Mike Singletary deserves credit for switch back to Alex Smith - PFT

Quote:
Mike Singletary deserves credit for switch back to Alex Smith

Posted by Gregg Rosenthal on December 13, 2010, 1:23 PM EST

It took one play for the boo birds to come out in San Francisco on Sunday.

Alex Smith was under pressure on the first play from scrimmage, so he smartly threw the ball at the feet of a receiver to avoid a sack. The home crowd voiced their displeasure, which was far more about the decision to bench Troy Smith than it was about the play.

Mike Singletary’s decision to switch Smiths before facing the Seahawks wasn’t popular locally with fans or media. (We liked the move, largely because it seemed poetic for Singletary and Smith to sink or swim together.)

Singletary has taken a lot of heat on PFT and beyond this year, so it’s only fair to give him credit here. The decision couldn’t have worked out better. Smith had perhaps his best day as a pro, completing 17-of-27 passes for 255 yards and three scores in a 40-21 win.

This is a results business, and the result of going back to Alex Smith paid huge dividends in a must win game. The 49ers are very much alive in the NFC West at 5-8, and they could still be in good shape if they lose Thursday night in San Diego. Really.

Everyone has pointed to Seahawks-Rams in Week 17 as the key game in the NFC West. But if the 49ers can win in St. Louis in Week 16, San Francisco may very well “control their playoff destiny” heading into a season finale against the Cardinals.

A lot has to happen before then. For now, the 49ers can celebrate making the right call and staying alive for another week.

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well of course he does he's the head coach. do these folks get paid for this wonderful insight

Its not popular to give credit to Singletary for anything, but he's been pretty good in shuffling his quarterbacks at the right time, skipping Carr on the depth chart to allow Troy to start against the Broncos, and then throwing Alex back into the starting rotation when it seemed Troy had shown as much as he was going to show this season without knowing the whole playbook.

Originally posted by PlasmaHero:
Its not popular to give credit to Singletary for anything, but he's been pretty good in shuffling his quarterbacks at the right time, skipping Carr on the depth chart to allow Troy to start against the Broncos, and then throwing Alex back into the starting rotation when it seemed Troy had shown as much as he was going to show this season without knowing the whole playbook.

My only complaint of his QB choices is that he should have Alex Smith return to the line up 2 weeks earlier. But he seems to have made more right decisions than bad ones, including sacking Raye.

I have been a pretty vocal critic of Singletary's but he has been making some progress as a coach. He did make a tough decision on QB and it was the correct one. He is also more settled on the sideline. He obviously allowed MJ more latitude on the game plan yesterday.

Small steps perhaps but some progress. I don't think he will be ready for another season here but he is making progress as a HC.

No, Singletary don't deserve credit for switching back to A. Smith. He didn't have a choice. We played out a third string qb with a limited understanding of the offense. Does anyone seriously think that Troy Smith will take us anywhere once the defense have game films on him with our offense...

It's 1 game... Talk about ovehyping things.. Let's see him do it against the Chargers before we give Dingleberry credit!

Originally posted by qnnhan7:
No, Singletary don't deserve credit for switching back to A. Smith. He didn't have a choice. We played out a third string qb with a limited understanding of the offense. Does anyone seriously think that Troy Smith will take us anywhere once the defense have game films on him with our offense...

Stop with haterade and give credit where it's due. YES he had a choice. He cold have kept on starting Troy and fed us that "each week we move forward and get better" crap but he didn't.

Look I'm not a Sing supporter, but I don't have blinders on he makes a halfway decent decision.

Originally posted by FourNine49:

Originally posted by qnnhan7:
No, Singletary don't deserve credit for switching back to A. Smith. He didn't have a choice. We played out a third string qb with a limited understanding of the offense. Does anyone seriously think that Troy Smith will take us anywhere once the defense have game films on him with our offense...

Stop with haterade and give credit where it's due. YES he had a choice. He cold have kept on starting Troy and fed us that "each week we move forward and get better" crap but he didn't.

Look I'm not a Sing supporter, but I don't have blinders on he makes a halfway decent decision.

Sorry,but Troy could of thrown 5 yard passes for touchdowns as well.. Alex played a team that can't tackle or Defend.. If you Alex fans are going to trash Troy for so called lucky games... Then we have every right to do the same to Alex!

Originally posted by dj43:
I have been a pretty vocal critic of Singletary's but he has been making some progress as a coach. He did make a tough decision on QB and it was the correct one. He is also more settled on the sideline. He obviously allowed MJ more latitude on the game plan yesterday.

Small steps perhaps but some progress. I don't think he will be ready for another season here but he is making progress as a HC.

Yes, but is that only because Frank is out?

Originally posted by FourNine49:

Originally posted by qnnhan7:
No, Singletary don't deserve credit for switching back to A. Smith. He didn't have a choice. We played out a third string qb with a limited understanding of the offense. Does anyone seriously think that Troy Smith will take us anywhere once the defense have game films on him with our offense...

Stop with haterade and give credit where it's due. YES he had a choice. He cold have kept on starting Troy and fed us that "each week we move forward and get better" crap but he didn't.

Look I'm not a Sing supporter, but I don't have blinders on he makes a halfway decent decision.

I'm not a hater of Sing. It's an easy decision to make because for anyone watching the game. Troy Smith came in late in the preseason and pretty much have to crammed his little knowledge of our offense just to get on the field. At some point the decision have to be to go back to the guy that knows the offense more and have more options at play calling... like it or not it must be Alex Smith. He's the only qb on the roster that's capable of giving us that. No brainer decision because of the limits that Troy Smith offered.

Originally posted by qnnhan7:

Originally posted by FourNine49:

Originally posted by qnnhan7:
No, Singletary don't deserve credit for switching back to A. Smith. He didn't have a choice. We played out a third string qb with a limited understanding of the offense. Does anyone seriously think that Troy Smith will take us anywhere once the defense have game films on him with our offense...

Stop with haterade and give credit where it's due. YES he had a choice. He cold have kept on starting Troy and fed us that "each week we move forward and get better" crap but he didn't.

Look I'm not a Sing supporter, but I don't have blinders on he makes a halfway decent decision.

I'm not a hater of Sing. It's an easy decision to make because for anyone watching the game. Troy Smith came in late in the preseason and pretty much have to crammed his little knowledge of our offense just to get on the field. At some point the decision have to be to go back to the guy that knows the offense more and have more options at play calling... like it or not it must be Alex Smith. He's the only qb on the roster that's capable of giving us that. No brainer decision because of the limits that Troy Smith offered.

You just said "He didn't have a choice" and then you say he had to make a decision. Forget Singletary, Alex, and Troy, decisions require someone to make a choice. Plain and simple.

And if you want to talk about not having a choice, he could have kept Troy in there, played David Carr, or brought up Nate from PS. All seem like bogus ideas, right? Well guess what, a decision had to be made.

Originally posted by fakers23:

Originally posted by FourNine49:

Originally posted by qnnhan7:
No, Singletary don't deserve credit for switching back to A. Smith. He didn't have a choice. We played out a third string qb with a limited understanding of the offense. Does anyone seriously think that Troy Smith will take us anywhere once the defense have game films on him with our offense...

Stop with haterade and give credit where it's due. YES he had a choice. He cold have kept on starting Troy and fed us that "each week we move forward and get better" crap but he didn't.

Look I'm not a Sing supporter, but I don't have blinders on he makes a halfway decent decision.

Sorry,but Troy could of thrown 5 yard passes for touchdowns as well.. Alex played a team that can't tackle or Defend.. If you Alex fans are going to trash Troy for so called lucky games... Then we have every right to do the same to Alex!

But Troy Smith limits the passing plays the OC is able to call during every game because of his lack of knowledge of the offense. Defense have been jumping all over that. Sing admitted as much. So he had no choice but to go back to Alex Smith with his knowledge of the offense, so the OC wouldn't be tide down with limited plays they can call.

Originally posted by qnnhan7:
No, Singletary don't deserve credit for switching back to A. Smith. He didn't have a choice. We played out a third string qb with a limited understanding of the offense. Does anyone seriously think that Troy Smith will take us anywhere once the defense have game films on him with our offense...

This.

Mike Johnson was calling him out to the media.

The only way to make Singletary change is to force his hand.

Y'know... like the fact that we run it up the gut on first down less now that Gore has a broken hip.

Originally posted by FourNine49:

Originally posted by qnnhan7:

Originally posted by FourNine49:

Originally posted by qnnhan7:
No, Singletary don't deserve credit for switching back to A. Smith. He didn't have a choice. We played out a third string qb with a limited understanding of the offense. Does anyone seriously think that Troy Smith will take us anywhere once the defense have game films on him with our offense...

Stop with haterade and give credit where it's due. YES he had a choice. He cold have kept on starting Troy and fed us that "each week we move forward and get better" crap but he didn't.

Look I'm not a Sing supporter, but I don't have blinders on he makes a halfway decent decision.

I'm not a hater of Sing. It's an easy decision to make because for anyone watching the game. Troy Smith came in late in the preseason and pretty much have to crammed his little knowledge of our offense just to get on the field. At some point the decision have to be to go back to the guy that knows the offense more and have more options at play calling... like it or not it must be Alex Smith. He's the only qb on the roster that's capable of giving us that. No brainer decision because of the limits that Troy Smith offered.

You just said "He didn't have a choice" and then you say he had to make a decision. Forget Singletary, Alex, and Troy, decisions require someone to make a choice. Plain and simple.

And if you want to talk about not having a choice, he could have kept Troy in there, played David Carr, or brought up Nate from PS. All seem like bogus ideas, right? Well guess what, a decision had to be made.

Sing made a choice to go back to Alex Smith, but it was a 'forced' or predetermined decision because at some point Troy Smith's knowledge runs out and Sing would have to bring back Alex Smith because he gives us more options at the plays call. No one in their right mind except maybe the Troy Smith fans would keep him in there knowing he only gives your offense only a handful of passing plays to run.