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!"