Grade Troy Smith's Performance

Originally posted by theninermaniac:

Originally posted by FourNine49:

Originally posted by GolittaCamper:

Originally posted by GhostofFredDean74:

Originally posted by BobS:
Ghost, I am with you. I don't understand why people are still on Alex Smith's nuts, especially after today. Troy Smith, a third stringer comes in and makes positive yardage on snaps where Alex would have gotten sacked or rolled right and threw the ball in the fifth row. After 6 years of Alex stinking up the place, people still make excuses for all his mistakes, nothing is ever his fault, makes me sick.

It's crazy! Look, I'm cool with people supporting Alex and hoping he one day turns into the QB he was drafted to be. But the excuses for Alex (year after year, loss after loss, poor performance after poor performance) are getting ridiculous. I mean, if anyone had legitimate excuses to stink up the joint and fall flat on his face in an embarrasing loss, it was Troy Smith.

1.) Hadn't started a game in 3 seasons
2.) Hadn't even taken a practice snap with the 49ers offense
3.) Had to use a scaled back version of the offense
4.) Missing your top offensive threat (VD)
5.) Playing over 5000 miles from home

Now THOSE are legitimate excuses, and most people would've understood (at least to a certain extent) if Troy was unable to overcome those obstacles and not end up with a win.

But this kid found a way to win. Again, that's what REAL NFL QBs do. No excuses, no blame-games, no crying and no whining. They find ways to make plays and to win games.

That's what the NFL is all about.

Great post

It took an incredibly lucky bad pass and two huge calls (clipping/block in back) to go in our favor to squeak out this win. And its not like Troy put the team on his back, thats what Frank did.

Firstly, it took skill/strong arm to throw that pass to Delanie. So he didn't just fall into that good fortune; he aggresively forced the issue and got the ball vertical, allowing his teammate to make a play. But if you never even attempt that throw, you never give your playmakers a shot at making plays.

Now, the TD pass to Crabs was all skill/strong arm; that pass was a frozen rope down the sidelines...but again, he took a shot downfield and made something happen.

Bottom line, you find ways to win in the NFL...if that means luck/good-fortune, or riding a hot RB, playing mistake-free football or forcing the issue, so be it. WHATEVER it takes to win, you do it. That's what Troy did, he found a way to win and THAT is all that matters on Sundays.

Troy played to win (as opposed to "not trying to lose"), and it worked in his/our favor.

B+

He does throw a beautiful ball on the move. Besides the lucky throw what about his bullet down field about 25 yds on 3rd and 8? He's mobile, he makes plays. I'd like to see him play against the Rams, hold Alex back a week just to rest up if he's not ready.
What can Troy do with 2 weeks of prep??

He did pretty well with what he was given to work with. Don't necessarily blame Johnson for such a conservative game plan given the circumstances.

Troy took a chance and it just so happened to work and it changed the whole makeup of the game. Kudos to DWalk for making a heck of a catch and then holding onto the ball.

I saw screen plays that were suddenly more effective. (I think Alex is so memory muscled to play mistake free football that he's become the easiest QB in the league to defend.)

I did not know or think that Troy's arm was that accurate or strong. Damn, him, Ginn and Davis need to exploit that vertical aspect of the passing game. That is a legitimate threat that would cause defenses to have nightmares because then they'd have to deal with 15 and 21.

But then there's our offensive philosophy...

Originally posted by Bluefalcon61:
Good enought to earn a start in the next game.

Wasn't pretty but good enough in the 4th quarter and he didnt make the Killer Mistake like a certain other...cough..cough...Smith.....

(Yes - I can live with that heave-ho that Troy made) Helps to be lucky, but if Alex Smith had even tried that (which he wouldn't have...) it would have been picked off and somehow returned for a TD.

I disagree.... it would've been "tipped" then fallen into the hands of an awatiting Champ Bailey, then returned for a TD.

Scared money, Dont make money!

I would give him a solid B

Not a lot of time to prepare and played well. Made plays when he had to.

As always, the guys from F. Outsiders see the obvious:

Quote:
Process is apparently irrelevant with the Niners if there's a good outcome. The game turned on a 38-yard catch by Delanie Walker that was born out of mad desperation; a scrambling Smith tossed up a prayer into double coverage as he was falling down, and Walker subtly (but clearly from our angle in the press box) pushed off on Brian Dawkins to come down with the ball on the Broncos 1.

Singletary, naturally, compared Smith to a very similar sort of player. "It's kinda like watching Brett Favre. I don't want to put [Smith] in the same light", Singletary said. "Sometimes he makes a decision and throws the ball ... I will say 'Be careful' but that's about it."

To his credit, Smith laughed off the Favre comparisons, but his logic in why he made the throw was a little weak. "What we work on is throwing to our guy and away from their guys. If there's a tight hole I can put the ball in, I trust that my guy is going to come down with the ball." Saying there's a tight window on a quick slant is one thing; lofting up a prayer into coverage is no hole.

LINK

To see people defending that decision baffles me.

Originally posted by Brazilian49er:
As always, the guys from F. Outsiders see the obvious:

Quote:
Process is apparently irrelevant with the Niners if there's a good outcome. The game turned on a 38-yard catch by Delanie Walker that was born out of mad desperation; a scrambling Smith tossed up a prayer into double coverage as he was falling down, and Walker subtly (but clearly from our angle in the press box) pushed off on Brian Dawkins to come down with the ball on the Broncos 1.

Singletary, naturally, compared Smith to a very similar sort of player. "It's kinda like watching Brett Favre. I don't want to put [Smith] in the same light", Singletary said. "Sometimes he makes a decision and throws the ball ... I will say 'Be careful' but that's about it."

To his credit, Smith laughed off the Favre comparisons, but his logic in why he made the throw was a little weak. "What we work on is throwing to our guy and away from their guys. If there's a tight hole I can put the ball in, I trust that my guy is going to come down with the ball." Saying there's a tight window on a quick slant is one thing; lofting up a prayer into coverage is no hole.

LINK

To see people defending that decision baffles me.

I don't think you can defend the throw made by Troy to Delanie so much as you can appreciate him trying to make a play downfield (and it was made). You obviously can't build an offense around that type of approach, but when you're trailing in the 4th quarter and staring 1-7 in the face, you sometimes have to take a chance and force the issue.

The reason why? Because sometimes (as it happened on Sunday) your playmakers will make a play. Like I said, you can't make a habit of chucking the ball up for grabs...but if you don't risk on occassion, you don't get rewarded.

Originally posted by Lifer:
A very lucky B-

He showcased some physical skills, avoided the big mistakes, and had one Hail Mary prayer answered. A little luck, a little moxie, a limited playbook, good support from the running game, and the D came up with two key turnovers. Things turned out well for him. But in the NFL, one game means next to nothing. It's what you do week in and week out that matters. As other teams amass film on T. Smith and start to take away his strengths and attack his weaknesses, then we'll see what he can really do.[/quote


A voice of reason! Troy's not ready to be annointed quite yet, but showed some promising signs. Enough positives to get more looks ahead of Alex. Time will reveal all!

Originally posted by GhostofFredDean74:

Originally posted by Brazilian49er:
As always, the guys from F. Outsiders see the obvious:

Quote:
Process is apparently irrelevant with the Niners if there's a good outcome. The game turned on a 38-yard catch by Delanie Walker that was born out of mad desperation; a scrambling Smith tossed up a prayer into double coverage as he was falling down, and Walker subtly (but clearly from our angle in the press box) pushed off on Brian Dawkins to come down with the ball on the Broncos 1.

Singletary, naturally, compared Smith to a very similar sort of player. "It's kinda like watching Brett Favre. I don't want to put [Smith] in the same light", Singletary said. "Sometimes he makes a decision and throws the ball ... I will say 'Be careful' but that's about it."

To his credit, Smith laughed off the Favre comparisons, but his logic in why he made the throw was a little weak. "What we work on is throwing to our guy and away from their guys. If there's a tight hole I can put the ball in, I trust that my guy is going to come down with the ball." Saying there's a tight window on a quick slant is one thing; lofting up a prayer into coverage is no hole.

LINK

To see people defending that decision baffles me.

I don't think you can defend the throw made by Troy to Delanie so much as you can appreciate him trying to make a play downfield (and it was made). You obviously can't build an offense around that type of approach, but when you're trailing in the 4th quarter and staring 1-7 in the face, you sometimes have to take a chance and force the issue.

The reason why? Because sometimes (as it happened on Sunday) your playmakers will make a play. Like I said, you can't make a habit of chucking the ball up for grabs...but if you don't risk on occassion, you don't get rewarded.

That was not a simple "risk". That was a mind-blowing stupid play. Not only he needed Walker to come up with a great catch, he also needed the refs to look the other way on the clear OPI.

Originally posted by Brazilian49er:

Originally posted by GhostofFredDean74:

Originally posted by Brazilian49er:
As always, the guys from F. Outsiders see the obvious:

Quote:
Process is apparently irrelevant with the Niners if there's a good outcome. The game turned on a 38-yard catch by Delanie Walker that was born out of mad desperation; a scrambling Smith tossed up a prayer into double coverage as he was falling down, and Walker subtly (but clearly from our angle in the press box) pushed off on Brian Dawkins to come down with the ball on the Broncos 1.

Singletary, naturally, compared Smith to a very similar sort of player. "It's kinda like watching Brett Favre. I don't want to put [Smith] in the same light", Singletary said. "Sometimes he makes a decision and throws the ball ... I will say 'Be careful' but that's about it."

To his credit, Smith laughed off the Favre comparisons, but his logic in why he made the throw was a little weak. "What we work on is throwing to our guy and away from their guys. If there's a tight hole I can put the ball in, I trust that my guy is going to come down with the ball." Saying there's a tight window on a quick slant is one thing; lofting up a prayer into coverage is no hole.

LINK

To see people defending that decision baffles me.

I don't think you can defend the throw made by Troy to Delanie so much as you can appreciate him trying to make a play downfield (and it was made). You obviously can't build an offense around that type of approach, but when you're trailing in the 4th quarter and staring 1-7 in the face, you sometimes have to take a chance and force the issue.

The reason why? Because sometimes (as it happened on Sunday) your playmakers will make a play. Like I said, you can't make a habit of chucking the ball up for grabs...but if you don't risk on occassion, you don't get rewarded.

That was not a simple "risk". That was a mind-blowing stupid play. Not only he needed Walker to come up with a great catch, he also needed the refs to look the other way on the clear OPI.

Totally disagree, and think you're making a much bigger thing out of it than it was. Worse case, you get it picked down near the goal-line, and with your defense playing pretty well up to that point, you've pinned them down inside the redzone with most of the 4th quarter still to be played.

Definitely a bad decision, but Delanie is a great athlete with excellent size/leaping ability (especially considering the lack of size he was going up against for that jump ball), so it absolutely wasn't a "mind-blowing stupid play."

Truth is, we're arguing degrees of stupidity/risk, so I'm not sure it's worth going back and forth. I doubt he does that again, and that's the bottom line.

B +

1. no turn overs
2. his legs made up for poor OL
3. He cracked a DL on a gore run

Originally posted by GhostofFredDean74:

Originally posted by Brazilian49er:

Originally posted by GhostofFredDean74:

Originally posted by Brazilian49er:
As always, the guys from F. Outsiders see the obvious:

Quote:
Process is apparently irrelevant with the Niners if there's a good outcome. The game turned on a 38-yard catch by Delanie Walker that was born out of mad desperation; a scrambling Smith tossed up a prayer into double coverage as he was falling down, and Walker subtly (but clearly from our angle in the press box) pushed off on Brian Dawkins to come down with the ball on the Broncos 1.

Singletary, naturally, compared Smith to a very similar sort of player. "It's kinda like watching Brett Favre. I don't want to put [Smith] in the same light", Singletary said. "Sometimes he makes a decision and throws the ball ... I will say 'Be careful' but that's about it."

To his credit, Smith laughed off the Favre comparisons, but his logic in why he made the throw was a little weak. "What we work on is throwing to our guy and away from their guys. If there's a tight hole I can put the ball in, I trust that my guy is going to come down with the ball." Saying there's a tight window on a quick slant is one thing; lofting up a prayer into coverage is no hole.

LINK

To see people defending that decision baffles me.

I don't think you can defend the throw made by Troy to Delanie so much as you can appreciate him trying to make a play downfield (and it was made). You obviously can't build an offense around that type of approach, but when you're trailing in the 4th quarter and staring 1-7 in the face, you sometimes have to take a chance and force the issue.

The reason why? Because sometimes (as it happened on Sunday) your playmakers will make a play. Like I said, you can't make a habit of chucking the ball up for grabs...but if you don't risk on occassion, you don't get rewarded.

That was not a simple "risk". That was a mind-blowing stupid play. Not only he needed Walker to come up with a great catch, he also needed the refs to look the other way on the clear OPI.

Totally disagree, and think you're making a much bigger thing out of it than it was. Worse case, you get it picked down near the goal-line, and with your defense playing pretty well up to that point, you've pinned them down inside the redzone with most of the 4th quarter still to be played.

Definitely a bad decision, but Delanie is a great athlete with excellent size/leaping ability (especially considering the lack of size he was going up against for that jump ball), so it absolutely wasn't a "mind-blowing stupid play."

Truth is, we're arguing degrees of stupidity/risk, so I'm not sure it's worth going back and forth. I doubt he does that again, and that's the bottom line.

Kyle Orton was hitting damn near every pass and threw for almost 400 yards. Our D was not playing all that well and hasn't been for a while.

Originally posted by Blackoutz:
2. his legs made up for poor OL

Where are people coming up with this? The OL wasn't lights out but those play actions they were running over and over and over again were working (because Denver was fully focused on Gore) and Smith had more time to throw yesterday than any 49ers QB we've seen in a long time.

Originally posted by Gavintech:

Originally posted by GhostofFredDean74:

Originally posted by Brazilian49er:

Originally posted by GhostofFredDean74:

Originally posted by Brazilian49er:
As always, the guys from F. Outsiders see the obvious:

Quote:
Process is apparently irrelevant with the Niners if there's a good outcome. The game turned on a 38-yard catch by Delanie Walker that was born out of mad desperation; a scrambling Smith tossed up a prayer into double coverage as he was falling down, and Walker subtly (but clearly from our angle in the press box) pushed off on Brian Dawkins to come down with the ball on the Broncos 1.

Singletary, naturally, compared Smith to a very similar sort of player. "It's kinda like watching Brett Favre. I don't want to put [Smith] in the same light", Singletary said. "Sometimes he makes a decision and throws the ball ... I will say 'Be careful' but that's about it."

To his credit, Smith laughed off the Favre comparisons, but his logic in why he made the throw was a little weak. "What we work on is throwing to our guy and away from their guys. If there's a tight hole I can put the ball in, I trust that my guy is going to come down with the ball." Saying there's a tight window on a quick slant is one thing; lofting up a prayer into coverage is no hole.

LINK

To see people defending that decision baffles me.

I don't think you can defend the throw made by Troy to Delanie so much as you can appreciate him trying to make a play downfield (and it was made). You obviously can't build an offense around that type of approach, but when you're trailing in the 4th quarter and staring 1-7 in the face, you sometimes have to take a chance and force the issue.

The reason why? Because sometimes (as it happened on Sunday) your playmakers will make a play. Like I said, you can't make a habit of chucking the ball up for grabs...but if you don't risk on occassion, you don't get rewarded.

That was not a simple "risk". That was a mind-blowing stupid play. Not only he needed Walker to come up with a great catch, he also needed the refs to look the other way on the clear OPI.

Totally disagree, and think you're making a much bigger thing out of it than it was. Worse case, you get it picked down near the goal-line, and with your defense playing pretty well up to that point, you've pinned them down inside the redzone with most of the 4th quarter still to be played.

Definitely a bad decision, but Delanie is a great athlete with excellent size/leaping ability (especially considering the lack of size he was going up against for that jump ball), so it absolutely wasn't a "mind-blowing stupid play."

Truth is, we're arguing degrees of stupidity/risk, so I'm not sure it's worth going back and forth. I doubt he does that again, and that's the bottom line.

Kyle Orton was hitting damn near every pass and threw for almost 400 yards. Our D was not playing all that well and hasn't been for a while.

They defense had given up only 10 points through 3 quarters. I'll take that every time against the 4th ranked passing offense and 10th ranked overall offense in the league. I guess you have much higher standards than I do, though I think I'm a little more realistic.