2 Reasons the Niners lost this game

[threelittleturds]

If the 49ers offensive strategy is to protect Alex Smith from himself, which it does seem like it is with all the dink and dunk passing, it's a problem... but not a huge problem. The offense still scored 24 points this way. The 49ers shouldn't have to score 35+ points every week just to win... the defense needs to stop breaking down in the 2nd half.

To me, it seems like people are blaming Alex Smith for not being good enough to cover up a bad secondary. Smith is losing games for the 49ers because he can't throw 300 yards and 3 or 4 TDs to hide the team's miserable secondary. So, it's all his fault.

 

[Crimsoncrew]

I apologize for not being clear.
What I meant was that the 49ers could win any other current Niner starter remaining a starter in his position except for Alex Smith which means he is certainly holding the Niners back. Staley by himself won't prevent this team from being great, Gore won't prevent this team from being great but with Alex Smith at QB this team will never be very good.

There is some truth to that, but that's the nature of the position, not the player. And Smith is what we have in the short term, so we're going to have to work around his limitations. If we can't do that, we might as well just call it a season.

 

[sayheykid1]

How did you clear things up? You still said the same retarded thing, but in another way. You're still saying that the 49ers could win with ANY QB besides Alex Smith.

How about you answer the question, instead of re-wording the stupid statement. How are the 49ers a better team with Jackson, Campbell, or Henne?

Maybe you're trying to say the 49ers could win more with a top 10 QB? No shit, thanks for stating the obvious.

That isn't what I am saying at all, dipshit. I am saying that they cannot be a very good team with Alex Smith starting. They will never be a very good team with Alex Smith as the QB so he IS holding the Niners back and will be holding them back as long as he is the starting QB.
I would say that the Niners would have a much better chance at winning with a top 20 QB.

 

[sayheykid1]

If the 49ers offensive strategy is to protect Alex Smith from himself, which it does seem like it is with all the dink and dunk passing, it's a problem... but not a huge problem. The offense still scored 24 points this way. The 49ers shouldn't have to score 35+ points every week just to win... the defense needs to stop breaking down in the 2nd half.

To me, it seems like people are blaming Alex Smith for not being good enough to cover up a bad secondary. Smith is losing games for the 49ers because he can't throw 300 yards and 3 or 4 TDs to hide the team's miserable secondary. So, it's all his fault.

That seems like a rough way to build an offensive identity and move forward but I see your point. Although a good QB could have won that game against Dallas, Smith certainly did not lose it.

Sorry for calling you dipshit in my last post.

 

[ViperVisor]

That isn't what I am saying at all, dipshit. I am saying that they cannot be a very good team with Alex Smith starting. They will never be a very good team with Alex Smith as the QB so he IS holding the Niners back and will be holding them back as long as he is the starting QB.
I would say that the Niners would have a much better chance at winning with a top 20 QB.

Smith has ranked 19 and 21 in rating last 2 years. 20 is the avg.

You can't say much better with a top 20 QB.

That is bold claim with a very broad brush.

 

[sayheykid1]

Smith has ranked 19 and 21 in rating last 2 years. 20 is the avg.

You can't say much better with a top 20 QB.

That is bold claim with a very broad brush.

Isn't there more to it than QB rating? He didn't reach 2500 yards in either of those years. You don;t think there are 20 better QBs than Smith?

 

[FourBeeDen]

Isn't there more to it than QB rating? He didn't reach 2500 yards in either of those years. You don;t think there are 20 better QBs than Smith?

that would be difficult considering the game plan has always been run, run, and then pray the Niners get a first down

 

[Crimsoncrew]

"Would a good QB have taken all those sacks this week? Absolutely yes. If the Cowboys brought the pressure they did, virtually any QB in the league would have been sacked on all five of the plays I posted."

This is actually 100% incorrect and you seem to contradict your own statement as well. Most top and second tier QB's would salivate profusely at how Dallas telegraphed their first two blitzes and would have made Dallas pay dearly by changing the play at the LOS.

By my estimation, 4 of the 6 blitzes were beatable, two for potential big plays. I did not once see Smith change the play when it was obvious Dallas was bringing the house and the one time he changed the protection was a disaster.

Here I think you are contradicting yourself is when you say the following:

"Now, if the Niners had a better QB, the Cowboys may not have brought so much pressure."

If virtually any QB in the league would have been sacked on all five plays then what difference would it have made how good the QB was?

"...But at present he is not the biggest problem. Not particularly close IMO."

IMO, much of our offensive strategy right now is designed around protecting Alex Smith from Alex Smith and that is a huge problem.

Again, how were they beatable short of changing the play? Be specific. I'd have to go back to see the specific plays (can't right now), but Dallas did a good job of disguising its blitzes generally in this game.

Running the plays called (as in not audibling out of them), I think every QB in the league gets sacked without a doubt on four of the plays, and probably all six. Maybe Vick or Roethlisberger get out of one or two of them. Brady, Manning, Brees, Rivers all go down hard on those four, though. Absolutely no doubt in my mind.

 

[jayviabay]

Can't even give the guy credit without taking another cheap shot?

I said it was a perfect pass. What do you want? The rest of his play was Chokey & limited.

You got called for posting a totally BS fact and can't even admit it like a man

I never said Alex didn't have ANY good plays? Did I? There's a reason the Niners don't throw the ball very often; Alex isn't good enough to make very many of them. I'd have to look, but I think his total yardage for 2 games is lower than Romo's for 1 game. It's probably close. NFL people know how to defend Alex because he's slow to get rid of the ball & isn't very accurate. And his arm is weak.

if you dont know these facts i think you just started watching alex smith play this year...
the first down pass to ginn the defender slipped just like the niner defender... the difference romo got rid of the ball so austin could score, smith waits for the defender to recover because hes a fair guy and then throws the ball to ginn, not giving him time to get yac or the easy score... whats wrong with some of you???

 

[sayheykid1]

that would be difficult considering the game plan has always been run, run, and then pray the Niners get a first down

This is true but even in 2006 he only threw for 2800 yards.
I'd like to see him with the offense opened up but I am not sure that Harbaugh trusts him enough to do it.

 

[MW49ers5]

A healthy Crabtree is pretty easily our second-best receiver. If you disagree, that's fine, but I think you're dreaming. Morgan is extremely inconsistent. Ginn has been fairly promising to date this season, but I don't buy it just yet given his career. Williams has two career receptions. He had a great catch this week, but he's far from proven at all. You may not like Crabtree, but objectively speaking it's not a contest.

This week Smith made great throws throughout the first half, many of them in the 10-20 yard range. We've called a fairly conservative offense, but he has been very proficient in the throws that he has made other than the INT to Davis. I suppose that Smith has always made good throws on occasion. The difference is that he is now consistently placing the ball accurately. I have seen practically no sign of the high balls that plagued him last season, or inaccurate short passes. As far as mechanics, it's mostly that he's not straightening the right leg and thus is not overthrowing the way he did a lot last year.

If you think the four of those sacks should have been positive plays, PLEASE break those down for me. I'll grant you the OT sack that I still haven't seen, but the others were almost instantaneous, including four in which he was hit before or right as he was completing his dropback. Do you mean that a better QB would have executed the called plays in those situations? Or a better QB would have recognized the pressure beforehand and gotten out of that situation? I'd possibly buy the latter. If the former, you're going to have to convince me.

Just a note here, not directed at MW in particular: I have repeatedly asked the critics to break down the sacks and tell me what Smith should have done differently. No one has done it. If you can't or won't cite specifics, stop criticizing Smith for "taking" sacks.

The last two thoughts pertain to Smith's improvement. I still haven't seen the second half. IN the first half, he was a completely different guy. He was consistently accurate. He made several legitimately great throws. He showed poise in the pocket and repeatedly made the D pay for sending five or six. He was improvising in a way that we have very rarely seen. He's still far from a great QB, but I am very encouraged by the improvement he has shown. It is, to date, far more than I expected to see. If we can get the protections down and Smith can play like he did in the first half on Sunday (of course, consistency has always been the problem), we will win some tough games this season. JMHO.

"A healthy Crabtree is pretty easily our second-best receiver. If you disagree, that's fine, but I think you're dreaming. Morgan is extremely inconsistent. Ginn has been fairly promising to date this season, but I don't buy it just yet given his career. Williams has two career receptions. He had a great catch this week, but he's far from proven at all. You may not like Crabtree, but objectively speaking it's not a contest."

Crimson, the preceding is just more opinions. You have offered absolutely nothing to substantiate your claim that Crabtree is 'clearly' our second-best receiver. From what I see on the field and what I see on the stat sheet, he is not 'clearly' our second-best receiver. I see no reason to pursue this further, so we'll just have to leave it there.

I am thrilled for you that you see improvement in Alex Smith. I wish I cared, I wish it mattered; unfortunately, I don't and it doesn't.

 

[SY8goat]

"Would a good QB have taken all those sacks this week? Absolutely yes. If the Cowboys brought the pressure they did, virtually any QB in the league would have been sacked on all five of the plays I posted."

This is actually 100% incorrect and you seem to contradict your own statement as well. Most top and second tier QB's would salivate profusely at how Dallas telegraphed their first two blitzes and would have made Dallas pay dearly by changing the play at the LOS.

By my estimation, 4 of the 6 blitzes were beatable, two for potential big plays. I did not once see Smith change the play when it was obvious Dallas was bringing the house and the one time he changed the protection was a disaster.

That one time, Joe Staley got his ass kicked. He gets swam over by Anthony Spencer, which allows Hatcher sack Smith. However, Frank Gore had a beautiful block on the blitzing CB, A. Ball. His feet leave the ground!

IF Staley doesn't get abused like a rag doll Smith has room to run, since the CB lost outside containment (thanks to Frank's great block). The whole right side of the field is wide open.

 

[Flyingiguana]

If the 49ers offensive strategy is to protect Alex Smith from himself, which it does seem like it is with all the dink and dunk passing, it's a problem... but not a huge problem. The offense still scored 24 points this way. The 49ers shouldn't have to score 35+ points every week just to win... the defense needs to stop breaking down in the 2nd half.

To me, it seems like people are blaming Alex Smith for not being good enough to cover up a bad secondary. Smith is losing games for the 49ers because he can't throw 300 yards and 3 or 4 TDs to hide the team's miserable secondary. So, it's all his fault.

smith would get killed if they opened things up. no running game and no passing game all because of the horrible line.

 

[sayheykid1]

smith would get killed if they opened things up. no running game and no passing game all because of the horrible line.

How much better do you think the passing game would be with a very good o-line?

 

[Crimsoncrew]

"A healthy Crabtree is pretty easily our second-best receiver. If you disagree, that's fine, but I think you're dreaming. Morgan is extremely inconsistent. Ginn has been fairly promising to date this season, but I don't buy it just yet given his career. Williams has two career receptions. He had a great catch this week, but he's far from proven at all. You may not like Crabtree, but objectively speaking it's not a contest."

Crimson, the preceding is just more opinions. You have offered absolutely nothing to substantiate your claim that Crabtree is 'clearly' our second-best receiver. From what I see on the field and what I see on the stat sheet, he is not 'clearly' our second-best receiver. I see no reason to pursue this further, so we'll just have to leave it there.

I am thrilled for you that you see improvement in Alex Smith. I wish I cared, I wish it mattered; unfortunately, I don't and it doesn't.

They are opinions that just about any objective person would agree with. What have you offered to demonstrate that Morgan, Ginn, and Williams are better? Let's look at the stat sheet:

Morgan has never put together a season like Crabtree had last year, and he's at least as likely to drop an easy ball. In Ginn's best season, he had 40 more yards than Crabtree had last year, but four fewer TDs. In fact, for his career, Ginn has as many TDs as Crabtree had last season alone, and he's not exactly a reliable receiver. Williams has two career receptions. The stats indicate fairly clearly that Crabtree is the better all-around threat.

As for ability at the position, obviously Ginn is faster, and to date this season he has looked pretty solid (though he had a drop this week). But Crabtree has the best size and catch radius of those guys. He has easily the best instincts for the position of the three guys who have played enough to show anything there. As said, I don't see how an objective person could dispute this.

As for Smith, I do think he's better than he's been. It's not a terribly high bar. It may not matter to you, but he's our starting QB, so I'm happy to see that he's playing well enough to hang 24 points on a pretty good team with no help from his running game.

 

[clyde_carbon]

smith would get killed if they opened things up. no running game and no passing game all because of the horrible line.

Smith would get killed because he has trouble seeing the field, makes slow AND poor decisions, and is completely clueless in the pocket. When the hell are we gonna stop blaming other people for Smith's defiencies?

 

[Crimsoncrew]

Smith would get killed because he has trouble seeing the field, makes slow AND poor decisions, and is completely clueless in the pocket. When the hell are we gonna stop blaming other people for Smith's defiencies?

When are we going to stop overlooking everyone else's deficiencies because of Smith?

 

[clyde_carbon]

When are we going to stop overlooking everyone else's deficiencies because of Smith?

I must have missed the posts claiming that Smith has an all-star cast around him.

 

[clyde_carbon]

As for Smith, I do think he's better than he's been. It's not a terribly high bar. It may not matter to you, but he's our starting QB, so I'm happy to see that he's playing well enough to hang 24 points on a pretty good team with no help from his running game.

I completely disagree - and I think the notion that Alex Smith is much improved is a huge reach. Smith always had flashes of great quarters or halfs, a la the second half vs. the 'Hawks last year when he completed 63% at 9.44 YPA, 255 yards and 3 TDs. That half he looked better than any half he's played this year, where he was making quick decisions and throwing accurately all over the field. Eventually, however, defenses adjusted and he folded as scheduled, and I expect the same again this year.

Seems to me though is that you're suspending reality and ignoring history in trying real hard to convince yourself that Smith is improving. If it makes you sleep better at night, though, go for it.

 

[MHSL82]

" This week there was nowhere to escape to in what I saw of the game."

It would seem you are looking at the plays in much the same way Alex does. If Smith were a smarter, quicker, more capable QB, we would have made Dallas pay dearly on 2 of the 6 sacks and would have turned another 2 into gains instead of losses. While 'escaping' is a part of the blitz protection package, it is not the only option available to a QB to help him beat the blitz.

It seems a little bit of a circular reference/self-defining statement, though I understand what you're saying and don't necessarily disagree with what you said without watching the entire offense game. The times in which a QB makes the defense pay or turns losses into gains is left out of consideration because those do not belong to the "6 sacks". If we look at only the sacks, of course, those times he did not make the defense pay or create a gain, by definition. Where a more capable QB would do it more often than Smith does I have no quibble (since a "more capable qb" is self-defining as well), just want to point out that we're looking at more than six plays here. Alex may fail more often than he succeeds, that would be my claim, as opposed to he failed 4 of the 6 times he was sacked.

MW - I know you consider all plays, not just the sacks. I just wanted to put my two cents in for the others that may jump at the 4 of 6 number.