San Francisco 49ers QB Alex Smith chatted with the media on Monday and went back over much of what has been discussed quite a bit as regards to the 49ers loss to the Baltimore Ravens. Most notably, he spoke in fairly general terms about the struggles in pass protection. He basically said everybody was to blame whether it be his calls at the line, his holding onto the ball too long, or the line not holding up against basic four-man fronts. The Harbaugh message continues on.
It was interesting to note that the 49ers didn't seem to go with much in the way of screens, draws or anything else with the running backs or really any of the 49ers skill position players to slow down the Ravens. Would it have made any difference given the athletic Ravens defense? The 49ers defense has done a great job containing running backs in the passing game in part because of their own athleticism.
The Ravens bring that same athleticism and I am guessing that was one reason the 49ers did not go to things like that to loosen up the Ravens. Of course, when a defense is running four man fronts, it leaves plenty of linebackers and defensive backs ready to converge on running backs in the passing game.
Given how last Thursday turned out, are there adjustments in that regard that can be made? We've discussed this issue from a lot of angles, so here is one more.
You can view video of Alex Smith's media session after the jump and also read the transcript.
Alex Smith Media Session