Jim Harbaugh is Some Miracle Worker

Harbaugh is a miracle worker if I've ever seen one.

Somewhere between my Bills getting taken behind the woodshed, my own pitiful laughter at the event and my buddies turning the #Billsmafia moniker into an absolute mockery, I found a bit of silver lining. What I was witnessing yesterday was pure greatness. Just like watching LeBron single-handledly carry the Heat to a championship last year, just like watching Kevin Durant blossom in front of our eyes, just like watching Gretzky, Jordan and Montana in their primes. And then you must confirm greatness, accept greatness and as much as it hurts, enjoy that greatness. It's even worse when it's actually your own team on the wrong side of an old fashioned butt-whoopin' from greatness, itself. Thanks to some miraculously ingenuity and moxie, Jim Harbaugh has transformed his squad into a freight train, with a Super Bowl Championship certainly in their sights.

When Harbaugh took over in 2010, the 49ers were a dysfunctional franchise with a historically bad QB (who probably started for a little too long) and a clubhouse that even hardo Mike Singletary couldn't contain. The 2010 49ers won six games, didn't seem to have the talent to run with the lowly NFC West and honestly were a notch below the Raiders in terms of front office shenanigans. Enter Harbaugh, a extremely successful college coach who had molded Andrew Luck into the superstar we know today. Slow your roll though, he was only a college coach and success in college translates to absolutely nothing in the NFL (see Steve Spurrier). There was hype of course, probably more because he was staying in the Bay Area more than anything. But Hype and the San Francisco 49ers weren't exactly a match made in heaven.

And then the season started, and then they went on a eight-game winning streak, and then they won the division and then boom they were in the NFC Championship Game. Their defense, impenetrable, their offense, methodical. Harbaugh had created a beat out of nowhere and they had left the league stunned. They slaughtered the Bucs, manhandled the Steelers, and shredded their division. Harbaugh had his guys playing with the type of swagger Mike Singletary could only spew. The transformation the Niners made from cellar dweller to league leader was a complete result of Harbaugh. His biggest accomplishment though? Alex. Smith.

It's all smiles for Smith these days.

Somewhere in the history books it will be written that Alex Smith went from the worst quarterback in the league (circa 2007) to one of the top 10-12 quarterbacks in the league and even with that defense and Frank Gore's ferocious running game, hell yeah you're right, that's quite a leap. Under Harbaugh's tutelage Smith has matured, become more composed and has even improved as a passer. The 28-year-old is no longer a deer in the headlights out there and I'll tell you right now, if the old ball coach left San Fran. Smith would probably spiral back into the dark days of previous years. I have no idea what Harbaugh did or how he did it, but it is nothing short of a miracle. Listen to this, Alex Smith threw for 300 yards, 3 TDs and zero interceptions against on Sunday. Yeah, he might have been playing the Bills and their seriously overpaid defense, but Smith has only thrown for more than 300 yards three times in his career. 3 times. Especially if you consider the 3 TDs and no picks as well? Mind-boggling. The Niners were legitimately thinking of benching this guy in favor of David Carr. David Carr. I'm sorry but Carr has never recovered from his glory days at Fresno State. It was stunning to think that Smith remained in the league for as long as he did, but that shows how dysfunctional San Francisco has been. Yet, Harbaugh has erased all those sickening memories for the Niners faithful and their used-to-be-brutal quarterback. Let's face it, they're a damn good ballclub.

For sending Smith down a completely revitalized path, Harbaugh alone should be the Coach of the Year every year. Combine that miracle with the fact the Niners defense is the league's best and there's no way this guy isn't in the elite ranks of coaching. I'll go as far as to say that their defense is the new Ravens and Patrick Willis is the next Ray Lewis. And yes, it's almost entirely a product of Harbaugh.

3 years ago it would have been the San Francisco fans cheering at an injured Alex Smith, now he's pushing the docket as one of the league's best. And were all left scratching are heads and saying "How did he do it?"