smith @ end of game

let me first say this is not to bash/luv on anyone. i would just like to see if anyone's thoughts are similar to mine or why not.

smith played a great game today for the most part. the drops/fumbles/coaching (3 TOs in Q1 amongst other things) killed us.

yet in the end we had the ball tied with about 50 secs to go. everyone was expecting smith would drive us down for a game winning score (FG or TD).

this is when a good qb becomes great. this is when leaders/winners are made. this is when u need ur qb to win the game.

however, alex had his 2 worst plays at that point. very disappointing.

and at this point you forget all the mistakes that have happened to this point. all the other stuff. all that matters is scoring. somehow. someway. and it didn't happen.

so i'm left to think that alex is good but not great. i don't if it is something that he can learn....that is being clutch in critical moments or is it something you just have.

but i personally came away very disappointed in how alex played on the 2 most crucial downs and have lost some faith in him.

so can he learn to finish or is it curtains for smith? lets keep this a respectable discussion folks.

I think he is making great strides. He will be better by seasons end.

Bad play calling

this is a valid point. I like Alex but he needs to close these games when the game is on the line. He has failed too may times. He had time against the Texans and failed, he had time today twice and failed. Frank failed, VD failed, Crabs failed... this team has let me down too many times this year.

Don't forget on the drive before he hit Vernon in his hands & he dropped a touchdown. Then Crabtree wasn't looking for the ball that would have been a touchdown.

Originally posted by ninersush:
let me first say this is not to bash/luv on anyone. i would just like to see if anyone's thoughts are similar to mine or why not.

smith played a great game today for the most part. the drops/fumbles/coaching (3 TOs in Q1 amongst other things) killed us.

yet in the end we had the ball tied with about 50 secs to go. everyone was expecting smith would drive us down for a game winning score (FG or TD).

this is when a good qb becomes great. this is when leaders/winners are made. this is when u need ur qb to win the game.

however, alex had his 2 worst plays at that point. very disappointing.

and at this point you forget all the mistakes that have happened to this point. all the other stuff. all that matters is scoring. somehow. someway. and it didn't happen.

so i'm left to think that alex is good but not great. i don't if it is something that he can learn....that is being clutch in critical moments or is it something you just have.

but i personally came away very disappointed in how alex played on the 2 most crucial downs and have lost some faith in him.

so can he learn to finish or is it curtains for smith? lets keep this a respectable discussion folks.

Originally posted by tohara3:
Don't forget on the drive before he hit Vernon in his hands & he dropped a touchdown. Then Crabtree wasn't looking for the ball that would have been a touchdown.

receivers let him down

Originally posted by Bobbi9698:
Bad play calling

Cant always blame the playcalling. At some point, a QB's instincts have to come into play. I know that Raye called a fluke play by having everyone run long routes, but that also cleared the immediate vicinity for Alex Smith to run. He could have easily tucked and made a made dash for the first, even stepping out of bounds after a 10 yard run. Instead, he opted to air it out to Morgan, who was triple covered. I agree with the OP; Smith had a heck of a day...and was the main reason we stayed in the game, but he still needs to learn how to improvise when needed.

Originally posted by ZRF80:

Originally posted by Bobbi9698:
Bad play calling

Cant always blame the playcalling. At some point, a QB's instincts have to come into play. I know that Raye called a fluke play by having everyone run long routes, but that also cleared the immediate vicinity for Alex Smith to run. He could have easily tucked and made a made dash for the first, even stepping out of bounds after a 10 yard run. Instead, he opted to air it out to Morgan, who was triple covered. I agree with the OP; Smith had a heck of a day...and was the main reason we stayed in the game, but he still needs to learn how to improvise when needed.

yes and if jason hill catches the pass on 2nd down were watching the drive continue

Originally posted by Chico:
this is a valid point. I like Alex but he needs to close these games when the game is on the line. He has failed too may times. He had time against the Texans and failed, he had time today twice and failed. Frank failed, VD failed, Crabs failed... this team has let me down too many times this year.

Sorry, but that's total crap. He closed the game twice, once when he bounced the winning TD off Vernon's helmet and once when he lead a drive from his 1 yard line to Seattle's 20, where Frank fumbled. He also lead them down the field for a tying TD.

And against Houston he came in at 1/2 time, down 3 TD's.

This is a team game. Maybe you should pay a bit of attention to the other players.

Originally posted by ninersush:
let me first say this is not to bash/luv on anyone. i would just like to see if anyone's thoughts are similar to mine or why not.

smith played a great game today for the most part. the drops/fumbles/coaching (3 TOs in Q1 amongst other things) killed us.

yet in the end we had the ball tied with about 50 secs to go. everyone was expecting smith would drive us down for a game winning score (FG or TD).

this is when a good qb becomes great. this is when leaders/winners are made. this is when u need ur qb to win the game.

however, alex had his 2 worst plays at that point. very disappointing.

and at this point you forget all the mistakes that have happened to this point. all the other stuff. all that matters is scoring. somehow. someway. and it didn't happen.

so i'm left to think that alex is good but not great. i don't if it is something that he can learn....that is being clutch in critical moments or is it something you just have.

but i personally came away very disappointed in how alex played on the 2 most crucial downs and have lost some faith in him.

so can he learn to finish or is it curtains for smith? lets keep this a respectable discussion folks.

QB's get better with age. You might want to put some of that last drive on the coaching ...they need to learn how to walk and chew gum at the same time, go for the score and manage to not give the ball back if you don't get a score by using up the clock along the way. Then start fresh in OT. But alas, that is where a run game would be handy, and some run blocking, now wouldn't it?

I could not disagree more with this thread.

You got your 300 yards despite MANY, MANY drops. AND we lost, but NOT because of Smith.

[ Edited by NineFourNiner on Dec 6, 2009 at 18:42:25 ]

Originally posted by teeohh:

Originally posted by tohara3:
Don't forget on the drive before he hit Vernon in his hands & he dropped a touchdown. Then Crabtree wasn't looking for the ball that would have been a touchdown.

receivers let him down

That would have been vernon's most important catch this year

I see what youre saying but why didn't you make this thread about Davis or Crabtree? I mean honestly at what point do we hold other accountable to? Alex pretty much led us on a great 90+ yard game winning drive only to be let down by VD and Crabtree. It's a whole different level of play and mentality when you're driving with 3 min vs 48 seconds. And the play call on 3rd and 3 at the end was just plain retarded. If there was ever a time for our conservaball 3 yards and a cloud of dust that was the time.

Alex Smith and Patrick Willis were the only ones that showed up today.

Originally posted by LambdaChi49:
I see what youre saying but why didn't you make this thread about Davis or Crabtree? I mean honestly at what point do we hold other accountable to? Alex pretty much led us on a great 90+ yard game winning drive only to be let down by VD and Crabtree. It's a whole different level of play and mentality when you're driving with 3 min vs 48 seconds. And the play call on 3rd and 3 at the end was just plain retarded. If there was ever a time for our conservaball 3 yards and a cloud of dust that was the time.

Alex Smith and Patrick Willis were the only ones that showed up today.

. . . and if Gore does not fumble on the long drive, we win the game and Smith is the hero.