November 12, 2009
By: Indiana Jim
Category: Games
- What an ugly, ugly game. It has its merits, however. Steve Young, in his regular appearance on The Razor and Mr. T on KNBR 680 in San Francisco, had this to say of the short week: “Both teams will probably come out sloppy, but if you can gut this one out, and get out with a win, it gives you so much confidence going into what amounts to an extra bye week.” The 49ers gutted this one out. Despite continual miscues and mistakes, the team found the heart to win, and they refused to give up. I think they will draw from this victory for the rest of this season.
- Alex Smith wasn’t spectacular, but he didn’t commit any major turnovers. The one interception was partly a bad jump ball, and partly a rookie stumbling and getting out of position to make the play. He was efficient, and managed the game on an almost Hill-like level. He seemed to be making smart decisions with the ball, and when the defense pressured him, he protected it or threw it away.
- The 49ers as a team really struggled to play smart. Vernon Davis couldn’t get out of his own way, committing stupid false starts, and I think allowed Ogunleye to get in his head a little before the game. He needs to keep his mouth shut. Also, Josh Morgan continues to make some really dumb mistakes, along with making some key plays along the way. Michael Crabtree makes plays for the most part, but he also had a perfectly thrown pass for a first down inside the 10 which he dropped. Tarrell Brown had a pick for 51 yards, but committed a stupid personal foul.
- The defense! Wow. They came to play in this game. They stepped up the pressure on Cutler in the second half, and of course they caught the interceptions! Aubrayo Franklin should be in the running for Defensive MVP this season. He snatched a Jay Cutler pass right out of the air at the goalline. Even Mark Roman got in on the act as Jay Cutler threw 5 interceptions in the game. It was Roman’s first in something like four seasons.
- Again, this team found the heart to win. If the defense can continue to put forth this kind of effort and rush Aaron Rodgers behind that porous offensive line, and if Jimmy Raye and Alex Smith can put together a solid gameplan going forward, and if the offensive line can step up their game… this season is going to see a turnaround.
Indiana Jim brings you insightful analysis and spirited discussion about the San Francisco 49ers, all the way from the Eastern Time Zone! That's right, I'm covering the 49ers from three hours in the FUTURE! If you're a fan, you'll have a say here.
November 13th, 2009 at 12:11 am
If the colts games was a moral victory than this game was a moral defeat.
Cmon Indiana Jim, you can’t spin this to make Alex and Raye look good.
Alex played poorly. He played like Shaun Hill.
Alex like Shaun can’t throw the ball more than 15 yards without it being picked off.
Alex like Shaun had a terrible 5 yards per attempt.
Alex like Shaun only completed passes thrown 2 or 3 yards pass the line of scrimmage.
Alex like Shaun didn’t throw a td.
Alex like Shaun couldn’t get first downs.
Jimmy Raye needs to be fired.
This offense is regressing.
Alex is regressing.
Crabtree is regressing.
November 13th, 2009 at 9:22 am
[...] some post-game reactions from yesterday. [...]
November 13th, 2009 at 1:18 pm
^^^ I’m with this guy, for the most part. You are such a blind homer its insane, Indiana Jim! And please, enough with the man-love for Alex Smith! We got EXTREMELY lucky last night, and it’s all because of this teams play not-to-lose, rather than to win, mentality. But hey- I actually think there’s a rhyme and reason to it all: Mike and Jimmy play not-to-lose the game because they realize that if they play to win (by airing it out and being agressive), regardless of the QB, they will ultimately lose. Lets see, we have Shaun Hill; a noodle-armed QB with a great football mind, and Alex Smith; a great-armed QB with no noodle, so to speak. EITHER ONE OF THESE GUYS IS THE ANSWER! It’s not Mike Singletary, its not Jimmy Raye, its not the O-Line! Our #1 problem is the awful production we get week in and week out from our QB position. Point blank period. Put the kid in… he’s the only QB on the roster that MIGHT even have a future here.
November 13th, 2009 at 3:56 pm
Response in depth coming in the next episode, but I will say the following:
Smith did not play poorly, he completed 69% of his passes and Raye called a very conservative game. Why? Singeltary explains why: http://www.sacbee.com/static/weblogs/49ers/archives/2009/11/singletary-said.html?mi_atom=49ers%20Blog%20and%20Q%26A
Do I agree with his reasoning? Not necessarily. Yes Smith threw an interception, but did it hurt the team? No. Could he have thrown it inside instead of outside? Yes. Do I think Raye or Alex looked good? No. In fact, I don’t recall saying they did.
To say Smith can’t throw it past 15 yards without an interception is just a dumb thing to say. You know it isn’t true, so being that jingoistic sports fan does nothing for the analysis. He actually had some nice downfield completions to Crabtree and Davis. Not long, but he took what the defense gave him. To compare Smith to Hill after ONE GAME? Come on.
And Spence, when you use things like “man-love” to try and counter analysis, you just come off sounding immature.
Take the Titans game as a microcosm of things. Two throws turned into tip ball interceptions. One throw was perhaps a split-second late, and the other was perfectly thrown. Smith completed 64% of his passes for 286 yards. This is not playing badly.
Our weakest link is the offensive line, whether you want to agree or not. How bad has our run game been for most of the season? Offensive line. How many sacks have we had this season? Offensive line. No one but you seems to be disputing this.
November 14th, 2009 at 2:44 am
I have to agree with you Jim. I watched a replay of the game last night and actually did not think we played that badly I actually thought it was an OK physical game to watch!). OK we did not finish as we would have liked (first drive a prime example) and we did have a number of dumb penalties….yes you Vernon – but on a number of occasions they put together some nice time consuming drives, where we moved the ball well against an obviously determined and stout defense…yes thats on you again Vernon (although he did look good with his chip blocks and release).
Smith spread the ball about fairly well….Crabtree looks great, although he should not be our deep threat….we badly need one so I hope Hill or Morgan can rise to the challenge.
We are getting there….a few small changes will pay huge dividends.
1. O-Line is still number one priority
2. A deep threat must emerge to compliment our strong running game, and improving short and mid range passes.
3. As good as Gore is, he needs a compliment – be it a change of pace or just a breather – hopefully Coffee recovers and proves to be the guy.
4. Front 7 remain excellent – Franklin is a stud and Lawson and Haralson look real good. We also have good depth as the likes of Wilhelm showed. However, the secondary needs an upgrade, especially to tackle both speed and height.
All the talk of change of coaches and management is crazy….yeh like throwing an other offensive co-ordinator at our offense will really help….lets start re-building AGAIN!!!
Keep up the great work Jim – always look forward to your podcast…
Chris (Glasgow, Scotland)
November 14th, 2009 at 5:50 pm
There are REASONs and there are EXCUSEs. 49er fans fall into these two categories when it comes to Alex Smith. OC’s; Injuries; O-line; Two-year rust. These are either reasons or excuses for Alex Smith not being successful. Pro Alex Smith=there are reasons for the interpreted shortcomings. Con Alex Smith=we are just making excuses for Alex Smith, he’s a bum. The cup half-empty or half-full theory applies here.
So the knee-jerk reaction to Alex Smith’s interceptions and lack of immediate wins is that he is a bust, will never be anything but a bust, and lets put in Nate Davis…now! These fans will back their analysis of Smith’s play with quick negative stats and/or name calling, which can be dismissed immediately. But beneath the name calling is this point: I want positive results now and I don’t want to wait four more years for development.
I believe that the turnovers of the Tenn game fall on the QB. Tip balls or bad timing or poor O-line; at the end of the game, “did the QB adapt, make his team better, and find a way to win?” I held Shaun Hill to a standard and I WILL hold Alex Smith to that same critical standard. With that said, I still believe Alex Smith can be a good NFL QB. And I am willing to take the bumps and bruises along the way to develop that. But at some point, the reasons will become excuses. I just don’t think we are there yet after two games.
November 17th, 2009 at 1:37 pm
Indiana Jim-
This is a pointless argument. Alex Smith has a few more games to salvage his career as a 49er, and possibly as a QB in the NFL altogether. Whether its fair or unfair, at the end of the day nobody cares about his O-line and tipped balls. A good QB -and one that should be the face of this franchise going forward- would seize this opportunity. I hope that he does…