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Daily Madden: How The Giants Dominated The 49ers

SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS) - The San Francisco 49ers were humbled by the Super Bowl champion New York Giants in a 26-3 loss At Candlestick Park Sunday. "You always have to respect the champion," John Madden told the KCBS morning crew Monday.

"We get carried away by this whole thing of who's the best team too soon. Well, you determine that on the field. If you're going to be the best you have to beat the champions, and (the 49ers) weren't able to do that."

Madden noted how the Giants dominated on both sides of the ball. "You have to be able to run and stop the run," he said. "The Giants showed yesterday how the two go together. If you can run and they can't stop the run, then you're two-dimensional, and they have to play the run and the pass so they can never overload on one. Now if you can stop the run, then in essence you can make them one-dimensional. Then you can set your defenses for pass defense."

At 4-2, the 49ers are tied for the division lead with the Arizona Cardinals and the Seattle Seahawks, who come to Candlestick Park this week for a quick turnaround game. "(The Seahawks) are going to be a pretty good test this Thursday night for San Francisco," Madden said, calling Seattle the biggest surprise team in the league. "I really felt the Patriots were the best team in the NFL... And when Seattle beat New England up there (on Sunday), they proved to me that they're the real deal."

Listen to the John Madden segment live weekday mornings at 8:15 on KCBS All News 740 AM/106.9 FM. And catch John's extra report at 9:15 a.m. Mondays and Fridays during the NFL season.)
(Copyright 2012 by CBS San Francisco. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

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