The Alex Smith / Aaron Rodgers Saga: Part Deuce

I frequently make myself look like an idiot (note: remember this fact for when I do my power rankings later this week). Even though I think that I wrote a well-reasoned article yesterday, Smith had to go and take a giant step forward, perhaps shifting this saga for the foreseeable future.

And boy, I couldn't be happier.

I mean, let's be honest. Pretty much everything I said yesterday still rings relatively true: Aaron Rodgers still remains the better QB in pretty much every regard (expect winning football games on 9/9/12), and the 49ers probably should have picked him.

But in a long time, we will probably remember this game as the day the saga was rewritten. Yesterday, Alex went into Rodgers' house and just took a proverbial dump everywhere - except in this metaphor, pooping all over a football field is a good thing. Just, don't question it.

In pretty much every facet of the game, Alex trampled Rodgers. He threw for more yards per attempt with better accuracy (lol me for quip in last post) and with one less the same amount of touchdowns. Did he hold on to the ball a couple of times too long? Eh, it's debatable. And those throws to Michael Crabtree before All-American Hero David Akers booted a 63 yard field goal, scoring three points on behalf of justice and democracy at the end of the half? Yeah, they could have been to an actual receiver (even though the play is probably designed to result in an amazing catch or an incompletion at the sideline).

But man, that sort of criticism is ultra-hygienic chimp mode - I'm finding the smallest of nits to pick.

Really, what we should take away from this game is that we are watching something incredible. It's rare that an athlete can produce so drastic a 180 this late in a career. Two or three years ago, Alex Smith still has the bust stink on him. Yesterday, he started the process of its removal with a huge victory over a symbol that has plagued his entire career: Aaron Rodgers. Yesterday, he took a step out from Rodgers' long shadow in order to get a bit of sunshine himself.