I closed the door. Now it's two days later and you're asking me to close the door again. The damn hinges are wore out.".He'll bring credibility and a sense of purpose to the 49ers, perhaps enough to win the dreadful NFC West (so glad to see the Rams eliminated; how long could you tolerate watching that rancid outfit?). But Harbaugh enters this fray without an average NFL quarterback, let alone a frontliner. Until that changes, he'll have to endure some frustrating losses and more scrutiny than he's ever experienced, by far.

Even without the record, his remarkable comeback season now has a magic number to punctuate it. Simpson, Dickerson, Barry Sanders, Terrell Davis, Jamal Lewis and Chris Johnson in the 2,000yard club. Peterson is the only one to do it after reconstructive knee surgery, and he did it on the oneyear anniversary of his knee surgery..But it also turns a football player's balance and center of gravity into a factor. Running backs can be nudged off balance