49ers Two Losses, Neither Because of QB Alex Smith

Great write up, but it should be unnecessary, it is never one plastered fault for a loss, unless its lost or won on one play. However, you have to call a spade a spade and Alex cannot be an elite qb.

The Niners had a lot going against them. 2 days to prepare for a complicated defense, then get on a plane. If not for those two calls, they could have gone in at halftime leading 17-3. The Ravens are a good team playing at home. I agree Alex did a great job holding on to the ball and not fumbling. Add Chilo and Noran to the mix…. Etc. Not going to go all Singletary, but as good a loss to take as any, IMO.

Where we’re slicing up whom to blame the losses on. The team lost these games. Alex missed some plays that would’ve helped win the Dallas game, a missed read in OT plus he threw a huge INT that led to Dallas points. But the team lost. Yesterday, Alex could’ve avoided two coverage sacks by throwing the ball away, and ran into a third when rolling right would’ve netted huge rushing yardage. His INT likely cost the team 3 points. But this stuff happens.

I say this not because Alex is to blame for either (he’s not) but to point out that every player could’ve done more in a loss. In losses as close as these two games where, we’re talking a play or two by any number of guys that would swap the result. No player, including Alex, needs to be protected from criticism.

But after the 49ers tied it up on their first drive of the second half, the Ravens drive that followed was a killer. What hurt even more was the defense, that had allowed the Ravens to convert on 3rd down only once in the first half, allowed four 3rd down conversions on that drive including the TD pass on 3rd-and-8. Again, I’m not blaming the defense, only it surprised me they had such a hard time on that drive on 3rd down.
  
But by far and away the biggest difference in the game was the Ginn TD being called back. It just changed the whole feel of the game. And it’s hard to blame Alex when he was running for his life most of the game. Most QBs in that situation would have probably had 3 or more turnovers (fumbles or interceptions).

I think that they should have done more no huddle offense, at the end of the 1st half running the 2 min drill they had defense on its heels and off guard, and were moving the ball. I think if they were to have 4 to 6 plays scripted before the offense took the field and went no huddle for those plays I think they could have moved the ball down field, but like I have said before not an expert just a fan posting his opinion.

What concerned me a bit was the lack of adjustments in the second half. The play calling on Def-fence could have been better. On the series where Baltimore scored the only TD in the game, I felt as though Greg Manusky was calling the plays. Four man rushes are great and all, especially when its effective, but I didn’t see us dial up any exotic blitzes and Flacco went untouched all game long. The o-line looked ridiculously bad, and I am not too sure it was all because Snyder went down. I saw a Baltimore defensive front step their game up to a incredible level, and we had no answer for that effort.

9-2 is still a great feat, but I am suspect of our Playoff Caliber status, and the only thing that will change that is a much better effort against another Super Bowl quality team in the Pittsburgh Steelers. Dallas looks pretty damn good right about now, and the Lions can hang with us and win. I actually like our chances against the Saints more than any other playoff team. Of course the Packers D is rounding into playoff form and that is a scary match-up for anyone.

    I can’t say I blame anyone on this loss, it was a short straw with playing the Cards and no Ravens. Let’s face it and the penalties ( other than offsides on kick offs ) probably would have happened anyway, about the only good thing to happen is it should make the teams stronger for the rest of the season, this loss will be a painful reminder of what it’s like to lose. I hope this loss stays on the minds of all the players and coaches so they better prepare for each and every game. They did their best considering the test, a short week and the Ravens had one more day than we did to prepare, this loss can/ will and should be put to good use to make our Niners give heart and soul to strive for perfection, which so far, we haven’t seen.

1) OL: Any way you look at it they just didn’t get it done
2) Play calling: I would have loved more no huddle, more screen to counter the blitz, and more slants to get the WR involved
3) John Harbs and Staff: They pitched a really good game. They clearly looked back to the preseason and saw how bad smith and co did against the blitz and even though in the season Smith has been good against it John saw something there and went after it. I was impressed with the Baltimore team.
4) Our secondary: They are still the weak point on our D. Other teams are going to attack us there all season long. They have a lot of work to do still.

This is really an opportunity to address our line, play calling and secondary. The whole NFL saw the blue print on how to beat us. Now we know exactly how they are going to come after us and we can plan accordingly.

Against the Ravens, you have to get rid of the ball quick and that is just NOT a strength of Alex Smith. You cant manage against that defense, you have to be a Dan Marino (1-2-3 gone).

Smith has simply been playing winning football. That can’t be argued in any fashion. He hasn’t been flashy or explosive. He hasn’t “wowed” people week in and week out. But he really has been helping the team win. It isn’t in spite of him. And while it isn’t solely because of him they’re winning (much like the Patriots and Packers QBs carry their teams at times), he certainly is contributing to the winning ways.

Can you make screen passes if you face extreme pressure from the right side?

http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news?slug=ycn-10526055
 A quote from the article linked above that i think sums it up for the way most real fans feel.
“All of those bandwagon fans out there who think Smith is a bad quarterback because his offensive line didn’t block players are ridiculous. If that’s how you’re going to cheer, then we don’t want you rooting for us”.-David Mehrwein

To hear people say this was Smith’s fault is mind boggling. The offensive line was in shambles. At times it looked like they were standing there giving directions to the QB. If I were going to assign blame, it would be lack of execution of the O-Line first, and lack of game planning and adjustments from the coaching staff second. This team thrives on match ups and such, but there was no time to work it in this week.

Also, Baltimore needed this win a lot more than we did, so they came out on fire and flat out beat us by the end.

I know he’s been very solid this year but that’s all he is..solid, he’s not a playmaker he’s just a piece of the team..i think that’s what our QB position is lacking, someone to step up in the pocket and willing to take the hit or roll out to make a big play.

As the statement none of the nine wins were because of Alex. It’s pretty much a non-statement.

but really it is all pretty much headed to a few over zealous number running cry baby spelling nazi’s. W/e the Niners lost, we are still pretty much a lock for our division. Last time I checked the Ravens (who have a pretty good history of having tough defenses managed to obtain a record team high sacks. I think the issue was with the line quite clearly.

You can hate on Alex but with out even playing our crap division much we manage to be standing at first in our division and still a lot better then last year. Funny I see the same people making the same comments over and over again acting like a High Schooler with Google at his disposal.

Can’t tell you what to do but as a fan I am in know way worried. I actually think this is a great loss in it shows us our weak points with plenty of time left to fix it.

I dont care who the QB is. Without an O line you cannot move the football at all. QB’s are not supposed to absolutely have the ability to run around and make plays otherwise they’re terrible. QBs are supposed to be able to sit back in the pocket and deliver the football accurately which Alex can do when he has time.

I also appreciate that Alex never turned the ball over besides that pick in the end zone. Every time he got sacked he took care of the ball and made sure not to do anything stupid. That’s a sign of a good QB. I would much rather see him eat the ball than try to side-hand it as he’s getting hit. Those ALWAYS lead to picks.

There was a fumble that went out of bounds. I think it was one of Suggs’ sacks. It didnt matter in the end as the result was still 4th and long

After seeing that Anthony Davis would fix his play real quick. Or else.