. . . or does he? Stop me if you’ve heard this before. Every time Alex Smith comes up with a nice satisfying win, the pundits, fans, and anyone with an interest in the team says, there it is. This is what we bargained for when the 49ers made him the #1 pick back in April 2005. Is this the new beginning? Can Alex rise above the myriad obstacles that have been thrown in his direction? Can he finally gain redemption as the starting QB of the 49ers and lead them to the playoffs? Do you feel lucky, punk? Well, do you?
Everyone knows the story. The chicken-egg thing with Smith has been going on since he was thrown into the starting job back in 2005. He had Nolan as HC, Mike McCarthy (yes, THAT Mike McCarthy) as his OC, and little talent minus the rook from the U, Frank Gore. Next year it was Norv Turner as the OC, and a big dose of Gore, and incremental inprovement. 2007 was the Hostler/shoulder/Smith-run-over-by-his-head-coach deal. 2008 was a season on the IR, Nolan tossed midseason, and Martz as the OC. 2009, Martz was out for the peripatetic Jimmy-Hat Raye. He of his head coach’s like-minded 1975 offense. Smith started the season as Shaun Hill’s backup. After replacing Hill in week 6, Smith showed signs of life and nearly pulled off some nice comebacks. 2010 was the heralded continuity theme under Jimmy-Hat. Unfortunately, the team started 0-5, Jimmy-Hat got fired, and Mike Johnson was supposed to come in and start implementing a more aggressive offense. No such luck. Smith got hurt, lost his job to Troy Smith, and the QB merry-go-round was on. The high point being the big win over Seattle last December, and the season-ending win with Tomsula as the head coach.
So, the question is, what can Smith do with an offensive minded head coach? Or even what can he do with any kind of coaching at all? Harbaugh has said on more than one occasion that he has had to deconstruct Smith and get him to work on his footwork and his mechanics. If early indications are to be believed, the prognosis is good.
Smith is now the 8th ranked QB in the league with a 97.7 rating. He’s only got 4 TD passes, but more importantly, he only has one pick. Yes, it’s early, but even from game one this offense is growing. There are more 3-4 WR sets. Runs from these sets as well. The early play-calling concerns I had were dispelled in the 2nd half yesterday. My hope is they continue with this style of offense, as it finally opened up the run game in the finest Bill Walsh tradition. Once they started hitting their passes, the run game magically opened up. Plus, it’s time for Smith to put 2 great games together. This Tampa Bay game (normally the Pigs Of Bay (C) ) becomes the all-important reality-check game. Can they continue with their success on the road in their friendly confines? We will see.
Forty Niners Forever 
Barley, any reasonable person knows that one player alone is not responsible for a win or a loss.But Smith’s detractors have never understood that. This sudden rush to call Sunday’s victory a “team” win is fucking hilarious- of COURSE it was, just as the losses during Smith’s tenure have been team losses, not Smith losses. Again, Harbaugh had to point that out to one of the dimmer bulbs in the press corps when the moron said Smith’s record was 19-31.
The point I had made that Flavor was evidently responding to, was that if it’s Smith’s record when the team is losing, it damn well is when they’re winning.
NJ: there isn’t any Alex debate for now. I’ll let Denny lead a debate on why Romo is a choking dog, far more relevant..
Team wins, team losses, sure. I get it. There ARE times that shit happens by the QB that tips the scales. Like, say, throwing 2 pick 6’s in a row. Funny thing for Promo was that still shouldn’t have been enough to lose the game for Dallas. They still had a big lead after those fuckups. He had to fuck up more later to seal the deal. Football is just such a conglomeration of turning points, opportunities, and chances that ANY one play can determin the outcome of a season. Take SB XXIII. The play before the catch by John Taylor, Montana threw a pass right at a Cincy DB (Crowder?), and he dropped it. RIGHT to him. On the goal line. Game over if he holds on. He makes that catch? History is rewritten. Walsh loses and Sam Wyche wins the big game from his mentor. How does the rest of the career paths for all involved change? It’s nuts to think about.
The thing with Smith, being on the losing end of SO many close games, was the fact that any mistake by him gets magnified to the extreme in the loss. I fall prey to this at times. It’s hard not to when the outcome is a loss. You look back and say, shit, that pick 6 for a TD was the killer. Or the Eagles fans saying that Maclin’s fumble was the killer. Or the missed FGs. Or the Ronnie Brown lateral. Or Vick getting tackle 3 yard short of the 1st down. Or 50 other plays that directly affected the outcome. I’m good and goddamn sure that there are people in Philly bemoaning the fact that Vick somehow lost that game for them. Despite his nearly putting up 500 yard of offfense BY HIMSELF.
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