Smith Did his Part/MBarrows& Now Tim K article

Originally posted by JBatta49erfansince81:
Please. You have got to be kidding me. We have completely customized the offense for Alex which in essence has traded our running game for a passing game with the end result still equaling a loss. Alex made a couple good throws during the game. Big deal. Am I supposed to get excited about that? He is in the NFL, he should be making those throws all game. WTF was that stupid pass he threw on our last offensive play? He had the first down wide open to Davis. I will say it again, Alex knows where he is throwing the pass before he hikes the ball. That is not how you play QB in the NFL. You have got to read the D. God why cant we just move on from Smith already.

Alex Smith didn't customize the offense. Jimmy Raye did that.

Raye is the single reason this offense has not generated more points than any thing else. He has an All Pro running back in Frank Gore but utilizes high school-level blocking patterns in the OL on running plays. I am convinced the OL COULD be better if given a chance to move out of the dark ages in blocking patterns.

I know that is not a sexy topic for discussion. It is far more popular to talk about Smith or Davis or Gore or whoever, but the fact of the matter is, this game is won in the trenches and Jimmy Raye does not allow the 49er OL the advantage of variety and misdirection in their blocking schemes. The result is they must ALL win one-on-one battles if Gore is to have running room, and that is a very difficult order for any line, especially one that is inexperienced and dealing with injury issues. However, if anyone watched the Arizona game last night you saw how subs could come in and play well, but it was the blocking schemes that were largely responsible for it.

FWIW, I just went back and looked at the final pass play and you are wrong about Vernon Davis. Davis is running a deep diagonal route from right to left. As the pass is in the air to Morgan, Davis is 20 yards down the field on the left hash marks and is well covered. As others have noted as well, all three receivers were on vertical routes. There were no receivers running short "possession" routes that would have picked up the first down. Again, this is on Jimmy Raye. He SHOULD have had someone on a short route as Seattle was in a PREVENT setup and anything short WOULD have gotten the first down, but no one was on that route.

If you want to criticize Smith, criticize him for missing Hill on the play before but you are wrong about the final pass. Morgan looks to have run an indecisive route and Smith is left with no one open at all. All he has was a Hail Mary. Go look at the tape.

[ Edited by dj43 on Dec 7, 2009 at 08:50:48 ]

Great points by Barrows....everyone sees Alex is developing into a good QB and I can't wait until next season. Go Niners and Haters can kick rocks.....LOL......your going to have to keep being mad because Alex will be the starter in 2010......so find another team to root for......

Originally posted by JBatta49erfansince81:
Please. You have got to be kidding me. We have completely customized the offense for Alex which in essence has traded our running game for a passing game with the end result still equaling a loss. Alex made a couple good throws during the game. Big deal. Am I supposed to get excited about that? He is in the NFL, he should be making those throws all game. WTF was that stupid pass he threw on our last offensive play? He had the first down wide open to Davis. I will say it again, Alex knows where he is throwing the pass before he hikes the ball. That is not how you play QB in the NFL. You have got to read the D. God why cant we just move on from Smith already.

Originally posted by dtg_9er:

Originally posted by nflguy49:

Originally posted by GBNinerFan:

Originally posted by nflguy49:
"If the wrs don't drop his passes"

Well, if were gonna play that game we might as well wonder what if defensive backs don't drop gift interceptions that Smith has sent them nearly every week.

Some people around here won't be happy with anything Alex does. You're one of them.

He was horrible on 3rd down against a s**tty 3rd rate defense. On the Niners final drive of the game Smith was just as erratic and inaccurate as ever before. Some people are calling this the best game of Smith's career. I think that's sad for Smith and this franchise.

Didn't see anyone anointing Smith as a savior, but his play has been improving this year and he doesn't look as lost. The QB gets the blame most of the time and Smith has lived with a lot of negativity for years now. It may be time to admit he wasn't terrible in this game. I don't have the game on tape but if someone does would you post how many drops were on 3rd down?

The running game did not impress but with limited tries...

LOL

As for how many drops on 3rd down. There was ONE. It looked like Crabtree could have attempted a spectacular catch but he pulled his arms in and braced for the hit he was gonna take from the safety. Like I said, Smith was horrible on 3rd down all day against a s**tty defense.

Jeez...anyone who would put this loss on Smith needs to have their head examined.

TEN drops.

Delanie in the endzone: Interfered with and a drop.
Vernon on the same drive: Bobbled and dropped in the endzone.
Vernon in the 4th Quarter: Dropped in the endzone.
Crabtree: it would have been a great catch, but he still should have pulled it down in the endzone.

Thats only three drives, so thats only 2 more TDS, but that means Alex should have had 4 TDs, 0 picks, 350 yards or so and at LEAST a 10 point win.

Vernon also dropped 2 more passes that could have resulted in crucial first downs.

Alex was the only guy who WAS playing well on O yesterday. LOL. It amazes me that people still find a way to blame him.

I never said Smith is the only person responsible for the loss. I simply object to posts claiming Smith played great and the only reason we lost were those dropped passes.

Originally posted by Ninerbowl6:
Great points by Barrows....everyone sees Alex is developing into a good QB and I can't wait until next season. Go Niners and Haters can kick rocks.....LOL......your going to have to keep being mad because Alex will be the starter in 2010......so find another team to root for......

I wish some would so we can talk about positivity instead of jumping on one player day in and out , becuz your personal player isn't starting, or u just flat out don't like the kid.

Smith chokes on the final drive.

In a game decided by 3 pts do you think going 1 for 13 on 3rd down was a major factor in the loss?

Alex played a good game overall but sucked on 3rd downs and sucked on the most important series of the game.

what an original article idea

http://www.49erswebzone.com/forum/thread.php?num=134679

[ Edited by MadMartz on Dec 7, 2009 at 09:00:52 ]

5-7

[ Edited by nflguy49 on Dec 7, 2009 at 09:03:16 ]

Originally posted by MadMartz:
what an original article idea

http://www.49erswebzone.com/forum/thread.php?num=134679

Wuz up brotha. nah not the same article. You posted, on personal feeling. I posted on the same, but from the basis of the article. So nah not the same idea, unless you wrote an article as well

Originally posted by nflguy49:
Smith chokes on the final drive.

In a game decided by 3 pts do you think going 1 for 13 on 3rd down was a major factor in the loss?

Alex played a good game overall but sucked on 3rd downs and sucked on the most important series of the game.

See thats your problem. The most important drives of the game, was when Smith drove us the length of the field only to have the passes dropped in the endzone, and Gore fumble.

The game shouldnt of come down to the final not two minutes, but 58 seconds. Ok, so we falter, then what if we get that stop on D. OT. So you see how things work hand in hand. A qb cant be effective if the Wr arent catching the ball.

And once again stop avoidin my question.

Ur focusing on 3rd downs soo much huh. Well if the Wr's caught all 3 of the td's who gives a s**t about 3 and outs. It's not the number of plays, if you know anything about football it's about making the plays when you have em. If the men you depend on drop 10 passes in a game. Thats not the qb's fault.

When brees came back for that win. He threw 3 td's and his WR's in the clutch on 4 different drives. Caught the ball for scores. Or you know what, they would of lost too. The defense stepped up, and stopped the titans to take the game into overtime.

Now after Smith got us back to 17. Was it our D's job to prevent them from getting key first downs. I think what 30 sumthin seconds. at the 30 sumthin yd line, and we couldnt get a stop. Nah brotha, talk about the TEAM losing this game. And as Barrows, and most say. This game look at how the supporting cast let us down.

[ Edited by Jersey9er on Dec 7, 2009 at 09:15:40 ]

Of course its on Smith. He is the leader and is expected to always make the right decisions. He did have a couple of too high and behind the receiver passes. It is also on the rest of the team too. The dropped passes that were right there were killers. Crabtree is a rookie and is playing way better than most rookies. He is probably allowed a drop here and there. Davis is still dropping way too many for someone that has his experience. Some of that razzle-dazzle crap on returns it just that, CRAP. That is on coaching. After all, the coach calls those plays. Jones hasn't played hardly at all this season and that is too much. Battle is pretty sure handed on the catches, but they were trying to make up for his non-ability to return for any extra yardage. They need to let Gore follow the fullback once in a while too, just to keep the defense on its toes. This was a game that the Niners should have won, but shoulda doesn't get it done. Everyone was partially responsible including Smith, but overall, Smith did a pretty good job. Experience as an offense will help. A full offseason with the same people should really show up next year. Singletary and Raye aren't going anywhere for now, so let hope being together as a team through the off season makes a big difference. As well as Crabtree has done, he would have been doing a lot better, maybe probowl, if he had been here in training camp.

Originally posted by JBatta49erfansince81:
Please. You have got to be kidding me. We have completely customized the offense for Alex which in essence has traded our running game for a passing game with the end result still equaling a loss. Alex made a couple good throws during the game. Big deal. Am I supposed to get excited about that? He is in the NFL, he should be making those throws all game. WTF was that stupid pass he threw on our last offensive play? He had the first down wide open to Davis. I will say it again, Alex knows where he is throwing the pass before he hikes the ball. That is not how you play QB in the NFL. You have got to read the D. God why cant we just move on from Smith already.

I also remember a play where he had Gore wide open for a swing pass on the left (probably good for at least 10 yds) yet he didn't even look his way and forced one into coverage to Morgan or Walker I believe and of course it went incomplete.

Originally posted by nflguy49:

Originally posted by dtg_9er:

Originally posted by nflguy49:

Originally posted by GBNinerFan:

Originally posted by nflguy49:
"If the wrs don't drop his passes"

Well, if were gonna play that game we might as well wonder what if defensive backs don't drop gift interceptions that Smith has sent them nearly every week.

Some people around here won't be happy with anything Alex does. You're one of them.

He was horrible on 3rd down against a s**tty 3rd rate defense. On the Niners final drive of the game Smith was just as erratic and inaccurate as ever before. Some people are calling this the best game of Smith's career. I think that's sad for Smith and this franchise.

Didn't see anyone anointing Smith as a savior, but his play has been improving this year and he doesn't look as lost. The QB gets the blame most of the time and Smith has lived with a lot of negativity for years now. It may be time to admit he wasn't terrible in this game. I don't have the game on tape but if someone does would you post how many drops were on 3rd down?

The running game did not impress but with limited tries...

LOL

As for how many drops on 3rd down. There was ONE. It looked like Crabtree could have attempted a spectacular catch but he pulled his arms in and braced for the hit he was gonna take from the safety. Like I said, Smith was horrible on 3rd down all day against a s**tty defense.

Let's not get carried away by the "degree of difficulty" of the catch Crabtree would have had to make. Yes, he would have had to take a hit but the catch was routine for an NFL receiver. Look at the tape. The ball would likely have hit him in the helmet had he not ducked his head. Yes, he did duck his head. I looked at it several times on the tap.

The only question is; would he have held onto the ball if he had attempted to catch it? We will never know the answer to that question but we do know he wimped out on the attempt.