Singletary regroups 49ers again
SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) -Mike Singletary is still talking playoffs for the San Francisco 49ers, even if that seems like a serious longshot these days.
Singletary's first season as 49ers head coach started out with so much promise - a 3-1 record, first place in the NFC West, wins over Seattle and the defending NFC champion Arizona Cardinals. After a fifth loss in six games, San Francisco's playoff chances have become bleak to say the least.
"At the very start of the season, our goal was to win enough games to go to the playoffs. That is still our goal. That will not change," Singletary declared Monday, a day after his team's 30-24 loss at Green Bay. "We're a team, in my mind, good enough to do that. We're running out of games, and we're running out of time."
Four of those losses have been by seven or fewer points, too, making the results that much tougher to swallow for the intense Singletary, who described his top emotion right now as "anger" about how his team's fortunes have turned.
Still, he believes the Niners (4-6) can finish strong and make a push for the organization's first playoff berth since 2002 and end a franchise-worst stretch of six straight losing seasons. They will have to turn things around starting Sunday when San Francisco hosts the Jacksonville Jaguars (6-4), an 18-15 winner against Buffalo on Sunday for their third straight victory and fourth in five.
Singletary is still striving for a balanced offense despite constant questions about quarterback Alex Smith's better success in the spread. Smith has only been starting for four games after taking over for the demoted Shaun Hill at halftime of a 24-21 loss at Houston on Oct. 25, and he rallied the Niners back that day. Sunday at Lambeau Field was another near comeback.
Smith realizes why people might want to see him working out of the shotgun more regularly.
"I can understand that, absolutely. I think the real answer is to find a mix, to find a balance there," Smith said Monday. "It's easy to say, 'Let's just go live in that world.' But I don't think that's realistic. I don't. That's something you evolve to down the road. I think that's maybe somewhere you can get to."
Smith isn't about to say he would rather throw the ball every down, not when he has a running back of Frank Gore's caliber to hand off to all game. Smith, the No. 1 overall draft pick in 2005, has completed 95 of 155 passes - 61.3 percent - for 1,035 yards and nine touchdowns but also has thrown seven interceptions and been sacked 13 times.
Singletary is happy that his quarterback is happy, at least for now. The coach knows if this offense doesn't get on track soon, Smith might become frustrated in Jimmy Raye's system. Raye is the team's seventh offensive coordinator in as many years.
Smith has definitely learned patience in this league, which certainly helps in his current situation. He missed all of last season, when he was set to be J.T. O'Sullivan's backup, after re-injuring his surgically repaired throwing shoulder two days before the season opener.
"The thing I'm thankful that he's not doing is crying about not throwing the ball more," Singletary said. "I'm really thankful he's not doing that. You can sit back and look at the number of passes he's throwing in a game and sit back and look at how accurate he has been. Some quarterbacks would be saying that and they really have not been as successful as he has been throwing the ball. Some of them might be crying more about not throwing the ball, even in the media. He isn't doing that, which shows me even more about who he is."
Singletary said some of his players still haven't developed the mentality it takes to find ways to win the tough games, especially on the road in hostile environments. He insists it will happen, and before season's end.
His latest analogy? To the kid who has his lunch money stolen day after day before taking charge of the situation. Singletary himself had that happen when he was little, the youngest of 10 children.
"You are bigger than he is, you are stronger than he is, you can take this kid," Singletary said. "But because this kid has been built up so much, everything you heard about him, they say this kid is better than you and you believe that. You are going to continue to give the kid your lunch money until one day you decide, 'You know what, I'm done with that. I'm not giving you my money anymore and that's it.' That's the same thing in any situation, whether it's football, whether it's life, or anything else. I'll stop there because I don't want to be motivational."
One important step for the Niners? Not making costly mental mistakes, which has often been the case in recent weeks.
"He's more concerned with us playing these top-caliber teams and beating ourselves," safety Dashon Goldson said. "We know we can get it done."
