The 49ers play the Detroit Lions Sunday night at Candlestick Park. In the meantime, I’ll break down one key matchup per day.
Alex Smith vs. the Lions’ secondary: CB Drayton Florence, CB Chris Houston, CB Jacob Lacey and FS John Wendling.
The key for Alex Smith is to avoid obvious passing downs, like third and 9, because the Lions can put a ton of heat on him with only four rushers. Joe Staley struggled majorly against Clay Matthews last week. Staley’s got another tough matchup on Sunday against Kyle Vanden Bosch.
Staley might be overmatched a second week in a row. If that’s the case, it is imperative the 49ers establish Frank Gore and Kendall Hunter on the ground and keep their third downs manageable – third and 2, third and 3. If they do this, Smith should tear the Lions’ secondary apart. Not one of their defensive backs is what you would call an impact player. They won’t win their one-on-one matchups against the Niners’ receivers, so as long as Smith has time to throw he’ll have a big game.
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Screens and Draws…the best way to slow down pressure.
Did you just say that… um… Alex Smith would “tear [a] secondary apart?”
Yes! Smith’s getting the recognition he deserves! Way to go Grant!
Staley realizes he didn’t have an “A” game against Mathews. I feel he’ll come out to prove something.
I think our coaches will come up with an excellent game plan that Detroit doesn’t expect. I think some play action passes to VD & a quick score to Moss will set the tempo.
Our D will crush them. Look for Brooks to have another sack or 2.
I was just watching some Flacco highlights. Much of last year, there were comparisons to which QB is better between he and AS. Flacco was inconsistent, but could make big plays, particularly down field.
We still don’t know how consistent Flacco can be, but I did notice he throws down field…something AS just doesn’t do very often. He didn’t do it once in week 1.
I don’t have to see bombs all the time because it is a lower percentage play and increases the likelihood on an int, but if teams don’t have any fear of teh deep ball, then that’s going to shorten the field and we’re in 2011 all over again, near the bottom in yards per pass play and most likely scoring and third down as well.
Which QB would you all rather have right after week one?
EB,
Flacco is the better QB it appears. Flacco has turned the corner. He is throwing a great ball right now. His deep ball is extremely accurate. He has touch on all his throws. Could see the difference last year. They should’ve made it to the super bowl if the guy didn’t let the DB strip him in the AFC championship game.
Alex Smith is a way better QB than Flacco. With that defense, they should have won two more SB’s.
You wish he was. He never has been. He never will be. I know it hurts you but Alex Smith is a system fit that can be replaced by at least 18 quarterbacks in this league. That includes Kapernick.
Call me anything you want but you can’t put lipstick on this pig. Smith is a stopgap with a 1 year deal. Pocket presence and inaccuracy will be a problem for him for the rest of his career. Just like it has been. Keep protecting him. Maybe he’ll send you an autographed sock or something. Hahahahaha!
How much crow can one man eat?
Alex Smith is a way better QB than Flacco, and no one wants to see lipstick on a pig!
I thought you promised never to return to the blog if Smith was abck with the 49ers this year 23 welcher? Whats up with that?
What is with the welcher, bay and lipsticked pigs? Those guys are freaky for sure.
I really thought you might stick to your new attitude this time Jordan. Too bad.
As to your belief in Flacco, where does it come from? What has he done to give you the impression he is so much better than Smith? I don’t see it personally and other than a cannon for an arm, he doesn’t offer the same attributes Smith does in athleticism and awareness. I don’t dislike Flacco and I think they can win with him, but this idea you have that he’s so superior to Smith isn’t backed up by statistics or records.
If you believe that many QB’s can do what Smith is doing, I direct you to Jay Cutler last night against GB. He served up what could have been 5 picks if the GB DB’s could have caught them all. Just because a guy can throw a ball a long way with good velocity does not make him a winning QB.
Not many QB’s can do what Smith is doing right now because there aren’t many willing to park their egos at the door and forego stats in lieu of wins.
@ rocket:
How you can continue to refute jordan’s seemingly inexhaustible nonsense with thoughtful, mature responses and refrain from taking shots is impressive. You are a better man than I.
Speaking of the welcher, I see that he is once again banging the Smith-will-not-be-on-the-team-next-year drum. You know what that means, right? Smith will be the 49ers’ starting QB in 2013.
Does anyone remember when jordan was right about anything QB-related?
My question to you 23 welcher is , if the Niners thought 18 other QB’s could do the job Smith does, why not just go with a cheaper version like Josh Johnson?
Thanks Claude. I try to take the approach that everyone is reachable if given a logical well reasoned response. That is not always the case, but that is how I operate. It is hard to stay out of the gutter sometimes though.
Jordan is who he is. He has a view of Smith that he can’t shake because he made up his mind about him when Smith was struggling with injuries and bad Coaching. Some people are open to having their opinions changed and some are not. It’s still fun to argue about though.
I had an opinion on Matthews being overrated and well…let’s just say I’m having my ass handed to me on that one so far.
FDM, you will never get 23 welcher aka Aaron Rodgers to come up with a reason as to why the Niners would go with 18 other QB’s in the league to do what Snith does cause it would just be whip cream on crap. That’s all the football knowledge he has.
Claude,
I’m starting to think that Rocket is either a Vulcan, or maybe a robot. Either way, it seems like he could parent the most recalcitrant child.
I don’t know if you guys noticed, but Jordan has rolled out a new anti-Smith line of attack. His new approach is that Smith still sucks [nothing new, there], and any success he enjoys is due only to the brilliant coaching and schemes of Roman and Harbaugh.
In Jordan’s adled mind, GR and JH create schemes that cause receivers to be so open, that even AS can’t miss them. Because if the 49ers had a better QB, GR and JH wouldn’t work so hard to get receivers so open, right?
I also find it ironic that Jordan would claim coaching is responsible for Smith’s improved play. Huh, who would’ve thought that coaching has an effect on the performance of QB’s, what a revelation! Hmmm, wait a minute, it seems I’ve heard that before, somewhere.
Anyway, Jordan’s latest posts have proven that a leopard can’t change it’s spots, or, put another way, that once a poster reveals themselves to be a fool, they remain a fool.
Two ascending QBs. It’s best to judge who is better after the 9ers win the SB.
“Joe Staley struggled majorly against Clay Matthews last week”. I wouldn’t exactly say the Joe Staley struggled “majorly” against Clay Matthews. Clay Matthews is a Pro Bowl player and he is gonna make his plays, but I felt that overall Joe Staley had a decent game against him!
Mathews is also smaller that staley. And was over powering him. That’s a problem. Staley got punked by a guy at least 50 lighter. And again it wasn’t with swims or spins. It was with power. Staley is notorious for starting slow. I hope he gets it together Sunday. Gonna need him badly
It was just poor technique. He kept dropping his arms allowing Mattews to get into his chest. The amount of time to raise the arms is all it takes and thereby nullifies any punch that Staley needs.
Staley’s going to get over matched, Smith is going to throw first pic, and the Niners will still win.
Wow 9 years in the cellar , now being called possibly best team in NFL. Awesome! Most of us knew we had talent on both sides of the ball , we just needed a coaching staff that can game plan , change plans in middle of game when it’s not working , have a team that can believe in their coach , well thank you jed for hiring Jim!
Bulletin board material for Moss.
http://www.freep.com/article/20120913/SPORTS01/120913067/detroit-lions-calvin-johnson-randy-moss?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|Detroit Lions
Eh. Of course that’s what he’s going to say. I don’t see why randy would be mad. I’m sure if you asked moss who was better Alex smith or Tom Brady. I’m sure he would say Alex smith right now. Or he would totally sidestep the question and spin it in a positive light for Alex. Moss should look at their horrible secondary and demand the ball. Big night for the offense I feel. Wheeeew
No way in hell Staley struggles this week. I’m willing to give him a mulligan and can only hope for a rematch. You can bet this coaching staff will have this team ready to execute another brilliant gameplan for the Detroit Lions. I pity the fool…Schwartz.
Anyone else worried about our pass protection going foward. Not just staley, but a. davis too?
Grant you lost the sour grapes welcome to the Niners! As some would say in your blog all in!
Sure, Staley didn’t have his best game, even he admitted this. But he was playing with a broken nose, which might’ve had something to do with it… My guess is his helmet fits better this week and that it is a non-issue.