San Francisco 49ers fans everywhere had a feeling they had not felt in a while: Excitement for a 49ers game on Monday Night Football, which was the first meaningful game in December in a long time.  The excitement of the 49ers not only playing on a national stage but with ten wins, as NFC West champs and against the Steelers built up the game anxiety as kickoff approached.  That anxiety only increased when the lights went out at Candlestick Park reminding the 49ers Faithful and the rest of the NFL, the 49ers have a crappy stadium.  There would be a 20 minute delay until the lights were fully restored.  Waiting out the lights to return I had so many thoughts racing through my mind as to whether or not this was a good or bad thing for the 49ers.

The lights going out had nothing to do with the 49ers winning the game but that did not stop the Steelers from crying foul.  Even with the lights going out again in the second quarter causing a delay of 16 minutes, it did not seem to affect either team.  The City of San Francisco and the electric company running the grid do not know what caused both outages.

While the Steelers and everyone else focus on the reason for the lights going out, the 49ers and fans focus on the team one win away, and a Saints loss, from clinching the second seed in the NFC.  Let’s hand out some Game Gold Nuggets:

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Pittsburgh Steelers (10-3) vs. San Francisco 49ers (10-3)

Candlestick Park

Kickoff at 5:30 PM (ESPN)

Here are five things to watch for in Monday Night Football’s showdown of the Steelers and 49ers game:

Red Zone, Red Zone, Red Zone

Really I could write a whole post on five things to watch for in the red zone for the 49ers but I will condense it all here.   The only way the 49ers will win the game is scoring a touchdown on every possession inside the red zone.  The game against the Cardinals showed the days of the offense being able to lean on kicker David Akers for points after they fail inside the 20-yard line are over.  If the Cardinals were able to beat the 49ers because the team failed three times inside the red zone in one quarter, what do you think will happen against the Steelers?  Simply put, if the 49ers score a TD on all of their possessions inside the red zone there is no way they lose the game.  Should the offense fail to score a TD inside the 20, even only once, will mean a loss for the 49ers.

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In preparation for tonight’s showdown between the Steelers and 49ers, Niner Noise asked the Steelers fan web site Nice Pick, Cower some questions about the game.  The editor of the web site Craig Gottschalk answered the questions below and you can check out their web site for our answers.  Go 49ers, and enjoy!

Q.  Niner fans have been monitoring Ben Roethlisberger’s injury all week and it looks like he is a go.  With him having been limited in practice the past week, how confident are Steeler fans in him being effective and able to lead the offense down the field?

I think most Steelers fans would love to see Ben take the field – especially since this game just got a whole lot bigger with the Ravens losing last night.  There’s no doubt that most are worried to see how effective he is, since the strongest part of his game – extending plays – may not be there.  I think as long as the o-line gives him that little bit of added protection he needs to get rid of the ball, he will be very effective in connecting with his receivers.  That said, the Niners certainly have the advantage of not needing to put a man or two on Ben should he decide to scramble.

Q.  How big of an impact will there be on defense with linebacker James Harrison suspended?  Who is starting in Harrison’s place and can he make up his lost production?

Jason Worlids will take the start.  Lawrence Timmons will move to the outside, and Worlids will start in Timmons’ inside slot.  Harrison was out for four weeks earlier in the season and the Steelers won all four of those games.  I have confidence that with LaMarr Woodely back on the other side, the defense will be just fine without Harrison.  Worlids is progressing very well as a young LB and should be able to contribute tonight.

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