Apropos of nothing, that sure was an interesting game last night. All is right in pundit-land, and the world is safe for casual football fans now that Green Bay has destroyed the wannabe contenders, the Chicago Bears. You know, the team that gave away 2 1st round picks, and Kyle Ortron, for the services of one Jay Cutler. The guy that threw 4 picks last night. Sure, he was under massive pressure, but you look at a guy like Cutler, and a guy like Alex Smith, who gets 1/10 the national press that Cutler gets, and you see the disparity in reality where it comes to quarterbacking in the National Football League.  At least as of now.

Cutler is the gunslinging mad man who takes too many risks, and more often than not shoots himself in the foot while trying to lead his team to victory. He whines to the press, to his coaches, and to anyone who will listen about his misfortunes while Smith is the methodical plodder who moves the team downfield and gets some kind of points at the risk of throwing a pick. Cutler had the luck to start out with a coaching staff that was QB-friendly with Shanahan and Dennison. His 2 full seasons in Denver garnered a ton of yards and 45 TDs, but throw in the 32 picks, and you have a problem with finishing games.  Smith on the other hand has had a harrowing journey to respectability in his NFL. As of now, he’s still considered a game manager. He gets a little bit of credit for the GB win. Seeing how GB’s defense did against Cutler and Co. it gives me the thought that maybe Smithis better than the game manager he’s made out to be.

In the end, it’s all bullshit as Smith isn’t a media hound, and he goes about his business of leading the team quietly and effectively. Sure, it’s early, and sure, one of the knocks on Alex is consistency, but as of now, he seems to have a firm grasp of the concept that risking a turnover is much worse than taking the sack. Leading the team to any kind of points is better than throwing the needless pick. Even with that thought, last week’s game had to be a revelation for Smith, seeing as he threw 15 passes to his wideouts. Folks gain. poo-pooed his relatively paltry numbers, (211 passing yards), but the truth of the matter is, this team runs the ball very well. To go away from that would be monumentally stupid. Most teams out there would love to have the balance the Niners regularly show. 211 passing and 189 rushing? What’s not to like?

Oh, I get it. Fans these days are caught up in the fantasy football mindset. You have to put up gaudy numbers like Brees, Rodgers, and company. Funny, that. Rodgers is about the ONLY thing keeping Green Bay on the map. Green Bay WANTS to run, but the CAN’T. Well, not against us. They did OK vs the Bears. 109 ain’t great, but what did Rodgers do? A whopping 219. New England WANTS to run, and well, they did last week. If they can keep that up, Brady’s numbers won’t be so gaudy. But the team will be better for it. If Smith can consistently be around the 250 mark, and the run game gets around 175, this team will win the super bowl.