If we make the playoffs.......

fate of this season falls squarely on the dainty shoulders of axle smith. make or break for him.

I agree, how Alex goes so goes the team. He'll have a better OL so he shouldn't have any more excuses. Either he sinks or swims.

Originally posted by Jamespowers:
WHEN we make playoffs, its WHEN

I fear not making the playoffs... because it will likely lead to some major changes in the team. Probably necessary changes, but might set us back a year or two...

It's all on Alex. This is his time. He will either make or break us this season. If he fails to get us into the post season we will be drafting his replacement in April.

While I kind of agree that the answer to this is Alex and that it's a team game... I'd have to vote for the OL as a whole. To me, that is our biggest question mark. I believe if they can do their collective job more efficiently, we are set for the best season we have had since 2002.

Originally posted by zillabeast:

KIND OF LOOKS LIKE THE INDIAN GUY IN INDIANA JONES AND THE TEMPLE OF DOOM.

The Bad guy who wanted the shankara stones....mugaron sigaron

Originally posted by elguapo:

Originally posted by zillabeast:

KIND OF LOOKS LIKE THE INDIAN GUY IN INDIANA JONES AND THE TEMPLE OF DOOM.

The Bad guy who wanted the shankara stones....mugaron sigaron

Thats.... Doctor Jones to you!

I agree with you that it requires a team effort. I mean you can have a stud at quarterbck then some guy does not do his job on a kickoff and the other team runs the kick back. The Cardinals had a hall of fame player at quarterback and lost the game because their defense was pitiful. Also Hasselbeck was a better player than Ben R in the superbowl but the Steelers won because they had the better team. Heck we all know Tom Brady was better than Eli Manning(not a stud by the way), yet the Giants won because the defensive line of the Giants wreaked havoc on Brady. Singletary knows its a team game that's why he feels he can win with Alex Smith. I am not a Smith fan at all but I like the 49ers and I want to be proven wrong about Smith. I don't think we can overcome his weakness because in my opinion the rest of the team is not dominant enough. Singletary has two rings as a player and as a coach and both times it was because of a dominating running game and the best defense ever at the time. I don't think we have a defense like the Ravens or Bears or a running game like the 90's Cowboys so Smith would have to be a very good player and I don't see that happening.

Originally posted by longtime49erfan:
I agree; this is a foolish question.

Football is one of the few genuine team sports. No single player will bring us across the playoff threshold. We will sink or swim as a team unit.

Sing has that point of view, too, which is why this team, once built into a powerhouse, will remain a powerhouse for years to come; because no single player makes the team what it is... it all requires team effort.

So I vote for all of them.

Originally posted by WINiner:

Originally posted by SoMovedOn:

Originally posted by bigmike55:

Originally posted by defenderDX:
Kind of a dumb question...Obviously everything falls on Alex Smith. How he performs will determine whether we even make it OR not. Only time will tell.

Kind of is an understatement. This is a quarterback driven league. Good quarterbacks lead their teams to the playoffs and more. It's a fact.

I beg to differ. Many teams in the history of this league have had success getting to the playoffs with a mediocre quarterback. We have some good enough talent around Alex, that all he needs to do is not turn the ball over and play smart football. If we make the playoffs it will be a team effort, with every player on the field contributing to our success.

History smistory

The last 5 Superbowls have had
Drew Breese
Peyton Manning
Kurt Warner
Ben Rothlesburger
Tom Brady
Eli Manning
Peyton Manning
Ben Rothlesburger
Matt Hassleback (when he was really good)

All but 1 QB in the last 5 SB's was a stud, that one who wasn't a stud (grossman I think) lost.

I completely agree that getting to a super bowl usually requires a great quarterback or a phenomenal defense. That being said, the thread is about getting to the playoffs.

Many sub-par quarterbacks have made it to the playoffs. Take for example Mark Sanchez last year.

He only threw for about 2,500 yards. He had 12 touchdowns and 20 interceptions. He had a passer rating of 63.0, and I believe he had one of the worst completion ratings in the league last year. Yet the Jets made it to the playoffs due to the great play of their D and their run game.

I believe that the Niners might be a model of the '09 Jets, with an average QB, supported by a great D and a great running game!

Originally posted by SoMovedOn:

Originally posted by WINiner:

Originally posted by SoMovedOn:

Originally posted by bigmike55:

Originally posted by defenderDX:
Kind of a dumb question...Obviously everything falls on Alex Smith. How he performs will determine whether we even make it OR not. Only time will tell.

Kind of is an understatement. This is a quarterback driven league. Good quarterbacks lead their teams to the playoffs and more. It's a fact.

I beg to differ. Many teams in the history of this league have had success getting to the playoffs with a mediocre quarterback. We have some good enough talent around Alex, that all he needs to do is not turn the ball over and play smart football. If we make the playoffs it will be a team effort, with every player on the field contributing to our success.

History smistory

The last 5 Superbowls have had
Drew Breese
Peyton Manning
Kurt Warner
Ben Rothlesburger
Tom Brady
Eli Manning
Peyton Manning
Ben Rothlesburger
Matt Hassleback (when he was really good)

All but 1 QB in the last 5 SB's was a stud, that one who wasn't a stud (grossman I think) lost.

I completely agree that getting to a super bowl usually requires a great quarterback or a phenomenal defense. That being said, the thread is about getting to the playoffs.

Many sub-par quarterbacks have made it to the playoffs. Take for example Mark Sanchez last year.

He only threw for about 2,500 yards. He had 12 touchdowns and 20 interceptions. He had a passer rating of 63.0, and I believe he had one of the worst completion ratings in the league last year. Yet the Jets made it to the playoffs due to the great play of their D and their run game.

I believe that the Niners might be a model of the '09 Jets, with an average QB, supported by a great D and a great running game!

i dont expect smith to be just average this year. he was average last year with a whole bunch of factors hindering him. this year hes got everything he needs and he will rip s**t up!!!

no frank gore

49ers DEFENSE

It's will fall on our offense as a whole... there's no reason we should lose to any NFC west opponents. For Alex Smith to succeed, we will need our run game to succeed, therefore we need our line to succeed, who in turn needs the QB to help them out by getting the ball out quicker which is predicated on the receivers getting open faster. It's all cyclical.

Whats got me excited is that our running game should really dominate this year. Every other team in the division is weak at DL and LB (excluding the Card's DL). Our front 7 should be able to open holes for Gore & co. since every other team in the division has massive turnover, injuries, or suspensions in their run defense (again excluding the cards DL). Now with Crab's, VD, a solid but not stellar Morgan and a deep threat in Ginn... if teams want to put 9 in the box to stop our run game, let them, we should be able to turn that into a big gain in the air like a capable offense would.

There will be some growing pains with our rooks on the OL, but the reality is that they are set up to succeed. Run blocking transitions easier from college to the NFL so hopefully we can run to hide any weaknesses in the pass protection learning curve. But again, this year they will be playing against the closest thing to college level talent that they will ever see in the NFL (this division has hit rock-bottom, it can only improve), helping their transition to the big leagues.

On the defensive side, we are going against 2 and most likely 3 new/inexperienced QB's (assuming Hasslebeck cant finish the season as per usual). Aside from Bly, we have our same defense from last year so again... we SHOULD be able to scheme these new QB's into making multiple mistakes. Can you name more than 3 offensive players that actually scare defenses on other NFC west teams? Fitz, Hasslebeck when healthy, Steven Jackson then who? Housh, John Carlson, Beanie Wells, Breaston? They dont "scare" me enough to want to gameplan around them.

It's a total cliche but we make the playoffs because the team as a whole steps it up, Alex could have a sh*tty year and we should still make it based on the NFC west being so bad. I just want this effing season to start already!!!