Greg Cosell answered one 49ers question this morning on KNBR’s the Murph and Mac show.
Here’s what he said.
Q: One of the fun subplots of this season has been when you’ve evaluated Alex Smith objectively…
COSELL: “To evaluate him totally objectively, I think he’s had an outstanding season. I think he’s matured and improved greatly. When I say he’s not an elite passer, people think I’m ripping Alex Smith, but we talked about Matthew Stafford. He can’t throw the ball like Matthew Stafford. The flipside is Matthew Stafford could come out and throw four picks. Alex Smith is not likely to do that unless the game is such that he has to throw more than Jim Harbaugh would like him to throw, and then that changes the dynamic. But I would say within the context of this 49ers team Alex Smith has played excellent football – clearly matured, no longer makes the kind of mistakes you guys are very familiar with where he’d make a throw and you’d scratch your head and say, ‘Why did he throw that ball?’ I don’t think he’s made two of those throws this season.
“Now, when you watch every play are the plays where I say, ‘That ball I think has got to be thrown.’ Sure there are, but within the context of this team this is the most complete team in the NFC playoffs. Within the context of this team he’s played very, very good football.”
Blog update: I’m heading down to Santa Clara now. There’s locker room availability today and tomorrow, but no coaches will talk this week.
Back at you later today.
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Thanks Grant for the new blog post. lol
Now we can continue the AS debate on a new page!
Mac kept on needling him on Alex on KNBR this morning, but Mr. FilmWatcher kept up with his line that Alex has played very well “within the system”. Don’t anyone dare claim that Alex is a decent starting NFL QB. This is a passing league and if Alex can’t make all the throws that Stafford can, he can’t be a real NFL starting QB. He’s just another Joe Schmoe playing well within Harbaugh’s system. So there!
so others are not playing well in their system
In 81, Joe Montana played well within Walsh’s system as well. He wasn’t an “All World” arm. He went from decent to GOAT. Not saying that Alex will do the same. I guess Montana was a Joe Schmoe.
Even in Joe Montana’s prime I said that I’m not sure that he could have excelled in any other system – many teams wouldn’t have even given him a chance (3rd round draft choice). Among his contemporaries were Terry Bradshaw, Jim Kelley, Dan Marino, John Elway, Troy Aikman, Phil Sims,, and even Steve Young. Joe couldn’t throw with any of them but he could win in a system Bill Walsh tailor-made for him.
M2…Actually, the Cowboys arrived at their last pick prior to the Sf pick with which they took Montana. Joe was the top-rated player remaining on the Dallas draft board, but Landry insisted in reaching down the board a bit for Doug Cosbie.
@ drsgrosse – Obviously Joe would have been chosen by somebody, perhaps no later than Dallas in the 4th round. However, Danny White, a very good QB adept at throwing the deep ball, was already entrenched as the starting QB in Dallas (1976-1988). It would have been very difficult for a 3rd or 4th round QB with a relatively weak arm to unseat the starter in the Dallas offense. There are probably a lot of very good QB’s that never get the opportunity to play, or if they do it might be in the wrong system for their particular skill set. That could have happened to Joe if he hadn’t landed in SF.
@M2
Good point.
How many great QB’s needed to learn more than 1 system (2 at most) for most of their careers?
Us fans always say that teams need to keep that great QB on that team. But I now think that the QB needs to stay on that team (or at least in the system he became great in). Playing QB is tough. Just because a guy is great on his team does not make him great on another team with a different system.
You can see that to a lesser extent of course with NA (former Raider CB now Eagle CB). The Raiders played lots of man, and he was awesome. The Eagles had him play more zone and he stank up the joint.
If anybody is aware of any QB’s who did do this, let me know.
Thank you M2 for being someone on this forum that gets what Alex IS and what he means to the 49ers. I don’t care that he is elite, all-pro, has the best arm, whatever. I agree that he is none or these, yet. The system that Bill Walsh created and now Jim Harbaugh has created does not require you to be the best QB ever. It doesn’t require you to be one of the best Fantasy Football QBs. What it requires is excellent football IQ, field smarts, great understanding of situational football, etc. You don’t need an elite arm to be a great QB. Look at Montana. The head coach, staff, the system, the TEAM, all add to the success of a QB, and any other player for that matter. What would Brady be if not for Belichek? On the other hand, would Peyton Manning be great if he was in Alex’s position for the last 7 years? It’s all relative. Yes there are many great QBs out there. They’ve become great from the situations they were put in. Alex is doing the same now with Harbaugh. Is he a great QB right now? No. Can he be? I think so, IMO. Aaron Rodgers isn’t who he is today without sitting behind Brett Favre and running the same system for 6 years.
Joe was a system quarterback, right, whoever drafted Joe would have Super Bowl trophies at their facility today. If I had to classify Joe in any category it would be the best big game QB……….ever.
Duh??? Although the debate is fair “I mean this is sport”, and will continue for Alex Smith until his numbers and those of his supporting cast increase, even if you are of the mind that the q .b. is not losing games but not necessarily securing either, at 13-3 he has performed admirably. You have to admit.
Since Harbaugh and company are focusing on playing the Saints, maybe we can talk strategy about how they can beat the Saints instead of talking about Cosell. How many points will need to be scored? Keys to the game? Mismatches? What can Harbaugh and the staff do with two weeks to prepare? Will Harbaugh look to avenge the preseason blitz-fest from the Saints? Will the offense make the Saints pay for blitzing? Is Sean Payton a douche bag? Will the Cowboy draw a 15 yard personal foul for hog-tying Brees after a vicious sack? C’mon mang……..
Payton…Yes
Lol.
I think the key to winning this game is a strong 49er defensive pass rush. Then ball control and a win in 49er offensive possession time.
Doc
how many points will the niner defense give up to NO and then GB
The Saints don’t fumble a whole lot. Niners D has to contain them on the first and second downs, thus forcing third and long on a consistent basis. Then it’s up to Smith and Smith. On first and second, Niners will stuff the run. But the DBs have to bump the receivers at the LoS and reroute them to prevent too many short passes. Brown in particular has to be wary. He got beat by speedy receivers this season a few times because he didn’t jam them early.
On offense, Niners just have to take advantage of Williams’ blitzes. Roman Harper will be coming from all different angles. Maybe they have been saving the screen plays for this occasion. Maybe run Hunter more to the outside. I think the Saints made a mistake in blitzing the Niners so often in the preseason game and showing their hand.
isn’t there something to the notion that the Saints’ high tempo offense will disrupt the 49ers’ ability to swap personnel groups between plays?
The Smith-and-Smith combination gets taken out of the equation if A) the Saints consistently move the chains on 1st and 2nd down, and B) the Saints don’t allow the 49ers enough time to bring Aldon in on 3rd down.
Or am I missing something here?
After the Saints game no one figured that the Saints would see the 9ers again. Especially in the playoffs. There were nothing but moans and groans about a totally inept group and a team that couldn’t get out of its own way. there is a lot of crow to be eaten by all after the team showed what it was capable of. Guessed at 8 &8 and up came 13 & 3. A lot of people were wrong and I wonder how big a hit Vegas took on those who bet on the 9ers?
The key to beating the Saints offense is to keep them off the field. The way to do that is our running game. We’re going to need long clock eating touchdown drives to beat them.
BigP,
You’ve got to think the Saints are good for at least 24 seeing as though their road average is about 25, so I’m guessing the Niners will need to score at least 27.
To beat them the Niners have to milk the clock on offense and come up with a TO or two on defense. They have to mix in some blitzes if the 4 man rush isn’t getting there consistently and the tackling has to be really good when a pass is completed.
Offensively, they have to keep running the ball whether it’s working or not because they are done if they become one dimensional. They have to take advantage of the Saint Safeties because they aren’t great in coverage, in other words VD will have to have a big day.
Most importantly, they have to keep the game within one score. If the Saints get up on them and they have to start throwing to catch up, they are in big trouble.
Rocket, I agree with most of your points…but;
You said the Saints get around 25 points in road games. But you didn’t factor in what the Niners’ D does, which is only allow about 15 points per game. I’d say, split the difference, and so I’d expect the Saints to score around 20. So, Akers has to hit 7 field goals, and we’re gold! Of course, a couple of TDs will likely replace one or two of those FGs, and life will be good!
I wouldn’t be surprised to see the Saints score on their first possession. The Niners have been giving that up lately, and the Saints will be in playoff mode. But the D usually settles down after that, and I think that’s when things start getting slow and muddy for the Saints. I don’t see them getting up on the Niners by more than 10…and we’ve seen Alex and the O march right down the field and answer leads like that, and much bigger (Eagles, anyone?). I’m feeling pretty good about that game, even though I do have a ton of respect for the Saints.
But what I really want to see is our Offense go after Green Bay’s D! They’re really pretty weak. And I can proudly say that we don’t REALLY know how good their Offense is, Aaron Rodgers and all, until they play the BEST Defense in the league. That’s US, baby!
So wait…are the 9ers pretenders or not? Flip flopping?
Cossell flip-flopped big time. He now says that the Niners are the most complete team in the NFC play-offs!!
Maybe hedging his bet, so if the 9ers are one and done he can say “I told you so.” If the 9ers win it all he can say “Well, despite Alex, they are the most complete team.”
@Jake
I know I didn’t much care for his analysis before. I won’t start liking it now that he says good things about the team.
If he stank with his analysis hating on the team, he isn’t going to be any better at analyzing the team (AS) now that he supports them more.
Sorry. Doesn’t work that way.
Not going to disagree. Cosell’s opinion of the 9ers is consistent with a lot of the experts right now. Everyone was pretty content with the 9ers sucking for the past 10 years and after thinking Nolan was going to turn it around they are cynical now. Don’t worry, they can say that they always knew that Harbaugh would turn it around and after a few years no one will really remember.
“Does that make the 49ers pretenders? Jim Harbaugh would say no. I would disagree.” – Greg Cosell
Published: January 2, 2012
Wait! They are the most complete team in the nfl, and they are pretenders. Smh
Excuse me NFC.
Cossell = tool
THE 49ERS ARE GOING TO TAKE IT ALL THE WAY TO THE SUPERBOWL AND WIN #6!
THIS TEAM HAS SOMETHING SPECIAL AND HAVE TRUELY COME TOGETHER IN ALL AREAS OF FOOTBALL! THIS TEAM IS BEYOND DANGEROUS! NO OFFENSE IS PUTTING UP 30+ ON THEM! THIS TEAM MAKES YOU PLAY SMASH MOUTH FOOTBALL!
Cosell is going to have to buy himself quite the industrial shovel to dig himself out of the hole he has dug.
“He can’t throw the ball like Matthew Stafford. ”
I don’t care if he can. JM slipped down to the 3rd round in large part because of his arm being so weak (although anybody see any of those commercials he is now? I swear he can throw it further now).
But, nobody before or since JM could throw a better, perfect, easy to catch ball for the WR 4-10 yard pass. That is what BW asked of him, and that is what he did. Those strong armed QB’s often throw it too hard on short routes. Making it harder for the WR to adjust to it. I remember hearing the Denver Bronoco WR’s complain that their hands hurt because Elway threw the ball too hard..especially early in his career. That is something else to consider when you want a big strong armed QB as your WCO (short intermediate passes dominate) leader.
I also remember many of the press “experts” putting JM down a lot for not having the arm, so that meant he could not make all the throws that other QB’s could. Who cares!
AS has to make the throws JH puts into his system (no different from JM and BW). Those passes which are not in his system…why does it matter if he can throw them or not?
All I want to see is AS drive the team down the field and get his team to score more TD’s than they have. I know AS wants that, as does JH and everybody else.
The Niners have had plenty of productive drives this year. Doing exactly what AS can do well, and against playoff caliber teams to boot. He just needs to score more TD’s.
And I heard something of interest on KNBR yesterday myself. AS this season has a better TD:Int ratio than JM ever did. And SY was only better twice. Also, SY and JM did not have anywhere near as many sure TD’s dropped. When you consider all the great talent those other QB’s had, and the injury situation this year at WR, that ratio means something more than “Oh…only threw for 17TD’s.”
Get this team a whole off-season and training camp (that means you as well MC), another well thought out draft and FA period, and more reps, how could you consider yourself a fan and not be totally stoked?
One last thing I heard on KNBR. JH said that the redzone offense is the last part of learning how to play an offense. He said this way back in training camp. And that this will take time. The Niners last 9 redzone trips – 6TD’s.
(I might be a little off in the actual numbers of trips and TD’s, but the point does not change. This team is getting better at scoring TD’s).
Good points. Cossell and some other analysts, like many fans, are very much into the Cult of the QB. They try to isolate the performance of the QB from the team which is really not a meaningful thing to do for a quintessential team game. The QB is the most important player in the offense by far, but his production is very dependent on the supporting cast, especially receivers.
Take Megatron away from the Lions and suddenly Stafford’s passes are sailing high and out of bounds. Take a Jennings and Driver away from the Packers and Rodgers would be running for his life.
I expect Smith’s production to increase next year once Morgan returns healthy and lines up opposite Crabtree with Williams (and maybe a new receiver if Ginn is gone) providing good support.
Dead on point! When Rodgers lost Jennings for that one game the Pack lost….to the Chiefs! You take Johnson away from Stafford and I think the Lions aren’t even contenders. I think the offense as a whole will be leaps and bounds better next year, but even without substantial receivers our offense has been getting the job the past few weeks.
Gentlemen,
Amen, Amen, and AAAA-MEN!
Stafford vs Brees…we’ll see what MS is really made of. He is got a fair bit of Romo in him. Great play followed by a bad play. Likely outcome is 300+ yard game and 2 costly turnovers. Saints on the way to the Stick. Time to exact revenge on that D-Bag Payton for his preseason blitzfest.
Yes. Lions shouldn’t have a chance against the Saints. They couldn’t stop the Packers who had no real incentive to win. Brees will get the ball out early to his receivers and the Lions’ DBs won’t be much of a factor.
I think whatever they do HB has a whole mess of tricks up his sleeves, plus the whole 49er org/players are 100% behind him ! Ive a sneaky suspicion that once we clinched a playoff spot harbaugh kept the offense just as drab as it had been …… why change and show the opponent more if you dont need to. If you have noticed he has dialed in to his play book a touch recently. The seem pass to davis ( where has that been all year) , the special teams fake fg ( i do remember when the pats used it lol). Come playoff time 9ers gonna get exciting !! Keep up the hustle !! GO 9ERS !!
In my lifetime Alex Smith is the fourth best QB the Niners have ever had. Montana, Young, Brodie, Smith, Garcia. A case can be made for Garcia being better but I dont think so. I just dont understand all the negatives still hurled at Smith. There is only a handful of QBs that are elite in todays dont touch me football era.
@undercenter
I loved JG’s heart. Drew Brees is Jeff Garcia with a better arm and better WR’s (and owner who didn’t fire their coach).
Bono was a better QB than Smith and so was Cavanaugh. It can also be argued that Kemp was better than Smith.
You must not have seen Frankie Albert who was the first T formation QB. He also played safety back when only real men played football.
You also must not have seen the hall of fame QB Y. A. Tittle (Yelberton Abraham) who was traded for a substitute lineman of zero value.
Without the aid of blogs, Brodie was probably vilified more than Smith by the loyal Niner fans.
“In my lifetime Alex Smith is the fourth best QB the Niners have ever had.”
That can’t be a serious statement. That has to be troll bait. Grbac was better than Smith.
There was a reason Grbac was sent packing….
yeah, he was the worst excuse for a human being
Better than Jeff Garcia???? You have lost your mind!!!!
Big Ugly,
it’s a cult. They don’t go off of football knowledge, they go off of love for their “guy”. No way Smith was better than Garcia. He is as tough as Garcia but not better.
Garcia had a weaker arm but was more accurate and saw the field better. He also was more mobile.
The funny thing is Garcia threw nothing but short passes for the most part and the Niners ran the ball a ton while he was here. Mooch was always being accused of running a boring offense but he was playing to the strengths of his team. Where have we heard that before?
Garcia saw the right side of the field better because he always sprinted out to his right, he had no idea what was happening from the middle to the left sideline. That’s what spurred so many Owens’ tirades against him.
I never cared for Garcia. The delivery was awful.
He was a pretty good QB considering his physical limitations. The jump pass was pretty ugly though.
Garcia could also read progressions. He wasn’t limited to “one read or check down” plays.
I agree with let him follow the system. As that is.
And I heard something of interest on KNBR yesterday myself. AS this season has a better TD:Int ratio than JM ever did. And SY was only better twice. Also, SY and JM did not have anywhere near as many sure TD’s dropped. When you consider all the great talent those other QB’s had, and the injury situation this year at WR, that ratio means something more than “Oh…only threw for 17TD’s.”
$$$$$$$$$$ but this is ridiculous. Joe Montana threw down field way more often than smith does. Way more td’s and more ints. Until Alex smith has 6 all pro seasons, and has won 4 super bowls. And MVP titles. Stop comparing the two. Where is the proof that jm recievers didnt drop more td passes? If you remember jerry rice was the drop king his first year. You were doing ok until you posted this garbage. Ds. It’s this simple. Alex smith isn’t even in the same ball park as joe Montana and Steve young. Your comparing elite to mediocre. Joe never had the defense smith does this year. A record setting defense. And a soft nfl. If Montana or young were playing in today’s nfl. Wheeew. It would be to easy. Just stop the comparing. You really look foolish!
You might want to do some checking on that… Joe had one of the best defenses in the NFL in 81.
@Jake
I believe the years the Nines D was really really good are the years JM won the Super Bowl in the 80′s.
I know the Niners had the best D in 1984 going 15-1. and in 1989 they must have been near the very top if not 1. The 1988 team was weakened by injury if memory serves, but they got everybody back in time to make their run to the Super Bowl (where the D played great the whole time).
So, if you want to find out when the Niners won the Super Bowl in the 1980′s, it might best fit if you look at when they had a great defense.
JM was awesome the whole time.
Yeah, the ’81 Niners had the 2nd ranked defense in both points allowed and yards.
That’s why I keep bringing up the similar feeling to ’81.
Win-loss is the same.
2011 Defense is actually a little better in a few categories (like rush defense) but essentially the same in that they were very good.
Montana and Smith had similar numbers.
Similar types of games, some close, some by a few points, one blowout (thankfully against Dallas.)
Bengals are back in the playoffs :P
The ’81 team faced and beat the Giants, Cowboys, Bengals (playoff teams) in regular season. The 2011 team has beaten the Giants, Bengals, Lions, Steelers (playoff teams.)
One big difference in 1981 is that the Giants, Cowboys and Bengals were the only ones on the schedule that year that had a good record. Oilers, Bears, Saints, Lions, Steelers, Browns, Skins, Rams, Packers were all .500 or under.
He did have good defenses. But never as good as this one. I never said he didn’t. In fact those defenses were very underrated. But none of them were as good as this one. This years is the best defense in sf history. Now with those defenses let’s compare the qb play. That’s my point.
@Adam
It’s more than that. BW came over from Stanford and revived that dead program to life. JH did the same thing.
JH brings a modified version of the offense BW invented.
BW was known to be good with QB’s. JH is the QB whisperer.
You may think I am weird as hell for spontaneously humming the Empire Strikes Back music, but there is a logical reason for it. lol
Yeah but, look at Joe’s ’81 numbers vs. Alex’s 2011 numbers. Don’t look at anything beyond ’81 – other comparisons can’t work.
I need to look up Freddie Solomon, Mike Wilson and Mike Schumann vs. Crabs and the 2011 corps. That might tell us something too. Clark and Young, too.
The only context that works is the beginning of the West Coast Offense for both teams.
Later comparisons of Montana to Smith don’t work – totally agree there. Just the first season of the WCO (for all intents and purposes, Joe’s first without sharing time with DeBerg.)
Crap, I forgot the takeaway differential. 1981: +23. They were also first in that, same as now. The ’81 team scored 22.3 points avg. per game. The 2011 team scored 23.8 points avg. per game. 7th ranked offense vs. 11th ranked offense (we need a boost here, of course there are four more teams in the league now.)
By the way, Walsh’s former QB, Kenny Anderson – AP Comeback Player of the Year in ’81.
One difference and sort of a similarity is that both secondaries were basically new. The ’81 team was all rookies, Lott, Wright, Williamson, with the exception of Dwight Hicks, who was a second year guy from Detroit. Our guys are new except for Goldson and Spencer (who doesn’t appear to be playing much.)
Telling you guys, it’s eery!!
Joe had a great defense every year he played in the NFL.
@Adam “Yeah but, look at Joe’s ’81 numbers vs. Alex’s 2011 numbers.”
Joe’s numbers are light years ahead of Alex when you adjust for eras.
I really don’t see the similarities in defenses aside from preventing scores. The ’81 49ers strength was the secondary, this year it’s the front 7. The turnover differential was really close.
The overall feel though, a 6-10 team nobody thought would compete coming out of nowhere to win 13 games… almost an identical script.
@msc
“Joe’s numbers are light years ahead of Alex when you adjust for eras.”
And how do you do that? What do you do? JM would not have a stronger arm now, so how does he throw for all those yards? And the big secret to the BW offense is that it was a running offense in disguise. He had the 3-4 yard pass pattern in so many plays because that was what you can expect a run to get you. If that receiver and turn up field at all, then you get a good 5-7 yards. If they break a tackle (ie JR/RC/JT all the time) then you get big-time numbers.
And if you are going to adjust to eras, why can’t you adjust the numbers if JM does not have RC/JR/JT while you are at it? But all of them were freaks at the time with their size, so how does that work in a world with lots of 200lb WR’s now?
Wins are the only thing that really transcend eras. Rule changes and all that screw up comparisons. But winning in the NFL is hard in any era. JM in his first full season as a Niner starting QB 13-3. AS in his first full season with a HC who knows something, 13-3.
JM had a great defense…. a defense that challenged montana led by lott
No he doesn’t look foolish, that’s an extremist POV, which I realize is the norm on this blog. Of course AS isn’t as ‘good’ as JM was, we all know that and I have never seen ANYONE say AS is better, but just looking at the TD\INT ratio, JM never had as good of a percentage as AS did this year. In JM best year compared to AS best year, JM only threw 43 more passes with I believe 7 more picks. JM didn’t throw down field as much as you remember either.
IMO, this only shows how easily a stat can skew the perception of how good\bad a player has perfromed. Throw out any stat and someone can poke a hole in it’s valididty with another stat.
Don’t be surprised if we get the Giants here next SAT, I believe DET may surprise the holy Saints, just a gut feeling.
Hey brey what year are you talking about? If its 81 again a second year qb vs a 7 year qb.
MD, not only JM and SY playing in a QB friendly league this year, imagine Marino and Moon!!
And let’s face it, JM and SY had better receivers across the board. Not just the #1 and #2 but the 3 and 4′s as well. As much as I like VD, BJ was so consistent and usually came up with a big catch when needed. JH and TB will add more talent in the next 2 to 3 drafts.
@hof
JM had Roger Craig in 1984, didn’t he?
Didn’t Roger become the first player ever to rush for 1,000 and receive for 1,000 yards? And wasn’t he the only person to ever do that until MF of the Rams? And who else has done it since?
By 1988, JM also had Jerry Rice. Jerry Rice was elected the greatest football player of all time by the NFL. Not just WR, but of all the players ever, JR was the best. And of course he had John Taylor as well as a bunch of other guys who were really good.
So, that 1981 season was the only season where the Niners, lead by JM and not much else on offense, won the Super Bowl. All the other years, he had some really good players.
All this JM worship displaces how good these other players were. And JM opens up every interview where he talks about how good HE was with “I had some really good talented guys around me.”
Why can’t people understand that? I am not saying that AS is better or equal to JM. Nobody is. To be equal, you need to win 4 Super Bowls. To be better, you need to win 5. QB’s are ultimately evaluated by winning titles, and JM won more than anybody. What I am saying is that AS has better numbers and the same 13-3 record JM did in 1981. And if we all say how great JM is/was in 1981, then isn’t AS at least good?
That does not mean AS sucks at all though. Before last year, how many titles did AR win? They were drafted in the same year. How come he didn’t suck for not winning?
Here we go again… the greatest QB of all time wasn’t really that good, he just had a great supporting cast (we’ll just leave out the first two superbowls when the 49ers receivers were average). Alex would be every bit as good if he had Jerry Rice and Roger Craig to help him. Because Alex is the most awesomest, most precious, bestest quarterback ever. Too bad the rest of the offense totally sucks or else we’d see Alex for the true hall of famer he is.
This trend of denigrating other players in order to boost Alex is really getting old. Either Smith can stand on his own merits or he can’t.
@msc
Joe Montana opens up every interview with something along the lines of “Man, I had a lot of really great players who helped me a lot.”
Maybe you should watch the interviews more.
And, how good were the Niners (title wise) after they got rid of RC? They didn’t win another title until they had another RB who was great at catching passes out of the backfield and running the ball. Just like RC.
And could you please give some love to JR/JT/RC. By selecting your comments to focus only on JM as the great one, and bashing posts which discuss everybody else (like the man JM says) as being great, what do you hope to accomplish?
The Niners had great players in every position. That is why they were great. If it was just JM, how many titles would they have won? How many yards does JM throw for if not for JR and JT turning 10 yard passes into 50 yards of YAC? Or the simple check down to RC who gets 20 yards?
Spread the love around. Can you?
“Here we go again… the greatest QB of all time wasn’t really that good, he just had a great supporting cast…”
I don’t think anyone is saying that. No ONE (especially me) would allow Montana to be diminished.
But there are some interesting comparisons between this season and ’81. Whether it has to do with Harbaugh and the assistants watching tons of Walsh installation video or some sort of voodoo, it’s eerily familiar.
Hoff were not talking recievers. We’re talking about qb. Heads up since it wants to compare the two. It’s blasphemy. You guys keep bringing up 81. Well it’s a 2nd year qb to a 7 year qb. Catch my drift. Anytime you put these two I’m the same sentence it’s ridiculous. UNLESS smith is winning superbowls or playoff games with clutch performances and monster games. Plain and simple. It’s not time yet. Alex smith isn’t even a top 5 qb. So you can’t even compare him now to the elites today. Let alone the greatest ever. You guys can’t be this stupid.
@Adam
Don’t let them fool you.
I didn’t diminish JM in the least. I said he is the greatest QB of all time and will remain so until another wins at least 5 Super Bowls.
I also was one of the very few Niner fans to support JM back when the Niners lost to the Vikings. A lot of Niner fans got super angry at JM and called him names and a lots of other filth. If you remember back then, the Niner fans then sounded an awful lot like some here do now. Connection?
Let’s put a heading at the top of the page that Montana is one of the greatest and you can’t compare Smith to him. I don’t see how anyone could. I do however like the comparisons between the TEAMS of this year and 81. Lot’s of similarities actually. Let’s hope it ends the same way.
>>You guys keep bringing up 81. Well it’s a 2nd year qb to a 7 year qb. Catch my drift. Anytime you put these two I’m the same sentence it’s ridiculous
They are comparing seasons – ’81 to ’11 – all things being very similar including output from the passing game.
Are you saying ’11 Niners can’t win with AS because the ’81 Niners did with JM? It sounds like you are going there.
Only works with the ’81 Montana. After ’81 the All-Pro Joe is who we’d be talking about. That’s comparison won’t work.
Joe, in ’81 was in his third year and finally a starter. So you have to look at it that way. Joe had a slight advantage over Alex with regard to full training camps with the new offense. Alex has an advantage over Joe with regard to experience reading defenses, etc.
But just looking at the installation of the WCO and two guys who were starters in it and played all 16 games, it’s crazy how similar the numbers are and what the numbers are for the teams as well.
Just eery. I hope this is a good omen of things to come!
“You guys can’t be this stupid.”
You see what I’m saying, right?
Take the 3-year, Joe. The ’81 Joe. Not the whole Joe over his entire career. Just him as a starter for the first time in the west coast offense and look at his numbers compared to Alex as a starter for the first time in this west coast offense.
Remember, Alex was drafted to be in the WCO and why some folks thought he’d be good with McCarthy and all those guys early on.
Then look at both teams (offense and defense.) It’s kinda crazy how many things are similar.
Adam, this debate is similar to a democrat discussing political principals to a republican…can’t change an opinion either way. And yes I’m keeping politics out of it, just an example of how hard headed some can be when it comes to 9er football and being open minded regarding the progression of this 1st year of JH’s offense.
Ribico….. Not at all. I think if we win this year it will be mainly because of our defense. Which is the best in 9ers history. If smith can continue to manage the game without mistakes and take someone shots downfield aaaand score in the redone this team can beat anybody.
Now let’s look at the teams montana was playing against in 81 to the teams now. No coparison. Till 83-84 the nfl wasn’t good team rich. There is a resemblance to 81 in this light…. This years team like 81 came from the bottom of the league. No one gave the 81 team a shot. Just like 11′s team. A bright head coach. A solid young defense. NOT QB. Just the smith fans think this way. Yes the teams and the way they shocked everyone so early are similar but knowing what we know now… It’s blasphemy to compare the qb’s of these teams. Ones a 2nd year the other is a 7th year.
Bay, I agree with you except for “NOT QB”. No, for the umpteenth time AS is not JM. But *someone* had to lead the team downfield to get those more points than the defense gave up. In your mind, who was that?
Rib,
what thread are you responding to? I didn’t comment on this one : )
@ribico
“You guys keep bringing up 81. Well it’s a 2nd year qb to a 7 year qb”
Whoever said that is ridiculous. And needs to either read or count better.
JM was drafted in 1979. In 1981 he was in his third (1979, 1980, 1981) year. Not second year.
And, AS has missed a ton of games his career. It is very telling one would compare years but not games. JM played in every game (though did not start until mid 1980).
So, please compare games if you compare experience. And if you are going to compare experience, it is best to compare experience in the same system. And how do those 2 numbers compare?
Very interesting results.
@Adam
“Take the 3-year, Joe. The ’81 Joe. Not the whole Joe over his entire career. ”
I don’t think they are physically or mentally able to do this Adam. They can’t separate JM much unknown (1981 version) from JM legend (4Super Bowl wins in 10 years.
That is where all this fighting is coming from.
Ribico… No **it Alex smith isn’t joe Montana. So why compare one mediocre year to a legendary career. Thank you. My point is made. Joe vs Alex conversation is over!
>>Rib,
what thread are you responding to? I didn’t comment on this one : )
bay, I don’t go for the multiple screen names others here are so sure about, but I swear – you and md – separated at birth!
And besides, this is really lousy forum software for keeping threads straight… the worst!
Because MD (checking to see it’s you), this “mediocre year” just might have him hoisting the Lombardi at the end of it. JM wasn’t a legend until he started doing that as well. Do you GET that? At all?
It is clear that DS never watched Montana play. My guess is that is she is too young and is only looking at numbers or Youtube clips.
The only similarities between Smith and Montana are statistical and the fact they are both Niners. If Alex played for any other team he would never even be mentioned in the same sentence as Joe.
Alex has had a great season – can’t we just give him credit without bringing up Joe?
@ribico
“Do you GET that? At all?”
The evidence as supported from this thread is “No.”
and the RB took a lot of receptions as well….craig was a 1000 1000 or close to it some of those years
The Niners D in the 80′s were rated top 5 multiple times, the best collection of DB for a few years. Wasn’t there a year when all 4 starting DB’s made the Pro bowl?
@DS94everXev
He was saying that Joe never had this defense. I think if Joe didn’t, it was very close. To your point – Yes there were seasons that the defense was better than others, but there were also seasons that the defense was amazing and they still didn’t win the SB.
No questions Joe was a great QB…but he consistantly had a very good to great defense with few exceptions.
9er defense ranking from 80 to 90: 26, 2, 23, 4, 1 ,2, 3, 3, 8, 3, 2
@Jake
If it sometimes seems like I didn’t really get all of ninermd’s posts, it is because I don’t read them. I reply to other peoples posts about what ninermd said.
If I am looking at this right, the Niners D was great in 1983 where they ranked 4th (the year the ref’s screwed the Niners with a bad PI call costing them that game) , and 3′rd in the strike shortened year in 1987 (the year everybody said JM sucks and is trash after the Vikings game).
We’re any of joe defenses as good as this years? No one said those defenses weren’t good. Put words inu mouth all you want. The only defense that was very close was 94 97. Don’t go off topic. The topic was comparing joe to Alex. It’s ridiculous.
The point is MD, as Adam states above, there are close similarities to this 2011 team and the 1981 team. Once BW started adding the missing pieces, better RB’s, WR’s, and TE, this offense became more prolific.
Regarding the defense this year and those during the championship years, the big difference is at LB. The 9ers always had a stout d-line and excellent DB’s (at least in the 80′s). The 9ers had good players at LB but not anywhere near a PW or NB – that’s the major difference. They are tackling machines.
Comparing the two teams is fine. Comparing the two qb’s is stupid. Let’s stay on the subject ds brought up.
Yes it’s similar to the 81 team. But the MAIN difference is a 2 year and 7 year qb. If you want to talk about the other topics like the defenses and offenses that fine. But let’s stick to what ds compared. That’s the point.
MD, first of all, JH was a THIRD year QB in BW’s offense. This is AS FIRST year in JH’s offense.
Second, you can compare the fact that JH in his FIRST year was more successful than BW was in his 1st or 2nd year. BTW, you are right – 7 years of multiple OC’s doesn’t equal 3 years of BW. True.
*JM was a THIRD*
Hoff. Here we go with the different o.c crap again. And I’ll say again different o.c is hard on the whole offense. Not just the qb. And it’s NOT the O.C. Fault Alex smith cant read defenses, and has accuracy problems and throws int’s. It’s that simple hoff. Frank gore excelled with different o.c’s. You know why? Because he is excellent at his job. Yeah he ran for 1000 yards a year behind that crappy offensive line too. So just stop now with that next excuse.
All I’ve heard this year is…… Alex has a new system, Alex doesn’t have the recievers, Alex should have 4 more td’s, Alex has a bad offensive line….. It sounds like Alex needs everything set up perfectly for him to succeed. Now I’d like some honesty….
How would brees, manning, Rodgers, or Brady do on this team? I know you will answer with a question. So I’ll answer the right way. They would be pro bowlers and would make at least one of our recievers or TE a pro bowler too. And yes in their first year here. We wouldn’t have the worst offense I’m the playoffs, besides den…. It’s a fact that we are here because of our kicker and defense. Not the next joe Montana.
@ninermd:
Here we go with the different o.c crap again … How would brees, manning, Rodgers, or Brady do on this team?
You really shouldn’t post comments when you’ve been drinking. You just proved the very point you were disputing.
In an attempt to make your point that changing offensive coordinators every year is irrelevant to a QB’s development, you compared Alex Smith to 4 QBs who have known nothing but systemic consistency. Manning, Brady and Rodgers each has had to learn, develop in and play in one offensive system his entire career. Brees has been in New Orleans’ system for six consecutive years. Before that, he spent 4 years in Cam Cameron’s offense in San Diego.
Contrast that to what Smith has had to put up with. Alex Smith has had to learn more offensive systems in his much shorter career than those four QBs combined.
You’re not comparing apples to oranges; you’re comparing apples to bicycles.
MD, I agree with you. Having new OC’s is hard on the whole offense. Now you didn’t want anyone (me) comparing AS to JM (I wasn’t – only the system and results timeline) but you are comparing two different position players – FG and AS? Do you think the difficulty of playing RB is similar or equal to the difficulty of learning the QB position?
Now you are adding QB’s to the debate that have been in there same systems for 5 – 11 years. Did you read that correctly – SAME SYSTEM. Of course they could come here after being successful somewhere else under one system and acclimate better than a QB that has had multiple OC’s. They probably wouldn’t put up the gaudy numbers, but they would most likely do better.
Finally, if you don’t think OC’s help a QB with learning how to read defenses and bettering their play, take a look at Bradford. He has his 2nd OC in as many years and if they hire Fisher, he will most likely have his 3rd OC in as many years – not good for a QB’s confidence or learning curve regardless of what you may think.
Peyton Manning has been in three systems his entire football life: high school, college, Colts.
One thing you can say about Peyton, when his receivers are open, he hits em. Deadly accurate and gets rid of the ball quickly.
Cool under pressure too especially for a big man.
If he’d played this year he’d have been behind a line that ranks 15th in pass protection. He should try it out here with our 27th. It’s like whack-a-mole out here. :P
Claude,
Very nice.
hmmm….to go from his previous comments to “outstanding season” is a big stretch…his comments arent wholly inaccurate (there are better passers, but Alex’s safety-oriented play has paid big dividends this year), but he seems like a guy who is as focused on getting airtime/newsprint as being insightful.
I think he’s playing to the local audience. His article on Smith two weeks ago continued his early season evaluation of “limited and hidden.”
i will end my boycott of mt.cosell only for this reason:he said,”to evaluate him totally objectively,i think he has had an outstanding season.” my question is:1)tells me you werent being objective 2)how can you keep your jod without being objective? 3)i sincerely hope you understand that just because we are fans,that doesnt make us idiots.we all see the shortcomings of the TEAM,but we dont claim to be an expert as you do.(well most of us dont..lol).ive never seen a person that has been so wrong on so many things then you have the nerve to say what you said.you,mr.cosell,is whats wrong with the world.no one will take accountability for his/her actions.ok..i digress but hopefully mr.cosell ive heard/read the last thing that you have to say in regard to the 49ers. (exhaling now..whew)
Think this 9ers team will beat any other in the league with full rest and two weeks to prepare. This 9ers team is built to be physical all day. Their next opponent will be worn out by the 3rd and 4th quarters. It’ll seem like they gave up after being beat down with fatigue. Hate to say it, but this team is built similar to that Dallas grit and grind early 90′s team.
Cosell is who he is. Tollner who also “watches a lot of film” mentioned here back in April of last year that AS would be very good under JH. Seems his analysis of AS, JH, and the team is closer to where the 9ers have finished this year.
Here’s the link:
http://49ers.pressdemocrat.com/2011/04/inside-the-49ers/tollner-alex-smith-close-to-becoming-a-championship-qb/
and the responses remain the same today as they do then….even with AS’s success….so it remains an agenda carried forward
great! cosell finally gave alex props without using the word “but”. but cosell is still the biggest “butt” of them all!
I think some of you are being too hard on Cosell. The guy watches a ton of Coaches film and his views on the Niners this year have mostly been favorable. He’s said more than once that the Niners were one of the most complete teams in the league, and that they had the best defense. He doesn’t see Smith as a difference maker at QB, and while I disagree with his statement from earlier in the season that they were hiding the QB, he has since backed off that stance quite a bit.
The pretender thing in the playoffs I’m guessing is in regards to how the Niners will do against the Saints and Packers. I think he’s saying they aren’t as good as these two, not comparing them to all the playoff teams, and let’s be honest, outside of 9er fans, who would pick us over either of those teams?
@rocket
Actually there have been a few experts who do/have believed in the Niners.
Terry Bradshaw for one. He also loves AS.
Eric Davis to a lesser extent. After the first 4 weeks, there was a TV show where Eric and Romo (Raiders) sat down and discussed which team is better. Eric said that the Niners are built to be be in every game this year (they have been). If AS does not make the mistakes, and can make some plays, both with his legs and his arm, the Niners are going to be tough for anybody to beat. And AS has done that.
No argument on that DS. My point was the majority of so called experts would pick the Packers and Saints over the Niners and the fact Cosell has actually been complimentary of the Niners the majority of the time should not lead fans to hate on the guy.
@rocket
“…and the fact Cosell has actually been complimentary of the Niners the majority of the time should not lead fans to hate on the guy.”
We are just going to have to agree to disagree and leave it at that with this one rocket. : )
Now I get it. Alex smith has no good players, and the offense is all him. Remember smith fans he can have all the great recievers he wants, but the ball still has to get there. With aaaaallllll of the talent Montana had. Why didn’t he win every year? Plain and simple. Rice and Craig and b jones would have never been great without two hall of fame qb’s. Qb’s make recievers.
MD, the point is and the one you neglect is this is YEAR ONE in JH’s offense. Do you think JH has added all of the weapons on offense and all of the wrinkles this year that we will see next year or the year after that? It is evolving…he will add the pieces to make this offense even better.
BTW, no one is saying AS is JM. JM was into his third year in BW’s offense in 1981 when they won the 1st championship, yet they still needed to add pieces to keep the team winning year after year.
This is AS 1st year with JH. Add more pieces/weapons and understanding the system better in year 2, 3, etc. Still plenty of growth on the way…
It’s ridiculous to keep saying AS in his 7th year. How many HC’s/analysts (Gruden, Billick, Mooch, etc) and other players have stated how difficult it is to go through that many OC changes (see Bradford) and still play well.
Besides the fact that AS was injured for two of those seven years. Also, he was thrown to the wolves as a 20 year old rookie behind expansion level talent his first year.
Disclaimer: Not comparing AS to JM. Never have, never will until AS wins multiple SB’s.
actually i think JR and JT and Rcraig made JM….JM was so glad to get JR and said so cause it added years to his game
Nobody made anybody.
Think of it like preparing a meal. You go select the ingredients (GM). Trying to get the best freshest foods you can. Sometimes they look gorgeous, and taste just like they look (high round picks who live up to their billing like Aldon Smith), other times the food looks a lot better than it inheretly tastes (J. Russel). Sometimes, if you know what you are doing, you get some food that looks poor, but taste great (late round picks whoare better than anybody thought).
Then you go home and further prep the food. Peeling carrots and such. This is the role of the HC. He can help make the food (players) look better, and to some extent make it taste better if he is really good, but if the food sucks, then there is nothing to do, but get rid of it, or add it hoping that the other good quality foods hide that ones bad taste. The HC can prep the players teaching them how to be better, and in some cases the players get better than anybody thought. But if the player sucks, you either have to dump him or hope he doesn’t ruin the whole team (meal).
Now after it is all cooked, the meal might be sublime. But if the cook sucks (bad HC), and burns the food, it does not matter what grade of food you had originally. Burned food all tastes the same.
Note: No one ingredient or chef really made it so. Sure, some ingredients may have been better than others, but you can’t really seperate the whole thing from one another. One good ingredient will not hide the othervpoor 20 ingredients.
It was the person buying the right food, the food being prepped and cooked properly, until it is finally done and tastes great.
The GM didn’t make the coach. The coach did not make the player. Or anybody else making another. It is the whole thing making itself. No player made other players. The fact is if JR/JT/RC/JM/RL/KT among others were not all together, us fans don’t get spoiled with 4 great Super Bowls meals in 10 years.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen any 49er QB do as well as Smith has this year with so little help on offense. It’s always claimed that the 49ers have this great running game that carries the offense, but they rank 20th in rushing average this year. ESPN rates Gore as being over-rated in 2011 because his stats are just a hair above average and he “just hasn’t been that good”. Collectively, the receivers are terrible and the OL is generally weak – Smith was sacked more than any QB in the league, and he threw less often than most. And the OL can’t open any holes for the running game unless Harbaugh stacks it with TE’s and extra linemen. How in hades is any QB supposed to pile up passing stats with that kind of support. Leading that team to a 13-3 finish is outstanding!
Well said. Add the injuries to the WR’s and FG not being 100% for 6-7 weeks and AS and this offense has done well considering.
the rushing offense with gore had 5 or 6 good games in the middle of the season….then it kind of fell off the cliff…..there has been a bit of a resurgence but not that much the last couple of games…..there are many questions going into this playoff season
and good point being sacked more often with fewer pass attempts
It is a toss-up which is more annoying: Flipper or Idiots. Cosell should be a politician. For those those that blast AS accomplishments, you are correct and incorrect. Comparing JM and/or SY to AS is ridiculous. Different eras, different systems. That being said, it doesn’t dismiss his accomplishments this year. Do we dismiss DB record for passing yards in a season because he plays in a pass-happy league and DM didn’t? Of course not. Those who hate AS are too focused on his first six seasons under coaches who really didn’t care about the QB position. Now this team has one. The result was a career year for AS. Were they eye-popping stats? No. Was there significant improvement from him though? YES! Anybody who argues that must have never kept up with the Niners play this season or are Cowboy fans. I seem to also recall the Niner Faithful hating on JG too. Now he is one of our top five QBs? GIVE ME A BREAK!!!! As for the idiot who said Bono, etc. are better QBs than AS is a testament to how biased you really are. It doesn’t matter if AS isn’t an elite QB yet. He played according to the system he was in. He did what he was supposed to do. In a lockout year. Because of that, JH wants him back. We are in the playoffs because AS complements the defense. If you really want to complain want to complain about that….well then, you sum up why idiots are annoying to me.
Your mothers an idiot. You want to start with the name calling I can finish it. If you want to talk football, provide stats. I can provide stats and a winning percentage to show that Bono was better than Smith.
“Do we dismiss DB record for passing yards in a season because he plays in a pass-happy league and DM didn’t?”
Yes, actually, quite a few people do.
@midwest
Nobody has compared JM career to AS career and said that they are similar. Nobody has compared JM career to AS this one year and said AS is better. The problem is one set of people are comparing JM career to AS this year and that is ridiculous.
The only comparisons anybody has made is JM in 1981 vs. AS in 2011.
And please don’t tell me you knew JM was going to win 4 Super Bowls in 10 years back in 1979, 1980, or even 1981. That I can’t believe.
BTW, the etc. refers to QBs like Bono, Grabac, and all those other lousy QBs who didn’t produce when they either left or shackled this team.
@MidWest
Grbac took a Super Bowl champion team (Ravens) and sunk the organization so bad they vanished from the radar screen of an elite team.
Grabac and Bono and all of those guys might have been helped just a tad by the greatest football player JR.
Bono was a pretty darn good backup QB….he helped keep a couple of season going when JM was down
I also called you biased because you’re so focused on hating AS. Like or not, he is part of the reason we are in the playoffs. And don’t ask for proof. I’ve given so much proof to support this fact that it isn’t even funny. Must I do it again? I’m not sure you Cosell supporters would understand.
A healthy and improved QB mind you. Offense complements defense. That is the way the Super Bowl is won.
Ah the endless discussion about Alex.
To win in the playoffs the Niners need to:
1. Convert on third downs, this means everyone needs to play better;
2. pressure the QB, against the Saints I would put Aldon in on some first downs;
3. create at least 1-2 turnovers;
4. don’t turn the ball over;
5.improve red zone scoring;
6. and once again, convert on third downs.
My biggest concern is avoiding the three and outs. Even if we don’t score a lot, we need to control the clock
By the way Alex is not better than Jeff Garcia at this point, but he mightbe. He will never be even close to Joe’s level
pretty much perfect 49er42.
Just a light improvement in 3rd down and red zone efficiency would boost the 49ers by 7-10 points and give them the edge.
And the team’s red zone efficiency has been trending upward for the past 3 weeks.
@claude
One good reason is now the Niner starting offense is practicing their red zone plays against the Niner starting D.
Not their back-ups or Practice Squad.
Heard that on KNBR.
The defense has been helping in this area. Total first downs:
Niners: 282
Opponents: 267
But yeah, we’re about ten below our opponents in 3rd down conversions. Like to see that come up some.
Red Zone seems to be improving. Don’t know if it’s playcalling or practicing against our stingy defense that’s helping.
Good point Claude. In the past 3 games the 49ers have been 66% in the red zone.
Poor Akers… he coulda had 50 FGs.
and for that one game in candlestick niners need that high pressure system to break down and let some storms come in and muddy up the opponent’s game plan
Cover the Saints WRs should be six.
Is Alex an accurate QB?
Is Alex the future QB of the 49ers?
Is Alex a game managing QB?
Is Alex an elite QB?
Is Alex a Super Bowl winning QB?
Only one of the answers really matters and will stump the rest.
GO 49ERS!!!
why do you guys and gals always compare the past qbs? 80s and 90s are over. 2011-2012 now. bringing up old stats is not going to win games. Jim harbaugh chose smith and the team won 13 games. a qb is a piece of the cog. give credit when its due.
Comparing in the context of the west coast offense installation. Nothing more.
@ismael
Why compare?
Because Niner fans are spoiled whining babies.
Any other NFL team’s fans would be happy/giddy/etc. We are 13-3 with a QB who has finally started getting us wins right when he gets a HC who is worth something.
But no. Niner fans complain about every stupid incompletion, stall drive, failed 3rd down conversion, loss, win and more.
And why? Because we got spoiled with 2 of the best QB’s who ever played the game and want our QB to be at that level right from the get-go and win a bunch of Super Bowls.
And although they might never admit it, the reason they hate AS so much is because they had JM and SY before. No other NFL team has ever had that. So, while they say comparing AS to JM is stupid, that is in fact what they are doing. “Super Bowl or Bust” is one of their many campaign slogans. If AS does not get them to the Super Bowl, they want a change.
If not, why complain about a 13-3 team who got screwed more than any other with the lockout/road games? Why complain about a team with a brighter future than probably any other NFL team? Most of their stars are still young and they now have a guy who can draft great players (like BW did).
None of it makes any sense to hate on a guy who got you to 13-3 with 5 comeback wins (4 on the road) and 2nd seed in the NFC when everybody thought they would stink and “suck for Luck.” The only reason is because they do compare AS to JM and SY. It is the only logical reason.
And in an illogical world, logic is the only thing that will consistently guide you to the truth.
Van Pelt with Patrick Willis: http://espn.go.com/espnradio/play?id=7428888
Randy Cross and Hugh Douglas, also intersting.
@ds9
Very very well said and written perfectly.
@ismael
Thank you. Although I am sure there are several grammatical errors and spelling errors in my post, so my English teachers would not agree with it being perfect. lol
Just some interesting food for this whole debate: Just got back from spending a few days at Disneyland and saw a lot of people wearing 49er’s gear, much more than any other NFL team. After a while I started to keep track of the jerseys I was seeing because of the trends I saw surprised me:
Ronnie Lott – 3
Patrick Willis – 2
Jeff Garcia – 1
Michael Crabtree – 2
Alex Smith – 7
Given all of the heat Smith has seen over the last few years, I was shocked to see so many #11′s out there….It was nice to see the guy out of the dog house among the fan base (off this blog).
Where’s Jordo…7 AS jerseys. lol
No Montana jerseys? That seems a little odd. I still see those everywhere.
He is from San Diego, And what counts is the jerseys you see at the games. Bandwagon fans are out in full effect. I cant get the damn hat I want because its sold out. Last year I would have been able to buy everyone in here a hat. Its 10 again with the Giants bandwagon. My wife bought me new flags and new sticker for my ride. I said I wouldnt use them. She asked why, and I said because those flags and stickers were laughed at for 9 years. They are getting their glory now. Good for Smith and the 9ers its been a looooong time
So only the fans at the games count? I can see the argument that “if you’re a fan you’ll buy the tickets” but there are a finite number of seats at the Stick, certainly not enough to allow all fans a seat. Not to mention the fans, like many we have on this forum that live out of the Bay Area. I guess Andrew and Angus don’t get a vote then….
We all know that if you wore #11 around here before this season you’d damn near get shot. I’m an Alex supporter but no way I’m rockin that jersey.
I can see MD’s point about AS being from San Diego so there might be some more fans of him down south. But I only saw one person wearing anything Chargers related during the whole trip and they’ve been a much better team than SF for the last few years until this year. No one was wearing a Rivers jersey. Then again, San Diego fans are notoriously laid-back and fickle.
Personally, as much as bandwagon fans drive us all nuts, it’s awesome to be in the position where we have bandwagon fans.
Harbaugh uses his skillset good but guys plz dont rpetnend like we have a
Harbaugh uses his skillset good but plz guys dont pretend like we have our franchise QB yet cuz he’s just to limited, if we got one of the top QB’s in the league who can stretch a whole field we would be serious contenders and not pretenders.
Guys… stop comparing Smith’s numbers this season to Montana’s 81 season that was 30 years ago. Thats like taking Montana’s numbers and comparing them to some great wishbone qb. In Montana’s time hitting a 90 Qbr was special it was rarely done as they didn’t call pass interference every time a wr was touched, they didn’t flag linemen for hits to a qb helmet or rolling into the legs of the qb. It was a completely different brand of football back then. Ronnie Lott probably wouldn’t have been a very good player in today’s NFL let alone a hall of famer. Defenses don’t have a chance now.
Please start looking at his numbers relative to the other players of today and then compare his positioning relative to Montana’s positiong at this time to get a better gage of the season he is having otherwise you might as well start comparing him to Sammy Baugh. Time isn’t stagnant.