And dude, the first play of the game was no exception. By some rare and bizarre fluke, Djack got separation on that play, and Alex's throw was 4 yards short - causing Darrell to come back for it, and allowing the DB to get his hands in on the play.

Similarly, the fourth and goal and fourth and three (I think?) in the red zone were also calls I agreed with.  Some could argue that if the 49ers had kicked field goals, they would have been only down by 11.  That would still require two more scores.  They needed a touchdown (or two) at some point, so I don't disagree with those calls.  Nolan was basically saying, "if we can't score here, the game is pretty much over."  He got a second chance to say the exact same thing and he took it again.  Basically, he let the offense know that the loss would be on them (as the defense was pretty good to open the second half).

I don't think you could get a 6th round pick for Allen, hes done. Also he is a free agent next season. Nice dream though kid.

Basically, all I'm saying is that Smith may be trying to find ways to "muscle up" for each pass.  I can't imagine the pain has completely gone away, and there's no way he's at 100% strength.  Those two things will only come with extended rest, not 4 weeks (with throwing in between).

I'd say shut him down.

Likewise, as others have commented, why not just play VD as a wideout. If you need a tight end to block, put someone else in to block. Hell, put a lineman there. If you only throw there twice a game what the hell does it matter whether the guy can catch or not?

Gore is a very good back at making the most out of tight spaces.  If Moran Norris didn't get OWNED like he did, the 49ers would have had six.  Frank got on Norris AND spoke to Larry Allen after the play, which was one of the lone bright spots of last night's game.  The team is in dire need of players that are emotional leaders on the field, and it's nice to see Frank step up and want to be that player.

It's just a very disappointing year for the 49ers, and I'm sure Steve is taking his lumps like all of us (49ers fans).  He may be even taking it worse, much like a Cal Alumni may take losses to USC or Stanford worse than just a random Cal fan.

When Smith was drafted, who was the offensive coordinator?  Mike McCarthy.  Smith was drafted with the WCO in mind.  Nolan was hoping McCarthy, who was a protege of Holmgren (if I'm not mistaken) would develop Smith.  Sadly enough, Green Bay knew McCarthy's ability as well, and picked him to be their next head coach.

The WCO is a very hard system to understand.  It is probably even more difficult to teach.  With that in mind, there probably wasn't any great options for Nolan to continue the WCO that offseason he hired Norv.  Norv also had a system that worked, and one that worked with the 49ers "current" personnel.  He had Gore, who had a world of potential and was ready to break out.  He had a very solid offensive line, the anchor of which was newly acquired Larry Allen.  Norv's run to set up the deep pass system worked for Smith.  Smith even liked it more.  Smith's passes to Antonio Bryant were often things of beauty, even the deep ones.

The problem is, like McCarthy, Norv fled as soon as he could as well.  Nolan had very little options this past offseason to hire a replacement.  So here's the dilemma: do you hire Hostler and get him to teach the WCO (which I think he's more comfortable with), or do you force him to follow Turner's floorplan?  Maybe Nolan deemed Hostler unable to TEACH the WCO, thus forcing him into the Turner system.

No matter which way you carve the turkey, Hostler is a VERY large chunk of why the team has struggled.  Of that slice of turkey, Hostler accounts for the actual meat part of it, and Nolan is just the fat and the skin (or those hard cartilage things in the drumsticks).  Hopefully Nolan looks outside to find a new OC at season's end.  Maybe Norv could come back, "burned bridges be damned!"

If Norv had stayed this year, maybe the offense may have taken off?  The pieces were theoretically all there.  Football isn't played on paper, though.  The offensive line imploded.  The WRs are REALLY under-performing.  Overall execution is just bad.  Naturally, this can be blamed on the players, but some of it is also on coaches.  Hostler may be a good QB coach, we don't know how the workings of the assistants are.  Norv and Hostler together may have been a good tandem.  Either way, Nolan needs help running the offense.  He needs someone that can step in and make Nolan trust him, much in the way Norv did.

As for acquiring talent, I'd say the 49ers have done a pretty good job so far.  It's a good thing they aren't chasing after free agent they see.  Their draft picks have also been fairly solid even though they've had a few misses.  Every team is going to have misses, and for the 49ers, they're very fortunate the misses have come on late picks (minus Brandon Williams, I think).

I think you're basically saying what Braekneck and I have been saying for the last month or two.  It's hard to blame it all on Nolan right now.  If he decides to stick with Hostler without considering outside options, however, then calling for his head may be completely justified.

I still have loads of faith in Nolan.  He has the ability to get his guys to rally.  It takes a miracle to get your defense to support a sorry offense like the one the 49ers have.  The defense continues to play all the way through the 4th quarter, 27-0 be damned.  I have little doubt that if Nolan knew how to run an offense, that he would relieve Hostler of his duties (much like he did to Billy Davis the past two years).  I just hope he looks outside this offseason for a "second coach" type that can run the offense for him.

As for Singletary, why are people so high on him?  Is it because the media pumps him up?  As late as this past off-season, he wasn't even ready to be a head coach.  He got shredded by teams because he didn't even prepare a list of assistants he would have wanted to hire to work under him.  What has he done to earn all of the good will he has?  Oh yeah, he's a HOFer.  Great players don't always necessarily make great coaches.  I'm not knocking Singletary before he even gets out of the gates, but let him prove something before you give him a free pass while hammering everyone else.  He is the assistant head coach for crying out loud.  The team is almost as much his responsibility as it is Nolan's, that's why Nolan didn't think defensive coordinator would be a promotion for Singletary.

As I mentioned previously, there is very little chance Alex is throwing pain-free.  It is also a very slim possibility that his shoulder is 100%, physically.  Basically, it's totally plausible his front leg thing is a compensation, to allow more force/strength in his throws, as right now his shoulder isn't doing it.

I mean think about it, if it was a mechanic issue he's had all along, it's something Turner should have fixed.  It's something McCarthy should have fixed.  Up until recent weeks (since the injury, basically) there has been little made of his mechanics.  This is especially true in his throwing mechanics (as people have always made a comment or two about his footwork).

Basically, I think his mechanics are an injury compensation thing.  Until that injury heals, it'd be difficult for Smith to "naturally" fall back into the bad mechanics, no matter how much he is lectured on it.

He also constructed one of the worst offensive lines in history, but went ahead and pulled in a #1 QB and lured in an overpriced RB.  You can have all the weapons you want but you leave the offensive line behind?

Even in Minnesota, they were a pass-first offense.  The offensive line wasn't great, and the defense was TERRIBLE.  I kind of lump him in together with Mooch, in that they both would be better off served as OC's, but not head coaches.  I would REALLY prefer Mooch over Green, though.

It's so funny how so many fans have sold out on Nolan in a matter of less than a year.  Not that long ago, everyone was following Jonas Jennings and Larry Allen in the "Rollin' with Nolan" wagon.  Now, after the team has hit a speed bump in what could be considered halfway through the second year of the actual rebuild, everyone is ready to dump him.

Nolan's resume is far from complete, but just judging on offseason moves, ability to fleece, and how fast he's turned the OVERALL STATE (front office, football operations, coaches, and players on the whole) of this franchise around, I would take him over Dennis Green as a HEAD COACH any day.

I'm almost willing to guarantee that if Dennis Green took over as head coach, the team would STILL lose.  The Cardinals under Green were considered "sleepers" for so many years, never to even take the stand.  They had talent on both sides of the ball, with a defense that could have been a top 15 or top 10 defense in the league.  Minnesota, with so much offensive fire-power never became an elite team because he couldn't construct a defense.

The problem with the team isn't Mike Nolan, at least not even a large chunk of it.  He was dealt a sorry list of options for offensive coordinator this team, and coincidentally, that's the side of the ball that has struggled.  In the past two years, when Billy Davis would faulter, Nolan didn't hesitate to take over the reins on defense and the defense would improve.  He just needs a competent (let alone good) offensive coordinator.  I'd say with all he's done, he's earned, AT THE VERY LEAST, another year to find a new OC and establish some competency (let alone stability) there.