They lost, but Alex Smith threw 3 Touchdowns, all to former first round pick Vernon Davis who is breaking out this season, while in his first pro game, Michael Crabtree catches 5 passes for 57 or so yards! Now if Frank Gore gets back up to speed and the other 3 forementioned continue to improve, we may have an offense like the Niners of the Joe Montana/ Steve Young days. And Patrick Willis is a defensive beast!
They need an o-line more than anything: not even Frank Gore can do anything the way the line is playing, and none of the QB's have had enough time to throw behind that mess. If they draft a quarterback without getting an offensive line, they'll kill another rookie, David Carr-style.
As for Alex Smith: players coming on late isn't exactly unprecidented (Drew Brees didn't look great his first few years, for example): it would be absolutely stunning if he comes out as a good quarterback after what he's gone through, but today was pretty damn promising, even taking into account a defense that was caught off-guard. The offense was completely stuck in a rut with Shaun Hill (the run game is absolutely stuck in the mud), so Smith will probably get the call for the rest of the year: we'll have a chance to see how much of a fluke today was. (they might as well start him next week: I doubt they beat the Colts regardless so might as well gamble).
I would like to take back SOME of the bad things I have said about Alex Smith. Now I am not saying he really proved that much(because they still lost), but it was good to see some kind of offense that could move down the field. Hill was this "game manager" but really that is a nice way of saying "We are going to punt a lot" And if your D is firing on all cylinders that is fine, but down 21 - 0 that doesn't work. So maybe Alex Smith is the spark they need to put together some offense that doesn't get Gore killed.
While I must say you are being very optimistic, Im still hoping that Alex Smith pans out as a franchise QB. I hate seeing first round busts that can screw up a franchise for years. Its good to see Vernon Davis starting to play well, after all the draft hype he has been similar to Benjamin Watson in the fact he has all the athleticism in the world but just cant stay healthy or consistently catch the ball. Both have stepped up this year and even tho both were first round picks more is/was expected of Davis due to his higher draft pick status.
I think you do have to pieces in place at the playmaking positions offensively and with a reduced contract and less pressure I think Alex Smith can become a good QB but id be pushing it at the moment to say he can become a great QB, he just needs to take it one step at a time and hopefully now, the 49ers have a passing game that can take pressure off Gore and the run game.
Alex Smith will revert to style as soon as he is made the starter. The Niners QB situation and O-Line situation do not look good. They cannot play Singeltary's smash mouth style with that line and the QB's just suck.
Singletary will put together a team that will contend in a few years. You can't expect over night success with what was handed him. He has taken a step in the right direction with the Niners but eventually the flaws will show. You can only hide the bad players for so long before teams catch on. I'd say by 2011 this team will be in the hunt and a possible SB contender.
I do like Singletary as a coach. I think he will have then ready mentally before they are ready physically. He will need a couple more drafts to getthem ready to dominate physically.
I think the 49ers have made a good decision to hang onto Alex Smith this long, sometimes it does take a while for QBs to pan out. When I look at my franchises history and think to how different things would have been if they had the same attitude back then. Terry Bradshaw might have been dumped in the 1973 season or atleast benched for good, perhaps those Steelers teams only win 1 championship that decade or lose a few like the Vikings, could have made the rest of the future of the franchise more bleak.
It would be a nice story if Alex Smith ends up being a good QB now and may buy some other guys a few more years, they used to say it took 5 years to groom a QB.
the 49ers are going to have to throw the ball down the field... a lot... to get the defenses out of these 8 man fronts. our 0-line just cant handle. it. we need to pass to set up the run.
