Cosell column on Smith's performance

[yossarian]

Cosell Talks: For Alex Smith, What a Difference a Week Made : NFL Films Blog


Don't know if this was posted yet, I watched the game on tv so except for the miss on Walker? that was clearly overthrown I didn't see the other things he mentioned because the tv crew was too busy talking about the Giants and showing the Giants. Anyway, there could have been lots of reasons for this, including the weather and pressure, but if it's true it's rather disappointing. My hope is that he (Smith) continues to grow with Harbaugh's teaching and next year he doesn't do this. Thoughts anyone?

 

[spacedoodoopistol]

Cosell gets to salvage some credibility by ripping Smith one last time.

Its always interesting to watch.....when the offense fails its because they suck.....when the opposing offense fails, its because our defense is great. Alex didn't play great, but would have put more points on the board than Eli without the couple horrendous fumbles handing them 10 points. Was Eli all that great? Lots of completions, but I didn't see all that many points resulting from them.

 

[deep9er]

Cosell Talks: For Alex Smith, What a Difference a Week Made : NFL Films Blog


Don't know if this was posted yet, I watched the game on tv so except for the miss on Walker? that was clearly overthrown I didn't see the other things he mentioned because the tv crew was too busy talking about the Giants and showing the Giants. Anyway, there could have been lots of reasons for this, including the weather and pressure, but if it's true it's rather disappointing. My hope is that he (Smith) continues to grow with Harbaugh's teaching and next year he doesn't do this. Thoughts anyone?

without reading the column first.............clearly, he didn't play as well as the previous, but didn't seem like he was THAT bad either? he didn't look 'jittery' but more cautious.

 

[9er4life]

That article is pretty spot on.

 

[h0ckeysk83r]

Nothing new here, he has done this his whole career.

 

[Ray_Dogg]

Talks about a missed opportunity on 3 plays for Alex.

 

[deep9er]

ok, now that i read his column yes, he looked even more cautious. the plays he pointed out aren't surprising to us, we know Alex isn't elite.

there were some other plays where it appeared no one could get open? most fans picked this up after the game, cause a lot of postings centered on inadequate WR's.

like Cossell says, KW is taking ALL the heat but the offense could've done more.

 

[Kinzu]

like Cossell says, KW is taking ALL the heat but the offense could've done more.

And he rightfully deserves all of it.

Sure Alex could've made some of those throws.
Gore could've got more carries
Hunter could've kept his feet under him and broke a big run
The defense could've actually picked off several of those balls they should have
The refs could've called some of those holds on the Giants
Or not blown a certain play dead way to soon

A lot of things could've happened to put us in a better position, but I'm sure if we were Giants fans we could reverse this and say a lot of things could've gone better for us as well. Their offense could only manage 10 points after all.

In the end the reason the Giants won and we lost was because of those 2 fumbles. You can argue that the offenses lack of production put Williams in those situations, but that is part of football. I can argue just as easily that if Williams fields those punts correctly we end up hitting a big pass or run and scoring a TD on that possession.

Those 2 fumbles = 10 Giant points. I don't get how anyone could think that is not the reason we lost.

 

[deep9er]

And he rightfully deserves all of it.

Sure Alex could've made some of those throws.
Gore could've got more carries
Hunter could've kept his feet under him and broke a big run
The defense could've actually picked off several of those balls they should have
The refs could've called some of those holds on the Giants
Or not blown a certain play dead way to soon

A lot of things could've happened to put us in a better position, but I'm sure if we were Giants fans we could reverse this and say a lot of things could've gone better for us as well. Their offense could only manage 10 points after all.

In the end the reason the Giants won and we lost was because of those 2 fumbles. You can argue that the offenses lack of production put Williams in those situations, but that is part of football. I can argue just as easily that if Williams fields those punts correctly we end up hitting a big pass or run and scoring a TD on that possession.

Those 2 fumbles = 10 Giant points. I don't get how anyone could think that is not the reason we lost.

"the offense could've done more" doesn't mean "those fumbles didn't matter".

 

[Kinzu]

So everything you mentioned are part of football, but fumbles aren't?

Of course
There is no single play though that cost the 49ers more and benefited the Giants more than those 2 fumbles though.

Trying to say we lost for any other reason is just a stupid arguement.

If you're favorite NBA team loses 98-96 because the starting PG turns the ball over with 20 secs left in the game do you blame him or the Star SG who missed a wide open 3 pointer in the 3rd quarter? I mean after all if he made it you would've won right?

Granted you win and lose as a team, but their are certain plays in games that hold more value to the win or lose than others. Those 2 fumbles were the best/worst plays for both teams.

 

[spacedoodoopistol]

The Niners win probability went from like 85% to 50% on the first fumble, and from like 55% to about 15% on the 2nd. In a game with no shortage of bad plays, the fumbles were absolutely decisive.

 

[9er4life]

Of course
There is no single play though that cost the 49ers more and benefited the Giants more than those 2 fumbles though.

Trying to say we lost for any other reason is just a stupid arguement.

If you're favorite NBA team loses 98-96 because the starting PG turns the ball over with 20 secs left in the game do you blame him or the Star SG who missed a wide open 3 pointer in the 3rd quarter? I mean after all if he made it you would've won right?

Granted you win and lose as a team, but their are certain plays in games that hold more value to the win or lose than others. Those 2 fumbles were the best/worst plays for both teams.

I deleted my post because what I wrote didn't come out right. Were the 2 fumbles huge? Of course, but they happened, along with going 1-13 on 3rd downs, not catching two easy picks, you could go on and on. My point is the fumbles alone did not lose the game. Most glaring? Yes

 

[Yadahell]

I think the article is fair. Cosell has been critical of Smith most of the year. I agree with Space that its kind of a parting shot on Smith for Cosell to end with, but no one can deny that Smith didn't have a great game Sunday. I'd say it was an average performance for a NFL QB.

If we're playing the blame game here, I'd go:

1) Williams's muffed punts
2) Smith's performance
3) Pedestrian play-calling from Roman
4) Crabtree's inability to get open
5) Poor officiating

 

[ViperVisor]

Eli let it lose trying to make tight throws and could of / should of been picked 2 times.

I don't see why Smith wouldn't throw the ball to the open primary read. Cosell no doubt saw some plays not made but that is every game.

The Kyle Williams play is the haunting one cause it could of reversed the goat to a triumph. Would of been nice if he got hit and that throw goes shorter like the Ginn long ball he missed. Getting only 90% of what was dialed up would of made it perfect.

 

[Crimsoncrew]

Smith had a terrible game. I don't know why people are defending him. He had three balls batted at the line. He one-hopped two or three that weren't even close. He missed Williams deep on a play that could have been absolutely huge. In that same drive, he missed Davis coming across the deep middle with a step on the defense. He repeatedly fled the pocket before he had to, and took sacks he didn't have to. On the whole, I thought the OL held up pretty well. Complaints about the receivers are justified - to an extent. Smith didn't give those guys much of a chance to make a play.

Smith played well enough to win with an incredible performance out of his D. But if he played even moderately well, KW's miscues don't matter.

 

[clyde_carbon]

How dare Cosell say that Alex played poorly? Clearly he has an agenda!

 

[MW49ers5]

Smith had a terrible game. I don't know why people are defending him. He had three balls batted at the line. He one-hopped two or three that weren't even close. He missed Williams deep on a play that could have been absolutely huge. In that same drive, he missed Davis coming across the deep middle with a step on the defense. He repeatedly fled the pocket before he had to, and took sacks he didn't have to. On the whole, I thought the OL held up pretty well. Complaints about the receivers are justified - to an extent. Smith didn't give those guys much of a chance to make a play.

Smith played well enough to win with an incredible performance out of his D. But if he played even moderately well, KW's miscues don't matter.

Just for the sake of accuracy in reporting, QB's will throw balls into the turf at the feet of receivers to throw it away. I haven't watched the game for a second time yet, but I know at least one of his 'shoe-top' throws (to Williams) was intentional. (Just for the record I'm not defending him here, just adding a more accurate perspective).

 

[Flyingiguana]

the offensive line was horrible especially in the 2nd half. before a 2nd read could be made at least 1 or more pass rushers were after smith. the giants made adjustments at halftime and we didn't.

if you're depending on the pass under those wet conditions you won't be happy. both qb's could have put up bigger numbers in better conditions. we needed to stick with the running game which was doing a good job.

 

[yossarian]

I will also say that Kawakami wrote that Crabtree was completely unable to get open for most of the game. I think that debating what was the key to the loss in such a tight game is kind of pointless because in a tight game, every mistake or missed opportunity could have been said to have tipped the balance. SMith makes that throw to Williams, different game; Fumble gets called on Bradshaw, different game; Williams fumbles once but not in overtime, different game. Harbaugh goes for it on 4th and 1 in overtime, different game.

 

[spacedoodoopistol]

Crimson.....to nitpick your nitpicks......while he was too quick to scramble - he was being flushed out pretty consistently. The pass over the middle to VD was knocked away with a nice play by the defense. The miss to Williams was fairly crucial - but does a missed bomb really equate to a bad error? The completion % in the NFL on those passes can't be much higher than 50%.

Meanwhile, for all the bad plays Smith made, the Niners offense put up more points than the Giants until Williams had his say. Maybe I'm missing something......but people saying Smith played terrible, was Eli good? Cause as far as I can tell, all those completions added up to very little. And does the Giants defense factor into any of this.....I see the Niners d get lots of credit for stopping the Giants, does the Giants D get any credit for stopping Smith?