My Goal for Alex Smith for the remainder of the season

What cracks me up about some of you is when there's a mistake or a timing issue with a throw, the mistake is ALWAYS Alex Smith's fault, and couldn't possibly the ROOKIE RECEIVER WHO MISSED THE FIRST 5 WEEKS OF THE SEASON.

"He's throwing behind, in front, too hard, WAH!".

How can anyone even SPECULATE when you're not calling the offensive plays and don't know if the receiver even ran the route correctly???
You know what, you can't!

"Alex Smith is inconsistent. Alex Smith is not a winner." Yeah, it couldn't possibly be anyone's fault other than Alex Smith's...

In fairness to all, the extreme lack of playing time between Smith and the receivers is telling. It is critical for the quarterback AND the receiver to learn each others rhythm.

Crabtree has some excellent moves coming off his break. However, I have noticed that he sometimes throws in a little extra move to get separation. All of these are things that take time to learn and read.

Josh Morgan is not nearly as quick as Crabtree so that is another adjustment the QB has to make.

Vernon Davis is very unpredictable in his routes. He runs vertical, posts and crossing routes reasonably well but cuts and digs are not his best. This creates additional uncertainty.

What I am saying is that, yes, the timing MUST improve but it isn't nearly all on Alex Smith. We must remember, even after Smith fully recovered from his TC thumb injury, while Hill was getting the reps with the first team, Smith was running the scout team. Therefore the was not getting any of the timing of 49er routes. It has only been since he replaced Hill that he has been getting first team reps with Morgan, Davis and Crabtree. That is a relatively tiny amount of time to get on the same page. Compare that to Manning and Brady with their receivers, and even Aaron Rodgers in GB, and it is quite good that Smith was hitting those critical 3rd down throws last night.

As I said earlier in this thread, last night was signficant progress in a meaningful game, against a quality opponent. Remember, AZ DESTROYED Brett Favre and the Vikings last week.

Originally posted by susweel:
Does anybody else think that Smith is totally different player on the road then he is at home. He plays much better on the road, maybe because he feels to much pressure from the home crowd.

He punked Jacksonville at the stick......Off night perhaps.

Originally posted by dj43:
In fairness to all, the extreme lack of playing time between Smith and the receivers is telling. It is critical for the quarterback AND the receiver to learn each others rhythm.

Crabtree has some excellent moves coming off his break. However, I have noticed that he sometimes throws in a little extra move to get separation. All of these are things that take time to learn and read.

Josh Morgan is not nearly as quick as Crabtree so that is another adjustment the QB has to make.

Vernon Davis is very unpredictable in his routes. He runs vertical, posts and crossing routes reasonably well but cuts and digs are not his best. This creates additional uncertainty.

What I am saying is that, yes, the timing MUST improve but it isn't nearly all on Alex Smith. We must remember, even after Smith fully recovered from his TC thumb injury, while Hill was getting the reps with the first team, Smith was running the scout team. Therefore the was not getting any of the timing of 49er routes. It has only been since he replaced Hill that he has been getting first team reps with Morgan, Davis and Crabtree. That is a relatively tiny amount of time to get on the same page. Compare that to Manning and Brady with their receivers, and even Aaron Rodgers in GB, and it is quite good that Smith was hitting those critical 3rd down throws last night.

As I said earlier in this thread, last night was signficant progress in a meaningful game, against a quality opponent. Remember, AZ DESTROYED Brett Favre and the Vikings last week.

Exactly... agree 100%.

Originally posted by lamontb:

Originally posted by dj43:

Originally posted by Negrodamus:

Originally posted by Nes49:
Alex didn't look great last night but 1 thing that was telling in my eyes:

The drive that led to Crabz TD....he moved to chains & took charge....Looking at him onscreen man,......in control...he led.

Another thing Smith haters said he can't do.....

so far he has always looked good in the 2min O. whatever he's doing he needs to go back to this plus few bootlegs. also, i would like to see him learn not to throw the balls directly into the arms of opposing D-Lineman's arms for it either to be battered down or intercepted.

The Dockett pick was a combination of great anticipation and timing by Dockett and Snyder failing to maintain contact with Dockett on the short drop.

Offensive linemen are coached to maintain strong contact with DL on that play so they cannot do what Dockett did. Snyder completely lost contact on that play. He was more than a yard away.

Had Snyder stayed on Dockett, even if Dockett had blocked the pass, he would not have been free to make the pick.

If you understand OL blocking responsibilities on three step drops, you understand there is no way you can blame Smith for that pick.

Not picking on you personally, just saying...

Exactly only thing the Niners need to look at is being too predictable, Like the announcers were saying if the whole word knows all you is throw short passes defenders are gonna start anticipating that route every time they see it's a 3 step drop. Alex's tendacies are on tape and last night you could see teh defense kyed in on the spread and took it out of the game on a every down basis. They just over loaded the box and got pressure almost everytime unitl they started mixing up the play calling more.

Right, and that forced Raye to put Alex in the I-formation, and, wonder of wonders, he did just fine. Gore started running the ball and Smith had some nice throws from the I.

Originally posted by dj43:

Originally posted by lamontb:

Originally posted by dj43:

Originally posted by Negrodamus:

Originally posted by Nes49:
Alex didn't look great last night but 1 thing that was telling in my eyes:

The drive that led to Crabz TD....he moved to chains & took charge....Looking at him onscreen man,......in control...he led.

Another thing Smith haters said he can't do.....

so far he has always looked good in the 2min O. whatever he's doing he needs to go back to this plus few bootlegs. also, i would like to see him learn not to throw the balls directly into the arms of opposing D-Lineman's arms for it either to be battered down or intercepted.

The Dockett pick was a combination of great anticipation and timing by Dockett and Snyder failing to maintain contact with Dockett on the short drop.

Offensive linemen are coached to maintain strong contact with DL on that play so they cannot do what Dockett did. Snyder completely lost contact on that play. He was more than a yard away.

Had Snyder stayed on Dockett, even if Dockett had blocked the pass, he would not have been free to make the pick.

If you understand OL blocking responsibilities on three step drops, you understand there is no way you can blame Smith for that pick.

Not picking on you personally, just saying...

Exactly only thing the Niners need to look at is being too predictable, Like the announcers were saying if the whole word knows all you is throw short passes defenders are gonna start anticipating that route every time they see it's a 3 step drop. Alex's tendacies are on tape and last night you could see teh defense kyed in on the spread and took it out of the game on a every down basis. They just over loaded the box and got pressure almost everytime unitl they started mixing up the play calling more.

Right, and that forced Raye to put Alex in the I-formation, and, wonder of wonders, he did just fine. Gore started running the ball and Smith had some nice throws from the I.

Alex Smith Under Center....yet ANOTHER THING ALEX HATERS SAID HE COULDN'T DO. Alex Just keeps getting better & better.....

Smith threw 2 TD passes and converted on critical 3rd downs and we still expect him to do better....lol that in itself is progress to me.


3 years ago this would have been a "coming out game" for Smith. LOL.


In all seriousness, I dont know if Smith is the unquestioned future. I DO think he is the starter going forward and I am very proud of the kid for over coming all the adversity and finding a way to make it happen. I just want Smith to carry this team and deliver a win. So far he plays good enough. I want him to play great. I thought he played extremely well in Seattle and Jacksonville though.


Anyway go 9ers.

Originally posted by susweel:
Does anybody else think that Smith is totally different player on the road then he is at home. He plays much better on the road, maybe because he feels to much pressure from the home crowd.

I think there is some of that present. He has taken a LOT of flack from both the local media and fans in the past. The pressure he has been under has been enormous. Mike Martz even suggested it would be nearly impossible for him to come back and resurrect his career here in SF. Steve Young suggested the same thing.

In view of all that, you have to respect the fact he stayed here all during the recovery, went to SC every day, faced all the issues and is now rated in the top 20 QBs in the league, and rising.

Smith's QB rating puts him at #20, ahead of Matt Ryan and Jay Cutler, right behind Matt Hasselback and 1+ less than than Carson Palmer. I'll take that for now.

http://www.nfl.com/stats/categorystats?tabSeq=1&statisticPositionCategory=QUARTERBACK&season=2009&seasonType=REG

Originally posted by LambdaChi49:
Smith threw 2 TD passes and converted on critical 3rd downs and we still expect him to do better....lol that in itself is progress to me.


3 years ago this would have been a "coming out game" for Smith. LOL.


In all seriousness, I dont know if Smith is the unquestioned future. I DO think he is the starter going forward and I am very proud of the kid for over coming all the adversity and finding a way to make it happen. I just want Smith to carry this team and deliver a win. So far he plays good enough. I want him to play great. I thought he played extremely well in Seattle and Jacksonville though.


Anyway go 9ers.

I hear ya, I never would have dreamed that he could play like he has been playing. I did not think we had a QB that could lead this team. I was wrong. Every time I see him play I become more impressed. Sure, he did not have a great game but he made plays that really mattered. He did a lot of the little things that he has not done well in the past. To me that is progress. I think that if he continues to progress, he will be great.

Originally posted by LambdaChi49:
Smith threw 2 TD passes and converted on critical 3rd downs and we still expect him to do better....lol that in itself is progress to me.


3 years ago this would have been a "coming out game" for Smith. LOL.


In all seriousness, I dont know if Smith is the unquestioned future. I DO think he is the starter going forward and I am very proud of the kid for over coming all the adversity and finding a way to make it happen. I just want Smith to carry this team and deliver a win. So far he plays good enough. I want him to play great. I thought he played extremely well in Seattle and Jacksonville though.


Anyway go 9ers.

If he can pull off a win against the Eagles, I think the criticism will pretty much dissapear.

Originally posted by NinerDoug:

Originally posted by LambdaChi49:
Smith threw 2 TD passes and converted on critical 3rd downs and we still expect him to do better....lol that in itself is progress to me.


3 years ago this would have been a "coming out game" for Smith. LOL.


In all seriousness, I dont know if Smith is the unquestioned future. I DO think he is the starter going forward and I am very proud of the kid for over coming all the adversity and finding a way to make it happen. I just want Smith to carry this team and deliver a win. So far he plays good enough. I want him to play great. I thought he played extremely well in Seattle and Jacksonville though.


Anyway go 9ers.

If he can pull off a win against the Eagles, I think the criticism will pretty much dissapear.

Yeah, um... you must be new around here.

Originally posted by FILTHpigskin:

Originally posted by NinerDoug:

Originally posted by LambdaChi49:
Smith threw 2 TD passes and converted on critical 3rd downs and we still expect him to do better....lol that in itself is progress to me.


3 years ago this would have been a "coming out game" for Smith. LOL.


In all seriousness, I dont know if Smith is the unquestioned future. I DO think he is the starter going forward and I am very proud of the kid for over coming all the adversity and finding a way to make it happen. I just want Smith to carry this team and deliver a win. So far he plays good enough. I want him to play great. I thought he played extremely well in Seattle and Jacksonville though.


Anyway go 9ers.

If he can pull off a win against the Eagles, I think the criticism will pretty much dissapear.

Yeah, um... you must be new around here.

Lol, sort of. Registered a long time ago, and got deleted for inactivity. Just got banned from the Red Zone for posting a picture of Jessica Alba. Go figure.

Anyway, the intensity of the criticism of Alex Smith in the Red Zone has gone from a level of about 10 before the Houston game to about 2.5 at the present time. People are dropping their "Alex Failed" sigs. So when I say "dissapear," I guess I mean relative to what it used to be.

I'm glad for Smith to be part of a great win for the 49ers. He played his part in that win.

But much work is needed from the young man. He seemed to kind of loose his head in the 3rd quarter, and start making some of those overly aggressive mistakes you hate to see in a quarterback. He's made positive strides over the last several games, but there is still some bad decision making going on with him, and that kind of stuff can ruin a good first half real quick.

Originally posted by NinerDoug:

Originally posted by LambdaChi49:
Smith threw 2 TD passes and converted on critical 3rd downs and we still expect him to do better....lol that in itself is progress to me.


3 years ago this would have been a "coming out game" for Smith. LOL.


In all seriousness, I dont know if Smith is the unquestioned future. I DO think he is the starter going forward and I am very proud of the kid for over coming all the adversity and finding a way to make it happen. I just want Smith to carry this team and deliver a win. So far he plays good enough. I want him to play great. I thought he played extremely well in Seattle and Jacksonville though.


Anyway go 9ers.

If he can pull off a win against the Eagles, I think the criticism will pretty much dissapear.

alex could throw 5 td's in a game and somebody in here will be saying he sucks because he didn't throw 6

Originally posted by sincalfaithful:

Originally posted by NinerDoug:

Originally posted by LambdaChi49:
Smith threw 2 TD passes and converted on critical 3rd downs and we still expect him to do better....lol that in itself is progress to me.


3 years ago this would have been a "coming out game" for Smith. LOL.


In all seriousness, I dont know if Smith is the unquestioned future. I DO think he is the starter going forward and I am very proud of the kid for over coming all the adversity and finding a way to make it happen. I just want Smith to carry this team and deliver a win. So far he plays good enough. I want him to play great. I thought he played extremely well in Seattle and Jacksonville though.


Anyway go 9ers.

If he can pull off a win against the Eagles, I think the criticism will pretty much dissapear.

alex could throw 5 td's in a game and somebody in here will be saying he sucks because he didn't throw 6

True, but the number of haters has been pretty steadily falling since Alex came back in. I've seen a number of former Alex haters come out and eat crow. There will always be die hards, but the intensity of the hate has gone down quite a bit.