ESPN - 49ers can succeed in Play Offs without great QB

Originally posted by Young2Rice:

Originally posted by HessianDud:

Originally posted by Young2Rice:
Not just yards. pass protection is not always there, wrs besides morgon don't do a great job at RAC. Missing the open deep guy. At least Braylon is coming back. We are a good running game and the passing game is effeciant enough to avoid blowing it. Smith has produced in the clutch though which is great.

there's definitely work to do, not surprising considering all the factors. I just wouldn't give it a thumbs down, personally; more like a thumbs-sideways: it gets the job done, looks great sometimes, looks bad other times, but overall is good enough for now.

I was looking for a thumbs sideways but they didn't have it. I think we can go deep in the playoffs if we continue to play this way but to be perennial this is an aspect of the game we have to improve. If we get a great air game going we can demolish other teams. It was working in the TB game and was a reason we blew them out.

definitely agree. Looking for it early tomorrow. Redskins are convinced that stopping Gore is the answer. Time to get Braylon going, and I hope that Smith and Crabs did whatever they could to get on the same page, but I have a feeling that that is still going to take awhile, until Crabtree can practice consistently.

Originally posted by HessianDud:

Originally posted by Young2Rice:

Originally posted by HessianDud:

Originally posted by Young2Rice:
Not just yards. pass protection is not always there, wrs besides morgon don't do a great job at RAC. Missing the open deep guy. At least Braylon is coming back. We are a good running game and the passing game is effeciant enough to avoid blowing it. Smith has produced in the clutch though which is great.

there's definitely work to do, not surprising considering all the factors. I just wouldn't give it a thumbs down, personally; more like a thumbs-sideways: it gets the job done, looks great sometimes, looks bad other times, but overall is good enough for now.

I was looking for a thumbs sideways but they didn't have it. I think we can go deep in the playoffs if we continue to play this way but to be perennial this is an aspect of the game we have to improve. If we get a great air game going we can demolish other teams. It was working in the TB game and was a reason we blew them out.

definitely agree. Looking for it early tomorrow. Redskins are convinced that stopping Gore is the answer. Time to get Braylon going, and I hope that Smith and Crabs did whatever they could to get on the same page, but I have a feeling that that is still going to take awhile, until Crabtree can practice consistently.

Crabtree is a good player but reckless on the field. He doesn't run crisp routes. Needs to stop hanging out with Iverson and practice more.

Originally posted by Young2Rice:
Crabtree is a good player but reckless on the field. He doesn't run crisp routes. Needs to stop hanging out with Iverson and practice more.

The guy has played through a foot injury all year and that hasn't stopped him from being the best blocking WR I can remember watching (one of the most thankless jobs) and from switching positions (to a more physical position) to get Braylon back on the field. Harbaugh, Roman, and all of the players have been extremely complimentary of Crabs and his work ethic...this post is so last year IMO...

And as for the non-crisp routes...unless you have coaches film, a list of all the plays we've called in order, a 49ers playbook and Jim Harbaugh or Greg Roman to sit in your ear and let you know how they've been coaching their receivers to run routes you have NO IDEA if Crabs is running crisp routes or not. I don't know where this idea came from but I read a post speaking about it as fact a couple days ago and it is NOT FACT at this moment. I can't say for sure you're wrong, but I can say for sure you can't know if you're right or wrong, just like me. I think he does run crisp routes, can I prove it? Nope. But IMO all this route running stuff is speculation based on Crabtree running a wrong route in the past the resulted in an int.

Wow, there are some great posts the last two pages, Hessian, props!

Originally posted by Young2Rice:
Crabtree is a good player but reckless on the field. He doesn't run crisp routes. Needs to stop hanging out with Iverson and practice more.

oh yeah, he's completely reckless!!!! i HATE when he gets wide open downfield..what a DIVA

Originally posted by Baugh_Area:

Originally posted by Young2Rice:
Crabtree is a good player but reckless on the field. He doesn't run crisp routes. Needs to stop hanging out with Iverson and practice more.

The guy has played through a foot injury all year and that hasn't stopped him from being the best blocking WR I can remember watching (one of the most thankless jobs) and from switching positions (to a more physical position) to get Braylon back on the field. Harbaugh, Roman, and all of the players have been extremely complimentary of Crabs and his work ethic...this post is so last year IMO...

And as for the non-crisp routes...unless you have coaches film, a list of all the plays we've called in order, a 49ers playbook and Jim Harbaugh or Greg Roman to sit in your ear and let you know how they've been coaching their receivers to run routes you have NO IDEA if Crabs is running crisp routes or not. I don't know where this idea came from but I read a post speaking about it as fact a couple days ago and it is NOT FACT at this moment. I can't say for sure you're wrong, but I can say for sure you can't know if you're right or wrong, just like me. I think he does run crisp routes, can I prove it? Nope. But IMO all this route running stuff is speculation based on Crabtree running a wrong route in the past the resulted in an int.

I watch the games. And I also watched Rice play. You don't need game film to see that one was a better route runner then the other. There is an obvious difference. I'm not bashing the guy, just saying he could work on his route running. He is a beast of an athlete but to be an elite WR he has to work on that. Remember Rice wasn't the fastest but he just knew how to get into the endzone.

Originally posted by diggen4gold:

how could you compare Eli Manning and that team to Alex smith. Eli is 10 times the qb Alex Smith will ever be. Their is no comparison!!!

Originally posted by DonnieDarko:

Originally posted by Young2Rice:
Crabtree is a good player but reckless on the field. He doesn't run crisp routes. Needs to stop hanging out with Iverson and practice more.

oh yeah, he's completely reckless!!!! i HATE when he gets wide open downfield..what a DIVA

I love it when he gets open. Wish Smith would hit em on the deep ones.

Reckless as in how he almost fumbled the ball after the 41 yard catch.

Originally posted by Young2Rice:

Originally posted by DonnieDarko:

Originally posted by Young2Rice:
Crabtree is a good player but reckless on the field. He doesn't run crisp routes. Needs to stop hanging out with Iverson and practice more.

oh yeah, he's completely reckless!!!! i HATE when he gets wide open downfield..what a DIVA

I love it when he gets open. Wish Smith would hit em on the deep ones.

Reckless as in how he almost fumbled the ball after the 41 yard catch.

insecure with the ball, is a better phrase than reckless

Originally posted by Young2Rice:
I watch the games. And I also watched Rice play. You don't need game film to see that one was a better route runner then the other. There is an obvious difference. I'm not bashing the guy, just saying he could work on his route running. He is a beast of an athlete but to be an elite WR he has to work on that. Remember Rice wasn't the fastest but he just knew how to get into the endzone.

Comparing the greatest WR maybe the GREATEST PLAYER of all time to Michael Crabtree?

Originally posted by phatbutskinny:

Originally posted by Young2Rice:

Originally posted by DonnieDarko:

Originally posted by Young2Rice:
Crabtree is a good player but reckless on the field. He doesn't run crisp routes. Needs to stop hanging out with Iverson and practice more.

oh yeah, he's completely reckless!!!! i HATE when he gets wide open downfield..what a DIVA

I love it when he gets open. Wish Smith would hit em on the deep ones.

Reckless as in how he almost fumbled the ball after the 41 yard catch.

insecure with the ball, is a better phrase than reckless

Being insecure with the ball is reckless.

Originally posted by Jcool:

Originally posted by Young2Rice:
I watch the games. And I also watched Rice play. You don't need game film to see that one was a better route runner then the other. There is an obvious difference. I'm not bashing the guy, just saying he could work on his route running. He is a beast of an athlete but to be an elite WR he has to work on that. Remember Rice wasn't the fastest but he just knew how to get into the endzone.

Comparing the greatest WR maybe the GREATEST PLAYER of all time to Michael Crabtree?

We were comparing their route running. I said Crabs wasn't the best and a guy said there is now way to know that. If you watched both players, one ran precise routes while the other doesn't do that always.

Should i compare him to Ted Ginn? Yeah Crabs runs routes much better then Ginn.

Originally posted by KowboyKiller:
Brad Johnson

Eli Manning

Plenty of super bowl winners with a great defense and a QB who simply doesn't make mistakes.

This just in ....... Eli Manning is actually a good quarterback. Brad Johnson was average at best.

Originally posted by gavindirishmen:

Originally posted by KowboyKiller:
Brad Johnson

Eli Manning

Plenty of super bowl winners with a great defense and a QB who simply doesn't make mistakes.

This just in ....... Eli Manning is actually a good quarterback. Brad Johnson was average at best.

Eli wasn't very good when they won the Super Bowl. He threw 20 picks that year. He wasn't a "game manager" and he made a bunch of mistakes, but he got hot at the right time and had a very clutch postseason. He's gotten better every year though. I posted a comparison of Alex Smith and Eli Manning in this thread somewhere; at the time Eli won the Super Bowl, he had a very similar career to Alex's--better, but similar.

Yes. The defense, oline, RB, WR's and TE can be good enough to make up for a very average QB. The 49ers have a fighting chance against any team this year for one game. Alex is barely good enough to win but he is capable of winning against a good defense.