 takeaways. Oklahoma was not quite as overall impressive statistically. While San Francisco more resembled a high tech attack, Oklahoma was more of a throwback. The Outlaws provide constant pressure on both sides for 60 minutes and when a crack eventually appears they pour through like water through a compromised dam. I've alluded to Ben Roethlisberger's phenomenal consistency through the season. On defense Oklahoma was number two in sacks, number two in interceptions and number two with a +18 in giveaway/takeaways.

Earlier I mentioned that San Francisco lost in week 8. The relevance of that, the loss was to the Oklahoma Outlaws. For Oklahoma the game was the type of execution that they hope for in the Championship game. The Outlaws defense harassed Drew Brees throughout the contest and San Francisco did crack. Six sacks, five interceptions (one for a T.D.) and a convincing 18 point win. The rushing game struggled for Oklahoma but Roethlisberger had his typical efficient day under center. A touchdown, no picks and a cool 262 yards passing. For San Francisco, this was a worst case scenario and one that they certainly hope doesn't recur in the rematch. Finally, the last keys to the game of the season:

1. Drew Brees, good or bad or somewhere in between? Needless to say, at this level of competition if Brees has a game like back in week 8 then San Francisco has a tough road. Brees pedigree for the rest of the season is very good so the odds of a repeat of that performance is small.
2. Can Roethlisberger be disrupted? This guy has shown 16 weeks worth of single minded, game winning focus. Can the Forty Niners discover a way to get him off his game?
3. Who's running this thing? In week eight the two teams combined for 49 rush attempts that yielded a total of 165 yards! Neither team abandoned the run but neither defense allowed the running games to get going. Both teams have displayed the capacity for running the ball during the season, if one team establishes a successful running game that could swing the pendulum their way.
4. The lightning bolt. This could be any one of several things: Oklahoma's Nate Washington connecting on a bomb or Marc Mariani breaking a punt return. Trent Cole having a huge game and forcing Drew Brees into mistakes...San Francisco's Drew Brees getting a hot hand with his plethora of inviting targets, Brandon Lloyd, Mike Wallace and Brandon Marshall. Or, Eric Weems breaking a kick return.

Should be quite an entertaining game.

Teams offensive leaders:

PASSING	ATT.	COMP.	T.D.	INT.	RTG.
Drew Brees - S.F.	581	363	37	23	92.6
Ben Roethlisberger - OKL.	473	269	33	9	97.0
RUSHING	ATT.	YDS.	AVG.	LONG	T.D.
Ray Rice - S.F.	336	1438	4.3	47	12
Frank Gore - OKL.	229	1156	5.0	25	4
RECEIVING	REC.	YDS.	AVG.	LONG	T.D.
Antonio Gates - S.F.	75	952	12.7	57	7
Nate Washington - OKL.	59	1092	18.5	75	17