The Official Harbaugh Era QB competition!

Originally posted by oldman9er:

Originally posted by tjd808185:

Originally posted by oldman9er:
Cute cherry-picker!

No, point taken... Thing is, I find it more useful to judge a player on recent play... as opposed to many years ago. What-have-u-done-4-me-lately league.

To imply that he played great down the stretch is laughable. He was benched for the majority of the stretch and played the final 3.5 games. He was benched before the St Louis game only to come in relief.

When you break down his performances in meaningful games (Arizona doesn't count) he only played great in the Seattle game. He was turnover machine against Philly, and the rest of the games he was efficient while our offense blew chunks. Hence why he was repeatedly benched.

You are free to interpret the 91 QBR however you choose to. I would not call his play "great" down the stretch. I would call it "decent" though... when considering the many extenuating failures of the team as a whole.

You can be a stat geek all you want, the reality is he was booed out the stadium and benched twice during that time period. We went 3-4 as a team with victories over Oakland, Seattle, and Arizona's community college squad.

To say he was decent is stretch, other than the Seattle game he was average at best.

Anyways the past is the past, and hopefully he's got some Terry Bradshaw in him.

Originally posted by tjd808185:

Originally posted by Jersey9er:
Another article, but on Shotgun Qb's from baby Cohn;

Three shotgun quarterbacks
Posted on August 7, 2011 by Grant Cohn
Three shotgun quarterbacks

It’s too early to take stock of the quarterbacks, so I’ll just give an observation.

The three top QBs on the training camp roster – Alex Smith, Colin Kaepernick, and Jeremiah Masoli – are all most comfortable throwing the ball from the shotgun.

Each guy played strictly in shotgun or shotgun-like offenses in college. Smith ran the spread, Kaepernick ran the pistol, and Masoli ran the option.

When you think of West-Coast-offense quarterbacks, you usually think of quarterbacks who operate from under center, yet Harbaugh hand-picked three shotgun guys. What does that mean?

My gut feeling is Harbaugh and Roman’s offense will not look like a classic West Coast offense, it will look like something new and innovative. I’m talking about shotgun play-action plays and designed quarterback runs to keep the defense off balance, things more associated with college offenses.

Harbaugh and Roman will be able to get away with these trick plays for a few reasons – the pre-snap shifting will confuse the defense, and the rest of the talent on the roster is set up to succeed from the shotgun as well.

Both Anthony Dixon and Kendall Hunter rushed from shotgun, one-back formations in college, and Frank Gore is certainly good enough to succeed in these formations as well.

We may not see the really creative stuff early, since team is only in mid-May form according to Harbaugh. But they are certainly something to watch for as the season goes on.

Im wondering if they are gonna play a Tom Brady WCO type of offense. Meaning when Brady has time in the shotgun, which is very often he has at least from 3 to 5 seconds to make all the reads, if not more, from good O-line protection. As we know when u have more time to go through your reads, u become that much of a better QB. What do u guys think??

Time to move away from the shotgun approach. Teams that do this almost always struggle to run the football. We're best off with a balanced offense. You don't beef up the line not to run the football.

Nowadays mobile college quarterbacks generally come from a gimmick offense. It's just something you have to deal with. You have to transition them into a pro offense.

Well since u said that I actually took a look at a team that did it so well, and although we are definitely no NE, that dude Benjarvis Green-Ellis, ran for over 1000yds, and had 13 td's, and i dont think he's as good as Gore. And please correct me if im wrong, but i think Gore did pretty good when we were in the shotgun. Now i did say i think, and if he wasnt then i stand corrected.

So while i know WE ARE NO PATS, and we have no Tom Brady lol. I think we could be just as effective a bit. I mean not on every play, but maybe more often than not.

Like i said tho i havent researched their oline, or any of that, so maybe they were just overall pro-bowlers. just saying they seem to make the shotgun work, maybe we could too.

Originally posted by tjd808185:

Originally posted by oldman9er:

Originally posted by tjd808185:

Originally posted by oldman9er:
Cute cherry-picker!

No, point taken... Thing is, I find it more useful to judge a player on recent play... as opposed to many years ago. What-have-u-done-4-me-lately league.

To imply that he played great down the stretch is laughable. He was benched for the majority of the stretch and played the final 3.5 games. He was benched before the St Louis game only to come in relief.

When you break down his performances in meaningful games (Arizona doesn't count) he only played great in the Seattle game. He was turnover machine against Philly, and the rest of the games he was efficient while our offense blew chunks. Hence why he was repeatedly benched.

You are free to interpret the 91 QBR however you choose to. I would not call his play "great" down the stretch. I would call it "decent" though... when considering the many extenuating failures of the team as a whole.

You can be a stat geek all you want, the reality is he was booed out the stadium and benched twice during that time period. We went 3-4 as a team with victories over Oakland, Seattle, and Arizona's community college squad.

To say he was decent is stretch, other than the Seattle game he was average at best.

Anyways the past is the past, and hopefully he's got some Terry Bradshaw in him.

I see we have now come to the point of childish name-calling... a pity. I still call the play "decent"... you do not. Big surprise. Stats are fun, aren't they? Can be relied upon when you want to make your points, and can be dismissed when they don't.

The truth is, that coaching is a huge part of football. I have heard and read nearly EVERY 49er fan bash our coaches, bash our OL, bash our "average" receivers. Acknowledge the starters that were injured. So how they can straight face expect a QB to have "great" performances with all of this admitted crap support around said QB? Well... that to me is just fascinating.

Anyway, I know I am not getting through to you, so I'll waste no more time bothering.

Originally posted by Jersey9er:

Originally posted by tjd808185:

Originally posted by Jersey9er:
Another article, but on Shotgun Qb's from baby Cohn;

Three shotgun quarterbacks
Posted on August 7, 2011 by Grant Cohn
Three shotgun quarterbacks

It’s too early to take stock of the quarterbacks, so I’ll just give an observation.

The three top QBs on the training camp roster – Alex Smith, Colin Kaepernick, and Jeremiah Masoli – are all most comfortable throwing the ball from the shotgun.

Each guy played strictly in shotgun or shotgun-like offenses in college. Smith ran the spread, Kaepernick ran the pistol, and Masoli ran the option.

When you think of West-Coast-offense quarterbacks, you usually think of quarterbacks who operate from under center, yet Harbaugh hand-picked three shotgun guys. What does that mean?

My gut feeling is Harbaugh and Roman’s offense will not look like a classic West Coast offense, it will look like something new and innovative. I’m talking about shotgun play-action plays and designed quarterback runs to keep the defense off balance, things more associated with college offenses.

Harbaugh and Roman will be able to get away with these trick plays for a few reasons – the pre-snap shifting will confuse the defense, and the rest of the talent on the roster is set up to succeed from the shotgun as well.

Both Anthony Dixon and Kendall Hunter rushed from shotgun, one-back formations in college, and Frank Gore is certainly good enough to succeed in these formations as well.

We may not see the really creative stuff early, since team is only in mid-May form according to Harbaugh. But they are certainly something to watch for as the season goes on.

Im wondering if they are gonna play a Tom Brady WCO type of offense. Meaning when Brady has time in the shotgun, which is very often he has at least from 3 to 5 seconds to make all the reads, if not more, from good O-line protection. As we know when u have more time to go through your reads, u become that much of a better QB. What do u guys think??

Time to move away from the shotgun approach. Teams that do this almost always struggle to run the football. We're best off with a balanced offense. You don't beef up the line not to run the football.

Nowadays mobile college quarterbacks generally come from a gimmick offense. It's just something you have to deal with. You have to transition them into a pro offense.

Well since u said that I actually took a look at a team that did it so well, and although we are definitely no NE, that dude Benjarvis Green-Ellis, ran for over 1000yds, and had 13 td's, and i dont think he's as good as Gore. And please correct me if im wrong, but i think Gore did pretty good when we were in the shotgun. Now i did say i think, and if he wasnt then i stand corrected.

So while i know WE ARE NO PATS, and we have no Tom Brady lol. I think we could be just as effective a bit. I mean not on every play, but maybe more often than not.

Like i said tho i havent researched their oline, or any of that, so maybe they were just overall pro-bowlers. just saying they seem to make the shotgun work, maybe we could too.

If I'm not mistaken and I might be but I'm pretty sure the Patriots spent alot more time under center than in years past (07-09).

New England is a very versatile squad. They won their Super Bowls with Tom being a game manager.

If their was a team I wanted to emulate it's the Saints. Big mauling offensive line, balanced attack but can light you up whether it's under center or thru Shotgun. Last year the Saints running attack was severly diminished and it really hurt their passing attack. Just put too much pressure on Brees to perform.

Originally posted by tjd808185:

Originally posted by Jersey9er:

Originally posted by tjd808185:

Originally posted by Jersey9er:
Another article, but on Shotgun Qb's from baby Cohn;

Three shotgun quarterbacks
Posted on August 7, 2011 by Grant Cohn
Three shotgun quarterbacks

It’s too early to take stock of the quarterbacks, so I’ll just give an observation.

The three top QBs on the training camp roster – Alex Smith, Colin Kaepernick, and Jeremiah Masoli – are all most comfortable throwing the ball from the shotgun.

Each guy played strictly in shotgun or shotgun-like offenses in college. Smith ran the spread, Kaepernick ran the pistol, and Masoli ran the option.

When you think of West-Coast-offense quarterbacks, you usually think of quarterbacks who operate from under center, yet Harbaugh hand-picked three shotgun guys. What does that mean?

My gut feeling is Harbaugh and Roman’s offense will not look like a classic West Coast offense, it will look like something new and innovative. I’m talking about shotgun play-action plays and designed quarterback runs to keep the defense off balance, things more associated with college offenses.

Harbaugh and Roman will be able to get away with these trick plays for a few reasons – the pre-snap shifting will confuse the defense, and the rest of the talent on the roster is set up to succeed from the shotgun as well.

Both Anthony Dixon and Kendall Hunter rushed from shotgun, one-back formations in college, and Frank Gore is certainly good enough to succeed in these formations as well.

We may not see the really creative stuff early, since team is only in mid-May form according to Harbaugh. But they are certainly something to watch for as the season goes on.

Im wondering if they are gonna play a Tom Brady WCO type of offense. Meaning when Brady has time in the shotgun, which is very often he has at least from 3 to 5 seconds to make all the reads, if not more, from good O-line protection. As we know when u have more time to go through your reads, u become that much of a better QB. What do u guys think??

Time to move away from the shotgun approach. Teams that do this almost always struggle to run the football. We're best off with a balanced offense. You don't beef up the line not to run the football.

Nowadays mobile college quarterbacks generally come from a gimmick offense. It's just something you have to deal with. You have to transition them into a pro offense.

Well since u said that I actually took a look at a team that did it so well, and although we are definitely no NE, that dude Benjarvis Green-Ellis, ran for over 1000yds, and had 13 td's, and i dont think he's as good as Gore. And please correct me if im wrong, but i think Gore did pretty good when we were in the shotgun. Now i did say i think, and if he wasnt then i stand corrected.

So while i know WE ARE NO PATS, and we have no Tom Brady lol. I think we could be just as effective a bit. I mean not on every play, but maybe more often than not.

Like i said tho i havent researched their oline, or any of that, so maybe they were just overall pro-bowlers. just saying they seem to make the shotgun work, maybe we could too.

If I'm not mistaken and I might be but I'm pretty sure the Patriots spent alot more time under center than in years past (07-09).

New England is a very versatile squad. They won their Super Bowls with Tom being a game manager.

If their was a team I wanted to emulate it's the Saints. Big mauling offensive line, balanced attack but can light you up whether it's under center or thru Shotgun. Last year the Saints running attack was severly diminished and it really hurt their passing attack. Just put too much pressure on Brees to perform.

I was following you up until that line there. Game manager, id have to disagree, if anything i admired the way that the Pats wanted to hit you in the mouth, and even if u had 1 minute left and were up by 30, they still wanted to score.

Well the saints arent bad, they did win one superbowl, but if there was a team id like to emulate on offense it would have to be the Pats, or our SB winning teams under Montana. I remember and i cant tell u what game it was, but i think Montana had like 4 or 5 td's and asked his coach to let him go in one more time to get one more TD, and he did, then sat the rest of the game. Thats the type of offense id like to have. Run the score up till the last second, and show ur dominance.

Originally posted by oldman9er:

Originally posted by tjd808185:

Originally posted by oldman9er:

Originally posted by tjd808185:

Originally posted by oldman9er:
Cute cherry-picker!

No, point taken... Thing is, I find it more useful to judge a player on recent play... as opposed to many years ago. What-have-u-done-4-me-lately league.

To imply that he played great down the stretch is laughable. He was benched for the majority of the stretch and played the final 3.5 games. He was benched before the St Louis game only to come in relief.

When you break down his performances in meaningful games (Arizona doesn't count) he only played great in the Seattle game. He was turnover machine against Philly, and the rest of the games he was efficient while our offense blew chunks. Hence why he was repeatedly benched.

You are free to interpret the 91 QBR however you choose to. I would not call his play "great" down the stretch. I would call it "decent" though... when considering the many extenuating failures of the team as a whole.

You can be a stat geek all you want, the reality is he was booed out the stadium and benched twice during that time period. We went 3-4 as a team with victories over Oakland, Seattle, and Arizona's community college squad.

To say he was decent is stretch, other than the Seattle game he was average at best.

Anyways the past is the past, and hopefully he's got some Terry Bradshaw in him.

I see we have now come to the point of childish name-calling... a pity. I still call the play "decent"... you do not. Big surprise. Stats are fun, aren't they? Can be relied upon when you want to make your points, and can be dismissed when they don't.

The truth is, that coaching is a huge part of football. I have heard and read nearly EVERY 49er fan bash our coaches, bash our OL, bash our "average" receivers. Acknowledge the starters that were injured. So how they can straight face expect a QB to have "great" performances with all of this admitted crap support around said QB? Well... that to me is just fascinating.

Anyway, I know I am not getting through to you, so I'll waste no more time bothering.

First off we were relatively injury free last year. All of Smith's weapons were healthy through out the year.

Yes I do expect Smith to rise above the problems we did have. That's what franchise qbs do. See Josh Freeman. In his 2nd year the guy had defensive minded coach, poor running game for the 1st half of the season, and 2 rookie receivers and still had a d*mn good season. Never expected Alex to be Peyton Manning but you have the make the most out of the situation. You might think he did, I don't think he came close.

LOL at you not getting thru to me. Up to this point our discussion was just breaking down the 91 rating. I get it. If you start at the point were competition becomes soft quarterback rating tends to improve.

Originally posted by Jersey9er:

Originally posted by tjd808185:

Originally posted by Jersey9er:

Originally posted by tjd808185:

Originally posted by Jersey9er:
Another article, but on Shotgun Qb's from baby Cohn;

Three shotgun quarterbacks
Posted on August 7, 2011 by Grant Cohn
Three shotgun quarterbacks

It’s too early to take stock of the quarterbacks, so I’ll just give an observation.

The three top QBs on the training camp roster – Alex Smith, Colin Kaepernick, and Jeremiah Masoli – are all most comfortable throwing the ball from the shotgun.

Each guy played strictly in shotgun or shotgun-like offenses in college. Smith ran the spread, Kaepernick ran the pistol, and Masoli ran the option.

When you think of West-Coast-offense quarterbacks, you usually think of quarterbacks who operate from under center, yet Harbaugh hand-picked three shotgun guys. What does that mean?

My gut feeling is Harbaugh and Roman’s offense will not look like a classic West Coast offense, it will look like something new and innovative. I’m talking about shotgun play-action plays and designed quarterback runs to keep the defense off balance, things more associated with college offenses.

Harbaugh and Roman will be able to get away with these trick plays for a few reasons – the pre-snap shifting will confuse the defense, and the rest of the talent on the roster is set up to succeed from the shotgun as well.

Both Anthony Dixon and Kendall Hunter rushed from shotgun, one-back formations in college, and Frank Gore is certainly good enough to succeed in these formations as well.

We may not see the really creative stuff early, since team is only in mid-May form according to Harbaugh. But they are certainly something to watch for as the season goes on.

Im wondering if they are gonna play a Tom Brady WCO type of offense. Meaning when Brady has time in the shotgun, which is very often he has at least from 3 to 5 seconds to make all the reads, if not more, from good O-line protection. As we know when u have more time to go through your reads, u become that much of a better QB. What do u guys think??

Time to move away from the shotgun approach. Teams that do this almost always struggle to run the football. We're best off with a balanced offense. You don't beef up the line not to run the football.

Nowadays mobile college quarterbacks generally come from a gimmick offense. It's just something you have to deal with. You have to transition them into a pro offense.

Well since u said that I actually took a look at a team that did it so well, and although we are definitely no NE, that dude Benjarvis Green-Ellis, ran for over 1000yds, and had 13 td's, and i dont think he's as good as Gore. And please correct me if im wrong, but i think Gore did pretty good when we were in the shotgun. Now i did say i think, and if he wasnt then i stand corrected.

So while i know WE ARE NO PATS, and we have no Tom Brady lol. I think we could be just as effective a bit. I mean not on every play, but maybe more often than not.

Like i said tho i havent researched their oline, or any of that, so maybe they were just overall pro-bowlers. just saying they seem to make the shotgun work, maybe we could too.

If I'm not mistaken and I might be but I'm pretty sure the Patriots spent alot more time under center than in years past (07-09).

New England is a very versatile squad. They won their Super Bowls with Tom being a game manager.

If their was a team I wanted to emulate it's the Saints. Big mauling offensive line, balanced attack but can light you up whether it's under center or thru Shotgun. Last year the Saints running attack was severly diminished and it really hurt their passing attack. Just put too much pressure on Brees to perform.

I was following you up until that line there. Game manager, id have to disagree, if anything i admired the way that the Pats wanted to hit you in the mouth, and even if u had 1 minute left and were up by 30, they still wanted to score.

Well the saints arent bad, they did win one superbowl, but if there was a team id like to emulate on offense it would have to be the Pats, or our SB winning teams under Montana. I remember and i cant tell u what game it was, but i think Montana had like 4 or 5 td's and asked his coach to let him go in one more time to get one more TD, and he did, then sat the rest of the game. Thats the type of offense id like to have. Run the score up till the last second, and show ur dominance.

That wasn't meant to be a disrespect towards Tom. I was just pointing out that they weren't the Shotgun 4,500 passing yard team when Tom was winning rings. I love the way the Patriots go about things. They're constantly reinventing themselves. It's a thing of beauty to watch.

Originally posted by tjd808185:
Up to this point our discussion was just breaking down the 91 rating. I get it. If you start at the point were competition becomes soft quarterback rating tends to improve.

Go look at Josh Freeman's QBR when he was playing the better teams.

http://espn.go.com/nfl/player/gamelog/_/id/12473/josh-freeman

... and this is with NFL quality offensive coach Olson... a well established coordinator and QB coach. This is also with an OL that ranked in the top half of the league in regards to pass protection.


.... and no one minded when Shaun Hill played "decent" football against soft teams down the stretch in 2008.

... and LOL at you LOL at me too, so take that!

( see? Kinda obnoxious and juvenile, huh )

Originally posted by tjd808185:


First off we were relatively injury free last year. All of Smith's weapons were healthy through out the year.

Was happy to read and not post until these comments. Heitmann out all year and Gore out in Game 12 for the rest of the season...when Smith was making his run and having a decent QB rating.

Center is one of the most important positions for continuity with the QB and without Gore teams knew that it was up to Smith and the passing game to win, so they could scheme against the pass. Unless you think they didn't notice Gore's absence.

And as far as Smith's weapons, what exacty are they past Gore? VD and...oh yeah, the underwhelming WR core.

Are you really arguing that the 9ers were a formidable team except for Smith?

^ we also lost some guy named Joe Staley in November as well... but how important can a starting LT really be?

Originally posted by dtg_9er:

Originally posted by tjd808185:


First off we were relatively injury free last year. All of Smith's weapons were healthy through out the year.

Was happy to read and not post until these comments. Heitmann out all year and Gore out in Game 12 for the rest of the season...when Smith was making his run and having a decent QB rating.

Center is one of the most important positions for continuity with the QB and without Gore teams knew that it was up to Smith and the passing game to win, so they could scheme against the pass. Unless you think they didn't notice Gore's absence.

And as far as Smith's weapons, what exacty are they past Gore? VD and...oh yeah, the underwhelming WR core.

Are you really arguing that the 9ers were a formidable team except for Smith?

Yeah, baas took a little while to get used to the center position, a big reason the first 5 games went the way they did. Then we lost gore at it was like...f**k...It was horrible seeing dixon just run up the middle and get swallowed up. Westbrook eventually did a good job as a replacement but he's not an every down back.

I'm still curious to see when Smith got benched. Actually his whole career?... I remember him having a 7-0 lead over Carolina then getting injured.

Talk about the excuses...

Originally posted by oldman9er:

Originally posted by tjd808185:
Up to this point our discussion was just breaking down the 91 rating. I get it. If you start at the point were competition becomes soft quarterback rating tends to improve.

Go look at Josh Freeman's QBR when he was playing the better teams.

http://espn.go.com/nfl/player/gamelog/_/id/12473/josh-freeman

... and this is with NFL quality offensive coach Olson... a well established coordinator and QB coach. This is also with an OL that ranked in the top half of the league in regards to pass protection.


.... and no one minded when Shaun Hill played "decent" football against soft teams down the stretch in 2008.

... and LOL at you LOL at me too, so take that!

( see? Kinda obnoxious and juvenile, huh )

Over the course of the year Freeman without a doubt played better than Alex. 95.9 quarterback rating and 9 turnovers in a full season. Alex had 12 turnovers in 11 games. Yeah they only beat teams that missed the playoffs, but that's my point regarding Smith. Tampa wasn't ready to be a playoff team but Freeman carried them to every win they possibly could have gotten. Just not the case with us. Losing to New Orleans and Atlanta is one thing, but you can't get blown out by Seattle and lose to Carolina. Different can of worms.

I'm not quite sure how good Tampa's line is but stats can be deceiving. Is it just based off sacks or are pressure included too. Freeman is great at escaping the rush and dumping it off. His body frame and athleticism allows him to escape more rushes than your average qb.

You're overrating Olson. Nothing against him but his resume is not Norv Turner's. His track record as an offensive coordinator was limited. Scott Linehan called the offense for the Rams to late in the season when they finished 6th, and when he did hand it over to Olson the following year it regressed to 24th.

You must of forgotten what the zone was like back then. It was evenly divided between Smith and Hill supporters and yes level of competition was brought up with Shaun Hill. I know I talked about it.

Originally posted by oldman9er:
^ we also lost some guy named Joe Staley in November as well... but how important can a starting LT really be?

LOL! Forgot about Joe! Yeah, center, LT and all pro RB...but other than that...

Unbelievable! And another "proof"? Fans booing! God I hope he can turn it around this year and silence the critics...at least the super negative ones.

What am I thinking...

Originally posted by tjd808185:

Originally posted by oldman9er:

Originally posted by tjd808185:
Up to this point our discussion was just breaking down the 91 rating. I get it. If you start at the point were competition becomes soft quarterback rating tends to improve.

Go look at Josh Freeman's QBR when he was playing the better teams.

http://espn.go.com/nfl/player/gamelog/_/id/12473/josh-freeman

... and this is with NFL quality offensive coach Olson... a well established coordinator and QB coach. This is also with an OL that ranked in the top half of the league in regards to pass protection.


.... and no one minded when Shaun Hill played "decent" football against soft teams down the stretch in 2008.

... and LOL at you LOL at me too, so take that!

( see? Kinda obnoxious and juvenile, huh )

Over the course of the year Freeman without a doubt played better than Alex. 95.9 quarterback rating and 9 turnovers in a full season. Alex had 12 turnovers in 11 games. Yeah they only beat teams that missed the playoffs, but that's my point regarding Smith. Tampa wasn't ready to be a playoff team but Freeman carried them to every win they possibly could have gotten. Just not the case with us. Losing to New Orleans and Atlanta is one thing, but you can't get blown out by Seattle and lose to Carolina. Different can of worms.

I'm not quite sure how good Tampa's line is but stats can be deceiving. Is it just based off sacks or are pressure included too. Freeman is great at escaping the rush and dumping it off. His body frame and athleticism allows him to escape more rushes than your average qb.

You're overrating Olson. Nothing against him but his resume is not Norv Turner's. His track record as an offensive coordinator was limited. Scott Linehan called the offense for the Rams to late in the season when they finished 6th, and when he did hand it over to Olson the following year it regressed to 24th.

You must of forgotten what the zone was like back then. It was evenly divided between Smith and Hill supporters and yes level of competition was brought up with Shaun Hill. I know I talked about it.

First off again we were up 3-0 against Seattle when Nate Clements gave away 2 td's in a row. Not to mention the Morgan TD that was token back. Who's to blame for that?

Second we were up 7-0 against Carolina when Alex went down. How is it his fault David Carr came in and couldn't get anything done.I'm not trying to be a pest but how would like some answers on how Alex isn't even playing and gets blamed for a loss?