Was that Terrell Owens with tears streaming down his cheeks? No, that was Vernon Davis.
Was that Steve Mariucci comforting him during an emotional time of triumph? No, that was Jim Harbaugh.
Plenty of folks on Twitter immediately noticed the similarities between the 49ers' 1998 wild-card win over the Packers and Saturday's 36-32 divisional playoff victory over the Saints. And those similarities definitely weren't lost on Mariucci, who coached those '98 Niners.
"Well, that brought back some memories of Terrell Owens making the catch against the Green Bay Packers in the playoffs, then coming and crying on my shoulder on our sideline," Mariucci, now an NFL Network analyst, told NFL.com. "I mean, it was déjà vu all over again. It was crazy."
Was it meant to be? After all, the 49ers just celebrated the 30th anniversary of "The Catch" -- the original between Joe Montana and Dwight Clark -- earlier this week. And this was Alex Smith and Davis doing their best impression of "The Catch II" between Steve Young and Owens.
"The Catch III," anybody?
Beyond the winning touchdown, the parallels weren't lost on Mariucci, either.
"Just as a fan, it's just very similar," Mariucci said. "The opponent was a very good team with a very good quarterback. With me, it was against the Packers and Brett Favre. Here, it's against Drew Brees. Both guys are going to be Hall of Famers.
"Last-minute heroics with a throw and catch. Good stuff."
The stuff of legends. Mooch knows all about that.
