Well, it took two games, but the Santa Franciscoclara 49ers of silicon valley won their first game in their new digs. In what should have been a 35-0 beat-down turned into a near-tragic loss as the defense pitched a shutout, yet the special teams unit gave up two touchdowns on a blocked punt in the end zone, and a 60+ yard punt return by continual pest Darren Sproles. Throw in a pick 6 by Colin Kaepernick, and you have a Niner team down by 14 midway through the 2nd quarter, and down 21-13 at the intermission, despite having outgained Philly 197 to 77 yards. The lone TD in the 1st half came on a supremely strange play in which Kaepernick rolled left to buy time, and threw a 35 yard sideways pass to Frank Gore while running left. A throw that maybe 5 QBs in the league can make, btw, and Frank, who was all alone, took the rock and okey-doked ‘n’ stiff-armed his way into the end zone for a 55 yard score.
The second half was highlighted by Antoine Bethea smoothly taking over as the enforcer of this defense. His hit on Zach Ertz early in the 3rd quarter forced a fumble that Perrish Cox recovered, and that set up Kappy’s laser throw, and Stevie Wonder’s tippytoe 12 yard TD catch to cut the lead to one for Philly. 2 possessions later, Bethea, on a pass thrown under heavy pressure by the ageless Justin Smith, Bethea picked off the underthrown bomb. Bethea, making his 100th consecutive start, despite an ankle injury that threatened to sideline him, made a huge tackle late in the game, as Philly tried to score late in the game. He shot through the line on a Gerald McCoy run to tackle him one yard short of the end zone. On the next play, he came on a blitz and pressured Foles into a 4th down incompletion to end the threat.
For all the struggles to pass-protect, the run blocking was solid, as Gore hit many big runs on his way to a 119 yard effort, and the team totaled 218 yards on the ground while giving up only 22. So, despite outgaining Philly 407 to 213, and winning the TOP battle 42 minutes to 18, the 49ers were in real danger of losing this game. The defense stepped up in a huge way, and you have to tip your cap to Vic Fangio for shuffling his lineup to get real pressure on Nick Foles all game.
Forty Niners Forever 
Alex hands off with the best of ’em. No disputing that.
yeah, all he’s done this half is hand the ball off. Keen insight.
If he’s your idea of a good QB that’s your problem. He’s handed it off fifteen times. That’s Alex’s game and always has been That and throwing passes behind the LOS and checking down to the RB. I love the clock management and missing wide open receivers, too.
his QB rating is nearly double Brady. There are like 5 guys in the world who think Alex Smith is a horrible QB and all 5 blog at this site.
I don’t think Alex Smith is a horrible quarterback. I just don’t think he’s a championship caliber quarterback, and there’s a difference. In his entire career he’s won one playoff game and that was because the Saints turned the ball over 5 times – and Smith still made it a nail biter. With the Chiefs he’s 0-1 in the playoffs.
Tonight Smith looks like Smith….. a guy who needs a great running back alongside him. But Smith has made some throws. Hard to say how good the Patriots’ D is right now after four games.
Flavor – You must hate Colin Kaepernick. Sucks for you.
So you came here to start some shit with that post? Good for you. Not enough of that around here.
Brady’s around 95 QBR career and Smith quite a bit lower than that, btw. And if you think there are only five guys in the world who think Alex is less than stellar you should probably get out more.
What about the 31 GMs and HC that had no interest in Alex when he needed to find a new home? Do those guys count or just trouble-making fans?
“less than stellar?” I didn’t say that. I said you think he’s a horrible qb. Maybe you don’t think that but your posts suggest you do. And who’s starting shit? All I said was that he was outplaying Brady and I thought that was funny. If that’s “starting shit” around here then I guess it doesn’t take much.
I’m out. Have a good night.
and I didn’t say that. You said, “There are like 5 guys in the world who think Alex Smith is a horrible QB and all 5 blog at this site.” So what did you expect when you posted that?
Of course you’re as entitled to your opinion as anyone else, and so am I. I posted mine under yours. You replied, “Keen insight.” That’s starting shit. What world do you live in?
I saw the Chiefs go 75 yds on the first two plays of their second drive: handoff to Jamaal and 1 yd pass to Jamaal.
You guys bitch too damn much. Don’t you have any problems? You’re lucky. Go feed the Ducks.
fuck the ducks. Disgusting animals that shit all over my fairway. I’ve got no use for fucking ducks…..
You have to let them cure for a few days, same as deer. Tampers down the gamey flavor.
Gee, the Alex Smith fun never ends. Hard to pin the Indy game on him, or the NYG NFCCG, but go for it. Tony Romo is God to some here, but he’s done nothing for his whole career. Imagine that.
That’s wrong, too. Look up his career stats if you think Romo’s done nothing. How can you say Alex’s losses are on the team as a whole but not Romo’s?
Wrong? Smith gets shit for playoff wins and losses. Where’s Romo? Romo’s numbers are great. But when has he won in the playoffs? 10 years ago? When has he lived up to the constant hype? He lost the last 4 play-in games to reach the playoffs. He’s a fantasy stud but a reality dud.
Smith? He’s a quiet guy who doesn’t preen in the spotlight. You still are all bent for him not making Mike Dick Nolan look good. It was Mike’s fault, not Alex’s. Harbaugh proved that.
I think Harbaugh proved he could dumb down the passing game with lots of check downs and short stop routes and win with a strong running game and stout defense until he could dump Alex for a better QB.
Yeah, Nolan looked bad (in your estimation) by bringing in good O coordinators, receivers, o-line guys and keeping three QBs to start ahead of Alex.
If Alex was any good do you think commentators would still be trying to convince the fans that have watched him for nine years that he’s good?
He also doesn’t mind using that spotlight to trash teams and coaches that have tried to help him and ones that actually have. What a great guy!
In my estimation? 17-36 speaks pretty loudly as to Nolan’s effectiveness. The year he was poised to win, he rushed his injured QB back into action too soon and let him get blasted all over the field so much that he missed the next 24 games. Brilliant. And you’ll whine about him being fed up with his coach. Right.
Too funny. Smith goes 20-6-1 under a different coach with the same players, and the previous one is what you go with? Coach killer indeed. More and more, the coach killer around these parts appears to be young Jed.
Wow. The future president is on his way to being impeached.
Huh. You can’t go to your knees? Shit, Tim Tebow should have been penalized 50 times. No Fun League indeed.
Speaking of Tim Tebow, he has a better career playoff record (1-1) than Alex (1-2). He has a better home playoff record (1-0) than Alex (1-1). At least they’re even on the road (0-1).
Good for him. I wonder why he isn’t playing in any league.
Given a choice, I’d take Romo over Tebow in a New York minute.
He’s got it made now. New mansion, great job, megabucks, good looks, and no concussions. I don’t think he cares what you think about Alex or Romo, Chuck
I’m with you, RT. I’d rather have Tebow.
Halleluiah. Can I get an Amen?
Man ……Chuck getting ganged up on his own blog. There’s no respect!
You got my back. Right Nippy? Nippy?
*sigh*
New thread is up . . .