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Candlestick finale comes with arrests

What would they have done if they lost? The 49ers beat the Atlanta Falcons, 34-24, Monday night in the last game at Candlestick Park and some San Francisco fans commemorated the event by filling a few of the city's jails.

Candlestick Park. (Aaron Kehoe/AP)
Candlestick Park. (Aaron Kehoe/AP)Read more

What would they have done if they lost?

The 49ers beat the Atlanta Falcons, 34-24, Monday night in the last game at Candlestick Park and some San Francisco fans commemorated the event by filling a few of the city's jails.

Police said they made 30 arrests during the game, and an additional 81 people were ejected. Most of the arrests were for public drunkenness, though one person was taken into custody on suspicion of trying to steal a seat from the stadium (just one?). Police had to take the miscreants to smaller lockups at district stations because the hoosegow became so full at one point, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.

The game was almost as exciting as what was happening in the stands, with NaVorro Bowman returning an interception 89 yards for a touchdown with 1 minute, 10 seconds left and the 49ers clinching a playoff spot.

So there may be another game at the 'Stick if the Niners can win the West crown and get the top seed - but it would take a degree in calculus to explain it.

Smash-nose football. Houston Texans defensive end J.J. Watt hits hard.

With his face.

His penchant for violent collisions brought him an honor as defensive player of the year last season, and may bring a similar accolade this season. It also mashed up his nose something awful.

He needed six stitches after gashing the bridge of his schnozzola in Week 4, and each subsequent game has reopened the cut to the extent that, yep, it's left a mark - an obvious indentation and permanent red line across his proboscis.

He was getting stitched up after every game, but then gave up and let his face and uniform get bloody. While he admits it's "very painful" to play, (and it can't be pleasant to play against him) Watt says his nose is OK as long as nothing touches it. He tried a different helmet before Sunday's game against Denver and said it felt a little better.

With his tough-guy credentials in order, he told the Associated Press that he's going to look into having plastic surgery to repair the injury in the offseason.

To please his mother. "She hates it," he said. "My mom doesn't like it all, so she's hoping I get it fixed this offseason."

Who's the toughest? A tough guy's mother.

Hey, flex this game. Carolina safety Mike Mitchell, on the playoff-bound Panthers playing the woeful Falcons in Atlanta on Sunday: "There is bad blood between us."