Last season, the San Francisco 49ers found themselves in the same position they are this season, in the NFC Championship game. However, safety Donte Whitner believes last year’s team wasn’t ready for the moment from a mental standpoint, something he says the team has changed this season.
“We didn’t really understand the magnitude of the moment,” Whitner said Tuesday of that 20-17, overtime exit. “A championship game like this, each and every play, it’s going to be a roller-coaster ride out there. We understand that now.”
The 49ers enter the NFC championship game as 4.5 favorites on the road verse the Falcons, and look to remove the bad taste from their mouths after that devastating overtime loss the Giants last season.
“Walking into the locker room after that game (last year), guys don’t want to feel that way again,” center Jonathan Goodwin said.
And as far as Matt Ryan, Whitner feels he’s a top quarterback, but knows both parties have something to prove this Sunday.
“He needs these next two games to prove it, and we need these two games to prove that we are who we say we are.”
