Well, the Niners proved, in front of a national TV audience, that they can hang with the big boys by thoroughly pounding the vaunted Pittsburgh Steelers into the Candlestick turf. At least when Big Ben is a little off time. His ankle was pretty balky, and that resulted in some errant throws early, to the tune of 2 picks in his first 2 drives. They were actually moving the ball well on both their inital drives. The Niners had struggles of their own early. Alex was off target on some big plays that would have given the team an early 14 point lead, but they settled for FGs, and a 6-0 halftime lead. They burned a ton of clock however, and did keep the ball out of Worthlessberger’s hands in the 1st half.
The 2nd half started out shakily on offense as the team continued to stop themselves with penalties and missed opportunities. Pittsburgh was able to sneak in a 51 yard FG to close the gap to 6-3 in the 3rd quarter. Then, on perhaps the biggest drive of his career, Smith guided the team to a huge TD by going 5-5 for 89 yards. 3 of the 5 went to the oft-maligned Vernon Davis for 53 of the 89 yards, including the TD. The best part of the drive was play action on FIRST down. Something this team tries to do too often is pound it down close. The play action worked to perfection, and the Niners scored easily.
Pittsburgh then went no-huddle to try and get a quick score, but the defense held, and Suisham missed a 48 yard FG attempt. Harbaugh went a little too conservative for me here, and ran 3 times. The kicker being a 5 yard loss on 1st down. At this point he was really leaning on the defense. And it was at this time (the start of the 4th quarter) that the defense really took over. Aldon Smith had been close all game and had an early sack wiped out by a terrible illegal contact call that would have set up a 3rd and 32. As it was, it didn’t matter. Smith and McDonald finally broke through with a sack and caused a fumble that Justin Smith recovered. With the help of a leverage penalty on yet another FG attempt, Frank Gore ran off left tackle for a 5 yard TD, and the game sealer. The 49ers added 2 more sacks by Aldon Smith, and a nice pick by Tremaine Brown on a deep ball.
All in all, the game went about as well as can be imagined. The offense, after some fits and starts, came through in crunch time. The defense was spectacular in that they shut down Pittsburgh’s vaunted deep passing game. Their running game was nonexistent. Pittsburgh did gain a lot of yards through the air by going underneath, but most of the time Pittsburgh was starting drives from inside their 10 yard line. All World punter Andy Lee pinned the Steelers deep repeatedly, and Pittsburgh rarely got into scoring position.
The only negative was Ted Ginn’s ankle sprain. It looked pretty bad, but the x-rays were negative. The bigger deal was Harbaugh giving Braylon Edwards the night off as a healthy scratch. He said Brett Swain was fine as the backup guy. There’s a ringing endorsement for Braylon. I’m sure Ginn will sit the Seattle game out, so one would think Edwards should be ready to play.
San Francisco 49ers Forever 
POTD, ‘Dog! You got any pics of the game?
Oh yeah! Got the lites out pick, how do I post them here?
I’d be shocked if Braylon Edwards catches 4 balls over the next two games. If the guy’s knee is still screwed, then OK, but if he’s healthy, I don’t get why he’s such a dud, unless he’s just done. In some respects, it’s amazing this team scores as much as it does with a receiver corps that is worse than mediocre. It’s 22nd in avg yards/catch with 11.5 and tied with Cleveland for 25th in receiving TDs with 15. For perspective, Tampa Bay has 14 receiving TDs and Indy has 12. Green Bay has 40 and New Orleans 37…
Well, it’s a work in progress. These guys aren’t going to put up huge numbers, but they do get some points. I think they are still trying to get in synch, even after these 14 games. Crabs is finally coming around, and Williams is getting better. Ginn is a wash, and he’s out for at least this Seattle game. Morgan’s loss is still haunting these guys as Morgan was the best hands guy on the team. I had high hopes for Edwards, but he’s pulling a Carlos Beltran and mailing it in at this point. A shame. He could be a factor, but the fact Harbaugh sat him without any apparent injury leads me to believe he’s dogging the practices and isn’t all in. VD’s big game is good to see. I was beginning to lose hope that the guy could get open and make plays downfield.
How does this play out? Well, I certainly hope they throw more down close. And not fade routes to short guys. Play action and chip routes out of the backfield work. The play to Gore would have worked had not Palamolou gotten in the way. And the pass that Smith threw behind Williams was on Williams. If Smith leads him, it’s a pick. If Williams sits in the open area of the zone (by stopping), it’s an easy catch. That kind of recognition by KW can be fixed.
Morgan is missed because he was easily our best blocking WR. But i’ve never heard anyone praise his hands…
Compared to Ginn, VD, and Walker, he’s Freddy fucking Biletnikoff.
He’s caught almost everything thrown at him this year – you cannot say that about a lot of other guys on the roster. Morgan’s only weakness is he does not have a breakaway gear. He’s strictly short to medium stuff.
Niners are eerily reminiscent of the 2010 Champ Giants, with all world defense, and low scoring offense. Willis and Co. are the Lincecum and staff, with the Niner’s scoring offense being a little worse, ranking wise in the league, than the Giants were in terms of scoring. I think the Giants were 16 or 17 in scoring, or somewhere in that area…
49ers are 14th in NFL in scoring. (of 32)
Morgan is a lot like Mike Wilson. He’d be a nice 3rd option with better guys around him. Unfortunately, they have what they have. Which isn’t very much. He was the de facto #1 guy. Crabs is slowly coming around, Williams as well. Ginn? No. But by far the most reliable WR on the team is Morgan. Again, that ain’t saying much, but until they restock this team this offseason (and Morgan is likely gone anyway), Morgan was the best they had.
What I liked about the Receiving core this game was they got first downs. none of this 2 yard catch and get tackled, it seemed like theywere consistantly 6-10 yards from the line and catching passes and getting the first down
I like Morgan, dont get me wrong. And i think he’s already more productive than mike wilson ever was for us. I just dont think losing him was that huge. Crabs has stepped up nicely. And it looks like williams is finally going to get a chance. Vd and Walker give us something most other teams can’t give you. All in all, i think Smith has a decent enough receiving core going forward for the rest of the year.
Walker caught nada against Pittsburgh, he’s not caught a pass now in 2 games, maybe 3. Or maybe one ball in 3. He’s not in the loop, offensively….
What I REALLY liked seeing was Williams run an 8 yard route on 3rd and 6. Too many times Ginn would run 5 yard routes on 3rd and 6.
Too bad he isn’t 4″ taller, but Williams is solid. Glad he’s getting more and more looks. Knowing how far to run the route, and where to break it off is lost on some of these guys.
Wilson lasted 10 years on the Niners. No, he didn’t put up huge numbers, but it’s pretty touch when you have Rice and Taylor as the guys in front of you.
The problem with losing Morgan was simple: it put Ted Ginn on the field at WR. Williams is passing him now, but for much of 2011, with Braylon hurt and ineffective, Ginn was a starter. And that is not good.
Going forward, we need a real weapon like a Sanu, Crabs on the other side, Williams in the slot, with Morgan the main backup and 4th WR. Let Ginn do what he does on ST.
Yep exactly grumpy, we wound up with Ginn playing WR sorta. Traded a reliable set of hands for…. Braylon tapered off and now he’s sitting, absorbing a ‘wake up call’ from da coach.
WR is an area we’ll see upgraded for sure. Also RB me thinks.
Keep your eyes on a WR from Rutgers named Sanu. If he comes out as a junior he would be worth considering.
He’s the guy I’m hoping for , too, Bergs, if he declares.
I’ll be checking closely on his combine 40 time. He seems to be one of those afterburner guys. Slow off the line, incredible acceleration once he gets moving. Kind of like Sydney Rice, or for a better example, Jerry Rice!
You know, I could use me some Rice right about now…
You girls both should cite your source….. (Spitblood page 69).
These 49ers had a shitty game against the Cards….it happens to all teams….
Monday night….watching everybody warm up…you could tell the 49ers were gonna be sharp.
The coaches threw in a couple plays they haven’t used before (screen, play action then going the other way to Davis) and the line was blocking like a fucking dance troupe performing at the Russian ballet…they made their blocks and got after it. they were in the zone.
Now, they just have to let that sink in and get in that zone every game from now on.
The fullback made some key blocks.
Alex Smith was beautiful. His passes were on target. OK, he missed a couple…who doesn’t?
Still some drops but Smith was dealing to the Steeler Defense….not making mistakes, grinding them down. It was bloody good.
In the 2nd half he answered their offensive thrusts with a determination and professional cool I thoroughly enjoyed. It was not Joe Cool…it was a disciplined “not gonna be denied” cool. He got his offense confident and they performed.
And yeah, the coaches called some plays that nobody had seen for awhile if ever this season.
And they went with the guys who were hot…like Williams, Hunter, Davis…over and over.
Andy Lee was the best I have ever seen, the control he kicked the ball with was incredible. He put it like a pro golfer. The coverage was ferocious. As was all the kick coverage.
The hit Delanie Walker layed on one guy on that kickoff return made everybody flinch.
The Defense played like it was life or death on every play. Still, the Gimp QB was a tough S.O.B., I personally think the guy is a creep but he is a great QB and tough. He made his throws and Wallace # 17 is an animal. They couldn’t score though, and that is what it is all about. Between Andy Lee burying them in bad field position and the physical beating the 49er defense layed on them, the Steeler offense went down like one of those Tyronasaurus Rex Dinosaurs in the King Kong movie after the ape beat them to death and broke their neck.
If the 49ers play their game, like they are capable of, the rest of the way, they will win the second seed and beat New Orleans at the Titanic…errr I mean Candlestick park. Then the Super Bowl.
Candlestick Park showed up. It is a mess and the bathrooms are well, Eddy said it best 25 years ago, a pigsty. People have no egress, it is over crowded and broken but…..it has one more Championship run left in her….she still scares the opponents, just ask the Steeler’s and their fans.
I would like to share some of my photos here if anyone can tell me how to post them here.
Thanks
What a great eye witness report. We got it all- the, uh, shitty bathrooms, the ferocious defense, the offensive creativity, an inspired OL effort, our punter Lee, a determined hard ass performance by Alex, Delanie and the special teams boys, the freakin’ crowd. We got it all!
Chuck email NinerDog- let’s see some photots!
They finally through a screen against the Pittsburghers, like I’ve been yelling for, and it went for 27 or some such. Duh. Howse about a coupla more of those, please…
Second that!
Money, big BIG MONEY, will be thrown at successful assistant coaches from winning franchises by desperate NFL teams. Think Piggsburgh, Think the 2011 SF Forty Niners. Think Jim Tomsula for head coach of the Piggsburgh Steelers:
“San Francisco’s defensive line coach Jim Tomsula, who served as interim head coach after Mike Singletary was fired in 2010, is a candidate for the head coaching position at Pitt, according to a report.
Tomsula has either interviewed or will interview for the job, a source told Kevin Lynch of the SFGate.com.
Read more: Report: Tomsula a Pitt candidate
SO PEOPLE- so much for the previously expressed (here) notion that “we got a bunch of talented career assistants; they ain’t gonna go anywhere”. REALLY?? For a million bucks? For a million fucking US Bucks even I would get off my ass and move to Pittsburgh. You think Tomsula won’t??
No, he will certainly he will. We gotta face to raiding of our talented coaches by deperate teams with Big Bucks.
Seems to me that they are talking about University of Pittsburgh. Their coach just bolted to Arizona State. That job is rumored to be going to the current FIU coach.
Huh? Hey maybe we can keep a few around for a couple years while we rack up Super Bowls…maybe
“Tomsula has either interviewed or will interview for the job, a source told Kevin Lynch of the SFGate.com”
You do not need a United Nations translator to understand the above which simply means: “Mr. Tomsula creamed in his drawers upon being presented the opportunity to become the Head Coach of a premier founding member of the NFL for $10 Million per year”. Then he said “Where do I sign?”
Maybe true, but I can’t imagine the Steelers wanting to pat with Mike Tomlin. He has been as good as any coach in the league since they hired him.
Yeah I think you got it right Bergs, dang it…
Yeah, it’a a college coaching job Tomsula is being courted for.
‘Dog, do you have a Flickr account? Or some other pic sharing site?
If not, try emailing me the pics at:
unca_chuck@yahoo.com
Asked of Harbaugh at the presser:
Do you think that Alex is the long-term quarterback for the 49ers as the starter?
“I do.”
And wouldn’t he be? He’s still young and he has a rating over 90 in his first year in the WCO. There’s no reason not to presume he’ll get better and better.
As to the Pro Bowl- there are lot of good QBs in the NFC now. As the third QB, Manning, Romo, Alex, Stafford, Ryan are all deserving. I’d go with Stafford.
Isn’t Stafford hurt again?
Hugh Douglass just gave the 49ers huge props talking about playoff scenarios on ESPN. Alex still isn’t being given enough credit, he pointed to the early misfires in the red zone, but he is saying no one wants to face that defense. Especially Green Bay with all their injuries to their front line.
Thing about GB is, Aldon Smith can play most of that game, as GB doesn’t run well or much. He will wreak havoc on Rodgers given the shot.
What these guys don’t see is the fact that the 49er WRs (and TEs and RBs) leave a lot of shit on the ground. Guys Like Mike Wallace of Pittsburgh, any given GB WR, and countless others MAKE difficult catches. They HELP their QBs by making one-handed grabs, and such. 49er WRs DROP easy ones, let alone fail to adjust to passes that aren’t perfectly accurate. The 15-20 that have been dropped would equal about what? 250 yards? VD and Ginn alone dropped 2 balls that would have netted 140 yards and 2 TDs. The one call-back on the iffy chop block was 75 yards and a TD. So you could easily say they’ve left 500-600 yards on the ground.
In other words, I think Smith has had a lot more passes dropped than he has thrown bad ones. And, again, the pass to Williams in the end zone was on Williams. If Smith leads him, it’s a pick. If he sits in the clear area, it’s a TD. I’ll cut Williams a little slack, as he’s young and still getting used to this. He can be taught what to do in that situation. Given the fact that there was little preseason, and the WR injuries, Smith is doing about as well as can be expected.
As well as can be expected? Well above what you expected , Chuck.
Hey Chuck, for what ever reason I couldn’t email to the yahoo address but I did post some pictures on the FB UncaChucks NinerPage so if you can retrieve them there that will work.
I have some more of the game but they are a little shaky and out of focus…but I have some pregame of Alex throwing to Harbaugh, as he always does before the games that I have seen.
I was using my phone camera so they are small. I will download them to the FB page a little later.
I am going through some tough economic times like we all are but one thing that is helping me remain joyful and loose during all this, are these 49ers. Their success gives me just enough respite from overthinking my problems, so I can be grateful about the things that are really important.
Merry Christmas! and Happy Hand Grenades! Go 49ers!
Weird. I’ll get ’em from FB. . .
Great post dude. We’ve all been there. Hang in there. Go Niners!
By and large, the stats where Smith is lacking are elective (attempts, yards).Now let’s look at the defenses of the teams with big passing yardage (NFC)- Green Bay 16th, Giants 14th, New Orleans 12th, Detroit 8th, Dallas 6th. OF COURSE they pass more- they have to. 49ers have the best defense in the NFC and the 4th best rushing offense. Harbaugh and Smith would be certified fucking morons if they were slinging the ball up 35-40 times. Smith is being criticized for flawlessly running the offense that makes the most sense for his team.
Let me add to TF, the 49ers don’t have to gamble, even on third downs. They know their Defense will get the ball back, right where they WANT the ball back. They play very deliberate.
They don’t panic. I believe they have a lot more in their toolbox than they have shown during games.
I’m perfectly fine with Alex signing a 3-4 year deal to keep qbing for us. But come on, what’s Harbaugh supposed to say? Some idiot journalist asks Jim if Alex is the long term answer at qb and hr’s gonna say “no”?
As I’ve said many times since the day JH was hired: he will make the best of whatever qb he works with. That’s why it’s so laughable that anyone thinks the Niners would trade for Manning (should they draft Luck). There’s no fucking way in hell JH trades for an expensive, injury risk like Manning. He doesn’t need to. He doesn’t trade for qb’s he fucking MAKES them!!!!
Agree. We’ve forgotten what that was like under Bill Walsh
There all kinds of ways to avoid the question about Alex being the long term QB (see Elway). And Harbaugh did not make Smith, he liked what he saw, and his judgement was validated.
Haha. Yeah, probably didn’t teach him a thing. Just ran him out there with a few swift pats on the ass.
TF, I had expectations that Harbaugh would improve things for Alex. Nothing more. Is it better than I originally thought? Uh, yeah. I knew Harbaugh was talking Smith up to boost his confidence. I knew Smith has had dog shit for coaches these last 6 seasons. This is all on record. I didn’t think things would go beyond this season with Alex, but as with everyone else on the planet who gave a damn, it was wait and see time. Hence the one-year deal he signed this year.
I’m talking about the here and now and that the pundits aren’t taking into account the drops. Say 90% of those drops are caught. Smithh’s numbers improve dramatically, and he likley isn’t thought of the way he is. If he had 3,400 yards, and say, 4-5 more TDs that he’s lost due to drops, his rating puts him about 97 QBR (5th), and he’s by far the story on the season.
Hugh Douglass, who by and large understands what’s going on with the team, still made the asinine Trent Dilfer/Rob Johnson comparisons with Alex. You act like I’ve been railing on Smith all these years. I’ve been about 80% of the time behind Smith. The other 20% was just pure unadulterated frustration with the goddamn coaches, front office, and state of the team in general. One new HC, and all is well. I didn’t think Smith would come back either time he had the chance to split, mainly due to the fact that I thought he’d run from this team like the plague because of how his career has gone down during his time here.
Twin, that’s bullshit. Alex has talent. That being said, I don’t think there are that many coaches that would get this much consistency out of him. Even last year, without Jimmy-Hat, while Smith was doing better, the team was still losing. Yes, there are 150 reasons games are won and lost, and God knows, both Singletary and Nolan were masters at fucking up games, but still and all, Alex has not been a winning QB until NOW. Until he got a coach that understands QBs. To undersell that is moronic.
Look at Bill Walsh and any of Montana/Young backups. Guy Benjamin, Elvis Grbak, Steve Bono, Steve DeBerg, and on down the line, these guys came out of Walsh’s system as saviors to, well, KC mostly. All these guys more or less crashed and burned at their new digs.
I never said you’ve been railing on him “all these years”..
But I’m sick of the fiction that Harbaugh “coached him up”. As you acknowledge, his numbers after Raye left are are almost identical to this year. The diff? The defense ( 8 points less per game) and the rushing offense . That doesn’t diminish what Harbaugh has done- he’s installed a new offense and trusted Alex to run it and grow in it ( we’re not hearing too much how Alex is nonfunctional in a new offense, are we.).. anyway, Harbaugh made the whole team better, but Alex? He chose him, he didn’t make him..
Twin doesn’t think Harbaugh turned Smith into the QB he is today. Hilarious. Well, there are accounts of this all over the internet, from Smith himself, but here is just one clip from NY Times article.
“He coaches the quarterbacks hard”, says Smith…Asked about the ways Harbaugh has helped him from a technical standpoint, Smith’s description does not even reach the point where he releases the football.
“From your stance under center, to your mechanics under center, to your mechanics of taking a snap, to your mechanics of getting away from the center — nothing is off limits,” Smith said.
Look, no one is doubting the fact that Smith has talent, he was the #1 pick in the draft for God’s sake. But there is no way in hell, even if he was given a starting job on another team this year, that he would have turned into this good of a QB without Harbaugh teaching and coaching him. NONE…….
and since it’s Smith who is actually SAYING he gets coached and taught by Harbaugh (see above) then your only response now should be “Um, yes, I was wrong. Thank yuo for correcting me.”
That is, unless you think Smith misquoted himself, lol
The best decision Harbaugh made was going with Alex. No one ever fucking said he received NO coaching from Harbaugh.It’s the unsupportable nonsense that Harbaugh MADE him that’s bullshit. Now say you were wrong yet again, and we’ll drop it.
Of course, he coached by him. He was coached by Mike Johnson, he been coached by the all the OCs and HCs . He went from the 40 QBR in 2005, to 70+ under Turner to 80+ under even Raye then 90+ under Johnson and now Harbaugh/Roman.. as I said Harbaugh didn’t “make” him.
Ha, you can’t admit when you’re wrong even when it’s thrown in your face. Do you have any articles of Smith giving mike freaking johnson credit for coaching him? Lol! And you never said he coached him, you said he installed a new offense and allowed smith to run it. And then we have Smith saying he coaches the shit out of him. Hmmmm…who to to believe here. That’s a toughie….
What kind of moron would take what I said to mean that he’d received ZERO coaching this year?
I’ll stop now. Anyone that reads my last few posts will see im right about this and you and doing nothing but manufacturing excuses..
So go take your argument to Smith. Tell him Harbaugh didn’t turn him into the qb he is today, that he’s always been this guy. Then watch Smith laugh in your face..
Ok dumbfuck, I’ll use your words instead of Smith’s: “I’m sick of the Fiction that Harbaugh coached him up.” Then i show you where Alex says he coaches the shit out of him. Now you’re saying he did coach him up? Confused. Which is it? Oh right, you’re fucking stuck looking like a dumbfuck on this. Again, my posts speak for themselves. Yours are back tracking and excuse making, as usual when someone calls you out on something….
I have to go out and im sure you’ll spin off a bunch of venom infused doozies. As I said, others can read this exchange from the beginning and see that I handed you your ass on this topic…
I guess you know more that Alex Smith himself does about this subject, TF. I’ve said for years now, Montana without Walsh does not = 4 rings. Montana on a ground Chuck Noll team, and you don’t get ANY rings. Yes, as we’ve all repeated ad nauseum, Smith has talent. He’s never had a competent QB coach til now. Does that help Smith win games? Uh, yeah. Yes, the defense is playing better. We all know that. But the truth of the matter is Smith is playing smarter. They are winning. Harbaugh has a lot to do with the team’s improvement, and Alex’s improvement as well.
FYI, I didn’t see the recent fusillade of responses by Flav til after that last post. . . .
Don’t forget, the seedlings of all of this were planted by mike fucking Johnson, lol. Twin is just too much sometimes…ok, I really am out now. Enjoy your day 🙂
They were planted by a tough, talented QB who bettered himself despite incredible obstacles. Rather than obsess on what a modest, humble young man has said about Harbaugh, read about what Harbaugh has said about Alex. Or does that not count?
“Coached him up” is a term commonly used in the NFL to mean, well, he “made him”. AGAIN, only a fucking idiot would think that I would EVER infer that Smith receives no coaching AT ALL. God, that’s dumb.
I know. You very clearly gave mike Johnson kudus for the grand job he did transforming Smith into the qb he is today.
And yes, that was sarcasm, something you dint understand either
No bactracking, I shoudn’t have to explain that EVERYBODY gets coaching.
You just want to live in the myth that you and only you ever saw the greatness of Alex Smith– the fact is, Harbaugh saved your ass by turning Smith into the qb you always wished he could be. JH did that. You can give mike Johnson et al all the credit you want. It makes you look ignorant, but that’s your call.
I credit Alex, dumb shit. His QBR rating under Mike is just fact. As his numbers show, Alex has improved steadily.
Since everyone here is fighting over who gets to have Alex Smith’s love child, let me go on the record as saying that, yes, he has improved, and no, he isn’t a great QB. He still has some mechanical issues and limitations. And for all he has done this year, he also has left lots of plays on the field, as Gruden and Jaworski pointed out Monday night, and until he wins in the playoffs he hasn’t really won very much. To some degree, the jury remains out.
Now are we going to trade for Peyton? Not fucking likely. See also, OJ SImpson, damaged goods, 1978. If Alex gets replaced down the line, it’s far more likely to be a guy that Harbaugh has developed from day one. I rather doubt that happens next year. So Alex probably gets his new contract for 3 or 4 years. Just realize that NFL contracts are not guaranteed, and while he will start that contract, it’s entirely conceivable that he will not finish it.
Now that I have impugned the awesomeness and holiness that is Alex Smith by continuing to doubt his long term future in SF, I’ll take my scourging off the air. Thank you for your invective and a Merry Fucking Christmas to all. Even that little rat bastard Tiny Tim. (*Gay Ass Smiley Face*)
LOL, good response grump. I for one do not want to have Alex’s love child so not gonna join the bidding.
But I do have one thing to add: Merry Christmas people! We’ve been getting our presents early this year!
Of course he isn’t “elite”, yet. But his record in the first year in a new system suggests he will be. Merry Fucking Xmas to you, too.
Twin, I’d pay money to watch you tell Smith with a straight face that he’s always been this guy and all he needed was a coach to believe in him and ruffle his hair every now and again to be the qb he has become this year. Then Smith might have you read the NY Times article that I quoted earlier. THEN he would laugh in your face…
I say that a QB who could achieve a QBR of 80+ under Raye isn’t a good QB, he’s a fucking God.
Well, a neighbor stopped by with a Xmas package..
And yes, I AM the only blogger who knew that Smith would be a top QB in this league. I credit Harbaugh for wisely seeing what I saw..
Well, Braylon Edwards may be not long for the Niners, or for the league for that matter, but here’s a good article on him. While he’s been pretty much a dud for SF, whether all due to injury or not, I’ll give him kudos about doing some good for others. http://blog.sfgate.com/49ers/2011/12/20/braylon-edwards-helped-send-79-kids-to-college/?tsp=1
As for whether Harbaugh has helped Alex improve, the answer is obviously yes. The main thing he’s improved on is not making idiotic turnovers and mistakes that turned field position around regularly and disastrously. The argument as to how much of his total improvement is attributable to Harbaugh is kinda lame. Whatever. But, now, instead of a turnover machine, he’s become a decent, middle of the road talent QB in the league, and will be seen as such unless and until he wins a playoff game…
Coached him up means made him? Well, sure. Some folks can make that assumption. coached him up usually means coached.
Just let it go. Smith (and the entire team) has gotten an offensive-minded coach to help him for the first time in his career. Fangio has built a defense from the bend-and-break shambles of the Manusky
What is flabbergasting to me is this team one year ago looked like a total fucking disaster, from Jed York to Singletary to Manusky on down to the fucking water boys. Singletary is screaming about rats on the ship, Eddie D is yammering that there are too many chiefs in the front office, you have me screaming about spreadsheet boy Maraage, and there are no lines of effective communication, and the team overall is looked upon as one of the most dysfunctional teams in the NFL front-office-wise. They add Jim Harbaugh, and everything magically changes to peace, love, and granola . . .
“Maraage”?
Harbaugh gets Coach of the Year just for making stories about Paraag disappear…
LQTMD . . .
Yeah, it’s hell having a guy to effectively manage the salary cap..
YOU drop it. You and Flavoro are like fucking hyenas.
BTW, what was Harbaugh’s Stanford record before Luck? Seems that QBs help make HIM, too..
Andrew Luck didn’t go to Univ of San Diego now, did he? Oh yeah, line Josh Johnson up for the Hall of Fame.
Hyenas? Yer a remora. AKA, suckfish.
I’m out for a bit. NinerDog, keep seinging the pics to my Niner FB page.
Answer: 9-16.
Still going with this, huh? Look fuck, the Cardinal were 1-11 the year before Harbaugh took over. Do you know anything about college programs? I guess not. When a program is in disarray the incoming coach has to use the players he’s been given–there aren’t any free agents or trades going down. Get it? Walt Harris had completely fucked the program into a million pieces. The fact that his first year at Stanford they were 4-8, with Harris’ fucking shit players, and then 5-7 the next year is a testament to what an amazing coach he is–
and if you listened carefully to anything but your blowhard self, you would see that Smith attributes his success this year to Harbaugh and the coaching and teaching he’s done. Smith has been saying it all year in interviews, I don’t need to re-post anything other than what I posted earlier today.
Then we get this pearl of wisdom from you:
“But I’m sick of the fiction that Harbaugh “coached him up”. That doesn’t diminish what Harbaugh has done- he’s installed a new offense and trusted Alex to run it and grow in it”…
I don’t see anywhere in there where you do anything other than suggest Harbaugh hasn’t done shit other than install a new offense and run Smith out there.
Now, do you want to say that YOU misquoted yourself? Because that would make more sense than anything you’ve said today about this topic………
Harbaugh attributes it to Smith, fucktard.He said what I’m saying when he took over.And again, do I REALLY have to tell you that the HC coaches?
And yeah, Andrew Luck had nothing to with the record at Stanford. Harbaugh made HIM, too.
Don’t have much to add to the food fight but like what snarkk said about AS:
“As for whether Harbaugh has helped Alex improve, the answer is obviously yes. The main thing he’s improved on is not making idiotic turnovers and mistakes that turned field position around regularly and disastrously…. … now, instead of a turnover machine, he’s become a decent, middle of the road talent QB in the league, and will be seen as such unless and until he wins a playoff game…”
We are going to find out shortly just how good Alex and the 9ers have become. Meanwhile the drive killing turnovers are way way down and our wins are way up.
No one said he was God dipshit. He wasn’t ever going to turn Tavita Pritchard into an NFL QB. What he did at Stanford in his first 2 years with those shit players was almost as amazing as what he’s done this year. Anyway, your crooked posts have indirectly given me an opportunity to point something else out: If Harbaugh stays at Stanford Luck wins the Heisman this year. Luck was pretty static this year–Harbaugh would have helped him take another step……..
And really, this isn’t a blog fight between you and me. Any person who understands anything would agree with me on this and see the influence that Harbaugh had on Smith this year. You can fantasize that this was all about to happen with or without JH but all you’ve got is that fantasy. Meanwhile, Smith is the one pointing out everything Harbaugh has done for him this year. And Harbaugh’s comments are what you would expect from him–he’s all about building his guys up, He knows that half of Smith’s problems were confidence issues (the other half were issues JJH fixed this year). What, you think JH is going to say “Yep, I fixed him, turned him into someone he never woulda been if I hadn’t been hired.” What an ass he would look like if he did that. But it’s true………….
Installing a new offense and running Smith out there is significant. The two most important decisions he’s made. And if you choose to ignore Smith’s improvement before Harbaugh, I can’t help you. You’re in full “fuck the numbers” mode . Now I’m done with this.
Of course, almost everybody will agree with you on Harbaugh and Smith- Alex was the most vilified 49er in history. It’s impossible for most to admit they were wrong, so they attribute it to all to Harbaugh. Now goodnight.
so when Smith himself agrees on it you don’t give that any cred either? You are so consumed with your own hubris that you think your vision of what you told us all this guy would be is the only thing that matters? The fact is, I told you what Harbaugh would do for this dude when he was hired. And he fucking did it–it had nothing to do with your support and misguided hubris about the guy. He became the QB he is today because of Harbaugh. And that’s why I busted your ass on this today. Goodnight………
They might be the two most important DECISIONS he’s made but he has been coaching the shit out of Smith this year.
Re-Read the blurb I posted earlier form the NY Times: “He coaches the quarterbacks hard,” Smith said …Asked about the ways Harbaugh has helped him from a technical standpoint, Smith’s description does not even reach the point where he releases the football.
“From your stance under center, to your mechanics under center, to your mechanics of taking a snap, to your mechanics of getting away from the center — nothing is off limits,” Smith said.
And you think this all started with Mike Fucking Johnson? Laughable. Harbaugh hasn’t just fixed his confidence–in fact, Smith success this year is what fixed that. He has clearly addressed every single technical issue with Smith all the way from his mechanics under center to the way he throws the ball (though he didn’t even get to that in the article since he spent so many words discussing all the teaching that has gone on BEFORE the fucking ball is even hiked). I’m sure he’s helped him read defenses too, something that was likely hindering his success earlier in his career……
But to you it’s just install a new system, pat him on the ass and send him out there. Truly hilarious………
Meow. . . .
Okay let;s talk about A, Smith fer a minute. NO not that A Smith, that’s been beat to shit right here in River City… He is what he is, we got what we got, can we we move on for just a few minutes? Maybe, it’s been beat to shit but refuses to die. Aldon, Aldon the other one. In case you missed it Steve Young spoke about AS (Aldon Smith) recently on KNBR. I quote extensively because it’s easier than analyzing and I’m thinking the blog could use a bit ‘o fresh air…or perhaps my brand of smog: Yahar…Chuck (and I) recently compared Haley to Aldon on this blog…
Young:
“I’ve got to be honest with you. I’ve got to apologize to Aldon Smith because I hadn’t really seen him in person all year. And I apologize, because I had no idea how great he really was until I saw him in person. And that’s what matters. Hearing about it, watching it on TV and then seeing in person – all different visceral relationships you have with something, and it matters. So around the league when everyone watched the 49ers kind of beat up on Ben Roethlisberger, don’t let him score, call a couple big touchdown drives, and they hear about the defense, they’ve watched Aldon Smith play and (laughs) whoever doesn’t think these guys are for real is kidding themselves.”
Q: Anything else strike you about Aldon Smith?
YOUNG: “When Charles Haley was young – he reminds me of that, and that is a tremendous compliment by the way, because Charles as a young player was a phenomenal football player. In many ways you can make the claim that he tipped Super Bowls one way or another. And that might be right. He was a dominant player, and Aldon reminds me of that. It doesn’t matter the tackle he’s going up against, and the way he closes it just makes your eyes blink. You say to yourself, ‘I’ve got to watch that again because I didn’t…how did he get there so, how did he close that gap so quickly. Watching him, that guy is going to be one of the all-timers, and that’s just a fact.”
Q: So if you’re in Seattle’s offensive line meeting this week, is Aldon Smith so dominant that they’re asking themselves how to block him?
YOUNG: “No question. I would. I would say that this is an issue. We’ve got to chip him. We’ve got to double team him. You can’t just single him up – he will make you look foolish. I’m sure he’s going to get better and better. He’s just young. But to be able to do the things that he did – I watched a long time – those are rare qualities, rare. You don’t see that. And there’s a lot of good pass rushers, and then there’s guys who can singlehandedly get to the quarterback, and he’s one of them.”
Q: In other words, he can just beat you one on one.
YOUNG: “Right, like Derrick Thomas….Look, I’m not saying, ‘This is Derrick Thomas,’ or, ‘This is Charles Haley,’ I’m just saying, my eyeball test was that was different than other things that you see, significant enough that if you just play that out over time and he gets better and better, that’s where he’s heading.”
End Quote.
Yeah we got our Haley who was the second coming of Fred Dean. We Know how that all ended (very well) This is high praise and very heady stuff – but it won’t mean Jack Shit if we have to play da Saints in NO. We can solve that problem by beating Carroll’s men on Saturday.
I think we will 20-10. In part because we got the third coming of FD in AS (Aldon, Aldon Jezzus) and the D that the first 49er dynasty was built on.
20-10 Niners phil fan “we got Haley. I mean Aldon Smith…”
Well, it ended pretty badly with Charles Haley. He took a crap on Steve Young’s car, and took a piss in Carmen Policy’s office. He wanted out. A Smith doesn’t look like the whack job that Haley turned out to be, so . . .
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