Two Columns on Harbaugh's Lack of Confidence in Smith

[yossarian]

49ers survive Seahawks, but is Alex Smith's confidence lost as result? - Jim Trotter - SI.com



Conservative play call raises question whether Niners have complete confidence in Alex Smith - Yahoo! Sports

I'm not sure I agree, they were playing one of the top two defenses in the league, points were at a premium, and Harbaugh trusted his defense to hold Seattle, but I see the point.

 

[CalamityX11]

Alex did it to himself.... it was definitely I don't trust you right now call.

But we'll stick with Alex... Alex needs to get his act together.

 

[zman1527]

They are making way too much of this. Harbs has been conservative all along and this is nothing new. I think he felt pretty good about getting 3 and being up by 7.

 

[TheNinerMind]

To me, this wasn't about confidence. It was about good play calling. Take those situations. Yes, Smith had the pick. Fortunately it didn't hurt us at all. In fact, it kind of helped because the field position really hurt the Seahawks drive. They wasted time on their possession trying to get out of their own end zone and we got the ball back in their territory. But the thing is we had 3 points in the bag which made it a touchdown game and a running clock. I was screaming at them to run the ball. Remember, he did the same thing in the Saints game.

It's not like they would just put in Kaepernick and they're going to just go 5 wide no huddle. Kaepernick's plays are even MORE conservative. This is Harbaugh's game. He'd be calling it the same way with Andrew Luck.

 

[Ray_Dogg]

Stupid. Did they not hear several players and Harbs mention Smith did a great job with kills? God damn they act like the OC calls all the plays and that our QB makes no audibles.

 

[Yadahell]

Stupid. Did they not hear several players and Harbs mention Smith did a great job with kills? God damn they act like the OC calls all the plays and that our QB makes no audibles.

That is a very underrated aspect of Smith's game. I hope Kaep is paying close attention to that as he learns the ropes of the QB position. I thought Smith played decent against a defense that was very good and also holding the shit out of the WR's down the field. I'm hoping the referees review this game closely.

 

[yossarian]

That is a very underrated aspect of Smith's game. I hope Kaep is paying close attention to that as he learns the ropes of the QB position. I thought Smith played decent against a defense that was very good and also holding the shit out of the WR's down the field. I'm hoping the referees review this game closely.

I'm sure Harbaugh will send a tape to the league office.

 

[tallglassofwater007]

My problem with Smith is that he misses so many open receivers on long balls. The only way we seem to get long passing plays is because of a perfect play call. He should have at least 3 TDs from missing guys who had a step and got behind the defense only to have the ball overthrown. Not sure if he is just that inaccurate with those balls, or he is afraid of turning it over and making it so nobody has a chance but the receiver even though that chance is next to none. If he could hit those the offense becomes really really good.

As far as the trust issue. Well, he played well with the audibles and all that but then he made the big mistake in the endzone when Moss was open. Next time down there we play for a field goal. I know that it made it a 7 point game, but to me, if you aren't gonna let your QB try and put the game out of reach (could have still gotten a first down at the 6ish yd line too) that means you don't fully trust him. Doesn't matter how good our defense is. A TD right there and it's an 11 point lead and that's all she wrote.

 

[TobyTyler]

49ers survive Seahawks, but is Alex Smith's confidence lost as result? - Jim Trotter - SI.com



Conservative play call raises question whether Niners have complete confidence in Alex Smith - Yahoo! Sports[/url]

I'm not sure I agree, they were playing one of the top two defenses in the league, points were at a premium, and Harbaugh trusted his defense to hold Seattle, but I see the point.

They better not lose confidence in Smith because the season is gone if they put Kaepernick out there in his place. The one area I agree with the first writer is when they put Kaepernick in for his usual silly run to the left. When Smith got in there he might have felt he had to force that pass to Moss that got picked just to show the staff he could make a play. I'm not liking the Kaepernick experiment at all.

 

[Jikkle]

Seattle on a short week is a poor sample size to determine if the coaches have lost faith in Smith.

Seattle has one of the best secondary's in the league and it's not like teams are dropping 35 on them are slinging the ball around at will.

Arizona will be a better test to see where the offense is at because with a 11 days there is no reason for the team to not be fully prepared and rested up for the match up. So if Smith's finger has been an issue than it shouldn't be come next Monday.

 

[clyde_carbon]

Lol @ some posters in this thread.

 

[TobyTyler]

Lol @ some posters in this thread.

Instead of the pompous arrogance, make yourself useful and tell us what happened to Manningham. Why wasn't he playing?

 

[Arete Tzu]

Instead of the pompous arrogance, make yourself useful and tell us what happened to Manningham. Why wasn't he playing?

injured shoulder.

 

[NinerSickness]

Someone should write a column about MY lack of confidence in Alex.

 

[LONGBALL]

Someone should write a column about MY lack of confidence in Alex.

your avatar picture shows you have a need to draw attention to your self !:pops:

 

[clyde_carbon]

Someone should write a column about MY lack of confidence in Alex.

HATER!

 

[TobyTyler]

injured shoulder.

Bummer. Is he expected back for AZ? Manningham is really growing on me. he makes a big difference as we could see today with his absence.

 

[ChrisPozz]

Bummer. Is he expected back for AZ? Manningham is really growing on me. he makes a big difference as we could see today with his absence.

Said today that he'll be fine for Monday Night Football on the 29th.

 

[TobyTyler]

Said today that he'll be fine for Monday Night Football on the 29th.

Excellent. Manningham has been a nice addition. The 49ers are still a pretty good team. They just need to clean up a couple of things on offense and they'll be fine.

 

[numone9er]

I really wonder how much Smith's hand injury has contributed to his performance. He was red hot until that happened.