157.1

[-AC-]

Statistically Alex Smith had a pretty good game last night. But for those that watched the game how would you veiw his performance? What I watched was a guy who should've thrown away a few balls, a tipped pass that could have very well been intercepted, and several passes of 10 yards or less with his wr's making plays after the catch. He very rarely pressed anything down the field, and was content to do be the game manager...

The only reason I bring it up, is because the media is all over this. Praising Smith for his stellar performance. I'm not bashing Smith, I just didn't see the performance that the media is touting about. I think he managed a great game, but was it worthy of the praise he is getting?

 

[tallglassofwater007]

Aside from taking a couple sacks he could have avoided by getting rid of the ball I thought he had a great game. It seems a little nitpicky to fault him on passes of 10 yards or less, when guys are turning those into big gains. And the tipped pass was from a pretty good play by the LB ( I believe) that also turned into a completion.

Just out of curiosity, if that was a game by Eli Manning or Drew Brees... would you agree with the credit the media was giving them?

 

[spacedoodoopistol]

Yeah, I think they're pimping him too hard, but it was a very good game. I would probably have given the game ball to Crabtree or the D-line, but QBs always get too much credit or too much blame for a team performance.

But listening to Eric Davis on KNBR is the opposite right now.....he's one of those guys that wouldn't praise Smith if he was being waterboarded to do so. Davis lauded practically everyone else, then Radnich asked him what 18 of 19 means to him, and Davis said "it means they had a good game plan". Pretty weak.

 

[-AC-]

Aside from taking a couple sacks he could have avoided by getting rid of the ball I thought he had a great game. It seems a little nitpicky to fault him on passes of 10 yards or less, when guys are turning those into big gains. And the tipped pass was from a pretty good play by the LB ( I believe) that also turned into a completion.

Just out of curiosity, if that was a game by Eli Manning or Drew Brees... would you agree with the credit the media was giving them?

Personally, I wouldn't agree. I try not to get wrapped up in a name. I try to veiw the performance instead...

 

[MHSL82]

I haven't heard anything about it on the radio, the closest being how great of a manager Harbaugh is (not a typo, they were talking about our coach).

Overall, these things even out. There are some games where his stats are worse than his actual play. Take the Baltimore Ravens game last year - sure, he wasn't great, not really a good game. However, a 79 yard TD was taken away on a penalty that wasn't Smith's fault and didn't really affect the result of the play. Then, the INT he threw was a TD or INC, end of half shot, if I recall correctly. Not really that bad, though I wish the two were in sync on that play (if Edwards had run inside like Smith thought, or Smith thrown outside like Edwards thought). So a little better than what it looked like, but the media wasn't saying it. They were focused on big brother beating little brother and Smith being sacked so much.

The Philadelphia boo-bird game was terrible at one point, but Smith responded. Yes, there was a hit-when-thrown-INT, but that was the hit away from being a great game, as I think there was a guy there. Smith has some blame in being hit, but everyone remembers that as being a terrible game, despite the last two TDs, that people say is garbage time for Smith, but a great comeback for anyone else. I was ok with less attention because he in fact threw the INT.

 

[Geraint]

First QB to make 18/19 passes and people are unsure how to react

 

[MHSL82]

If this bugged you, if he had 6 more yards or if Walker had caught the little behind drop (at least six yards), he would have had a perfect rating. Would it bug you to hear Smith was "perfect"? I know he wasn't, even with those six yards, but if near perfect is annoying, perfect certainly is.

When Alex gets a tipped pass or a dropped TD, people say that "all QBs have that," so it seems a little bit double sided when you say the great DB tip could have been an INT, so therefore...

These things even out. Smith's play will even out, hopefully above his play last year. Stats don't matter, but since people make such a big deal about it, I like these things because it evens out the criticism a little bit on that front. As far as missing open receivers or stupid decisions from time to time, those things aren't going to evened out by this play.

 

[MHSL82]

First QB to make 18/19 passes and people are unsure how to react

I think it should have been 19-19. Smith should have thrown a slightly better pass to Walker or Walker should have caught the catchable ball. Smith said he should have escaped the pocket and throw it away (just throwing it away would be intentional grounding). But these things don't matter, no one cares for stats anymore on the team. Davis got 2 catches (?) and no complaints. Moss has been under-targetted, no words. So people should enjoy the win, ignore the hype, or enjoy the hype. Why reject it? We all want to be objective fans, but enjoy it. I don't think this will go to Smith's head, he knows Kaep is there.

As to 18-19, if it were so easy it would have been done before. You think there hasn't been good game planning before? There hasn't been good receiver play in the NFL before? It's not the best thing in the world, but it's unique and it's good. Praise the team or ignore it, no need to say it's all Smith or all the receivers. Most are taking this even keeled, giving credit to both and acknowledging there's room and need for improvement.

This was great to happen before the bye so long as Smith, Crabtree, and Co. keep working hard. I wish the Giants game was this next game after the bye and the Rams game was three weeks ago. I think we would prepare better for them.

 

[FourBeeDen]

hmmmm... ask yourselves this ... when the media criticizing Alex Smith, do you see and agree with the criticism? If you answer yes, then why is it that when the media praise him, you can't see it?.. Conversely, when the media praises Alex Smith and you agree with the praise, then why can't you agree when they are criticizing him?... It's the nature of having a predispositions. You will agree on something you are predisposed to agree to and disgree to something that opposes your predispositions...

 

[-AC-]

I think Smith had a good game. Just not what the media is making out to be. If Smith throws away the ball instead of taking the sacks or if the Cards get the pick instead of the tip or if Crabtree and Moss don't abuse the secondary with their YAC then it becomes an average game at best for Smith. ESPN's headline was "Smith shines as Niners crush Cards", the headline should've been "Crabtree abuses Peterson in a Niner rout"...

Smith never really looked comfortable out there and was even surprised by his stat totals at the end of the game. I think even Alex knew it wasn't a spectacular game for him. But he did have some good throws and played well! His passes to Walker sneaking behind the secondary and his TD pass to Crabs for the first score were good plays. I'm just trying to keep the whole performance in perspective...

 

[Jikkle]

Tough game to evaluate because he really didn't do anything to address a lot of the gripes that people had against him. Still took more sacks than he should've and he still throws the short passes on 3rd down that have a low chance of converting. It worked out this game where they were able to get the YAC but you still need to be thinking beyond the marker and convert.

On the positive I thought the his was throwing the ball much much better compared to the previous two games and maybe the finger issue was an actual issue. Also while he didn't make really difficult throws he didn't have to either with Arizona being a non factor on offense. He did what needed to be done and we scored 24 points so I can't fault him for not tearing it up when it wasn't needed.

 

[tallglassofwater007]

if the Cards get the pick instead of the tip or if Crabtree and Moss don't abuse the secondary with their YAC then it becomes an average game at best for Smith.

This is a bit much though. Can you not say this about any QB on any day? How many times did Jerry Rice turn a 3 yard slant into a 60 yard TD? But Montana was never questioned. What about a QB just tossing the ball up there and a guy like Moss or Calvin Johnson just go up and get it? The QB's job is to get the ball in the hands of playmakers. Why is it that when Smith does that he doesn't deserve credit? I would much rather see what he did this game than have him throw more incompletions 30 yards down the field.

And as far as the tip goes... you can say that on so many plays as well. You are looking at "what ifs" and not what actually happened. The ball was tipped and Walker caught it. It wasn't intercepted. That is just looking for negatives.

 

[-AC-]

This is a bit much though. Can you not say this about any QB on any day? How many times did Jerry Rice turn a 3 yard slant into a 60 yard TD? But Montana was never questioned. What about a QB just tossing the ball up there and a guy like Moss or Calvin Johnson just go up and get it? The QB's job is to get the ball in the hands of playmakers. Why is it that when Smith does that he doesn't deserve credit? I would much rather see what he did this game than have him throw more incompletions 30 yards down the field.

And as far as the tip goes... you can say that on so many plays as well. You are looking at "what ifs" and not what actually happened. The ball was tipped and Walker caught it. It wasn't intercepted. That is just looking for negatives.

I'm not looking for negatives... I said he had a good game, I just don't see it as what the media is making it out to be...

 

[MHSL82]

Context will marginalize these stats, stats don't really matter, but just to note, here are our passing offensive stats (not just Smith for the red zone and third down conversions) - highest to lowest:

1st in Completion Percentage (didn't add in Kaepernick for this or yards per attempt)
1st in First Down Percentage (per ESPN, don't know what this is)
4th in Traditional QB Rating
5th in Yards per Attempt
7th in TD Percentage
8th in the Red Zone (30th last year)
9th in ESPN Total QBR
20th in Completions
20th in Third Down Conversions (31st last year)
22nd in Total Yards
27th in Attempts
5th in Sacks
15th in INT%

 

[clyde_carbon]

It was probably the most watered down 157 you'll ever see. He had a good game within the scheme and what he was asked to do, but let's put things in perspective. Moss took an 8-yard pass and turned it into a 47-yard TD while breaking two tackles and out running a defender down the sideline. Crabtree's 2nd TD came on a complete miscommunication from the Cardinals defense and left a huge hole for Crabs to pretty much walk in for the TD. Crabs took a 2-yard Alex pass and turned it into a 22 yard gain on 3rd and 23, and another 5-yard pass and turned it into 30 on a bunch of missed tackles by the Cardinals. Almost half Alex's yards came from YAC.

This was Buffalo Bills part deux. People don't realize how freakin' dominant our offense is when our OL eats up opposing DLs that way they did last night.

And que Space, Viper, or whoever else from that circle jerk with the OMGZ YOU'RE A HATER posts.

 

[threelittleturds]

Don't really care how the media or anyone spins it... the 49ers won. Just like I don't care when people say Smith just rode the defense to a win... who cares, the 49ers won.

Like Justin Smith said after the Seattle game, stats are for losers.

 

[clyde_carbon]

This is a bit much though. Can you not say this about any QB on any day? How many times did Jerry Rice turn a 3 yard slant into a 60 yard TD? But Montana was never questioned. What about a QB just tossing the ball up there and a guy like Moss or Calvin Johnson just go up and get it? The QB's job is to get the ball in the hands of playmakers. Why is it that when Smith does that he doesn't deserve credit? I would much rather see what he did this game than have him throw more incompletions 30 yards down the field.

And as far as the tip goes... you can say that on so many plays as well. You are looking at "what ifs" and not what actually happened. The ball was tipped and Walker caught it. It wasn't intercepted. That is just looking for negatives.

I wonder why that was? Was it the fact that he was a 4-time SB Champion, 3-time SB MVP, and a 2-time NFL MVP? Naw, that can't be it.

 

[h0ckeysk83r]

Don't really care how the media or anyone spins it... the 49ers won. Just like I don't care when people say Smith just rode the defense to a win... who cares, the 49ers won.

Like Justin Smith said after the Seattle game, stats are for losers.

And jive turkeys lol

 

[clyde_carbon]

Don't really care how the media or anyone spins it... the 49ers won. Just like I don't care when people say Smith just rode the defense to a win... who cares, the 49ers won.

Like Justin Smith said after the Seattle game, stats are for losers.

Agreed. Just like when people say Alex led the 49ers to the NFCCG last year. The 49ers won.

 

[clyde_carbon]

From @PFF (Pro Football Focus) analysis of last night's 49ers game, 62 of Michael Crabtree's 72 receiving yards were after the catch.

Add Moss' 39 yards, and that's 101 yards of Alex's 232 from just TWO players that were YACs.