SANTA CLARA — Here is the full transcript of Jim Harbaugh’s Monday press conference, courtesy of the 49ers.
How was your bye week?
“It was good. You hope that everybody had a chance to spend time with their family and take some time for themselves. Every now and then everybody needs to take a knee and sip water. But, need everybody back full strength for the second half of this campaign.”
A lot of the players seemed to go all sorts of different places. What was it like here at the facility? Did the coaches stick around as well and work on the game plan? How often were they here? Can you sort of set the scene of what that was like?
“Pretty much Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and then off on Saturday and Sunday.”
Is this kind of the last chance to really catch your breath before the buildup to the stretch run?
“Yes. Yes. This is starting the second half of the campaign.”
How do you feel about just where this team is right now with that second half of the campaign in front of you?
“Excited and looking forward to the preparation this week, another division game. And getting our players back and on the practice field tomorrow will be a good thing for us.
There was a report out of Missouri about LB Aldon Smith. Did you talk to him? And are you satisfied with what happened when he went there?
“Well, I personally tend not to believe everything I read on the internet, to start with. [49ers General Manager] Trent Baalke talked to Aldon.”
Are you fine with what’s happened? Or what’s been relayed to you?
“What’s been relayed to me is, and any conversations are just that, private conversations.”
Are you saying that what was reported on the internet is false?
“No. Just exactly how I said it. It was pretty clear. I tend not to believe everything I read on the internet.”
Overall, in terms of Aldon and Aldon’s standing with this team, the team’s fine with Aldon and any off-the-field incidents?
“What Aldon said to us was the same as what he said publicly. And you also tend to take a man at his word. So, I don’t know that there’s anything more to add.”
When you guys did a lot of self-scouting this past week, what were some highs and lows that you saw from the first half of the season?
“There are a lot of things that you could talk about there, but that’s a pretty broad question.”
OK, offensively what did you learn?
“Again, don’t have any story to write or tell about the first half of the season.”
Did you learn anything specific this week about your team, by self scouting?
“The fact that we just need to keep striving to get better. A simple approach to how we understand success is to get better today than we were yesterday. Be better tomorrow than we were today. Feel like improvement will lead to wins. And wins will lead to championships. It’s an improvement equals success theory. And I know that it sounds simple, but possibly so simple that it might work.”
You guys have been off the past few Sundays. Have you had the chance to watch some of the games around the league?
“Yes.”
And how they might impact your guys’ playoffs seeding and things like that down the road? Or divisional opponents?
“I had a chance to watch games, sure.”
Did you watch Indianapolis Colts QB Andrew Luck play yesterday?
“Some of the highlights, I didn’t actually see the game.”
How do you think he’s done? Just he’s halfway through this rookie season, I know he’s on a different team. But, your connection with him. How impressed have you been by what he’s done at this point?
“He’s done great. No surprise.”
The way the weeks aligned with the bye week and with the San Francisco Giants parade, just a rare chance during the football season to just do something enjoyable. What was that experience like for you? What’d you take away from all that?
“Great experience. Tremendous showing of support for the team. And knew how just the Giants fans felt. Just wanted to tell those guys, ‘Job well done.’ And a million or so people or more showed up to do that. It was a neat experience.”
Did Giants first baseman Brandon Belt really tell you he was a Cowboys fan, he said that to you? He admitted it to you?
“Yeah, we had a great talk about where he’s from, Lufkin, Texas. And when I asked him where he was from he told me that I’d probably never heard of it. I said, come on, Lufkin, Texas. Everybody’s heard of Lufkin, Texas. That’s the bible belt of football. Had been there to recruit and loved it. Love Lufkin, Texas. I could live in Lufkin, Texas. It’s just a Friday night lights kind of setting. The water tower has the high school emblem on it. And just a great sports town and football town. So, we talked a bit about that and their year. And again, just how else that I can say it, just a job well done and so excited to follow you guys and so happy for their success.”
Did you experience a lot of 49er love out there, too?
“What do you mean?”
Well, just the fans sort of intertwined. The Giants fans also expressing optimism or wishing you well on your season?
“There was some of that, yeah. Some waves and some pointing and “Who’s Got It Better Than Us,” and shirts and things like that. It was mainly just loud. It was loud from the start of the parade to the very end. It just seemed like it just kept getting louder. Wasn’t a whole lot of working I don’t think. There were people up in office buildings looking out. It was a pretty neat thing. I know, just could tell, Brandon Belt and his wife were blown away by it. They had a blast. I think they were very moved.”
He said afterwards that you got more claps and if you win a championship, he’d like a spot in your parade one day if that happens.
“No, I did not get more claps than Brandon Belt. He’s exaggerating. Erroneous.”
What do you think of the job Rams head coach Jeff Fisher has done since taking over that team?
“Team’s playing very good football. I think it’s an improved team. Seems like they’re doing a very good job.”
Did you watch film of them this week, last week?
“Yeah.”
What new challenges do they present your team as opposed to last season?
“What new challenges? What, schematically or health wise, or personnel wise?”
Personnel wise.
“Personnel wise I think they’re a much healthier team than they were a year ago. There’s some things that are new schematically and some new personnel.”
Did you see a lot of your guys who did stick around here last week and get some work done?
“Oh yeah. The usual suspects were here.”
Who?
“[DT] Justin Smith, [NT] Isaac Sopoaga, [WR] Randy [Moss], [QB] Alex [Smith], etc. Quite a few guys.”
Alex was talking to Peter King about yards after the catch and how important it is to hit the receiver in stride, specifically in this type of offense. Was that a point of emphasis last year, this year and how has that evolved for him, that specific aspect?
“I think it’s been good – last year, this year. And I think he’s understood that. I don’t know if it’s gotten better, evolved. Evolved seems like it was nothing and now it’s something.”
It seemed to look really good this last game.
“Yeah, it was. The receivers in particular, they did a great job of running with the ball after the catch and did a great job blocking for each other. It was certainly one of the best we’ve had in terms of yards after the catch for wide receivers, that I can remember.”
I have a Bo Schembechler related question for you. The team speech, that you’ll never have that team experience that you had in college just because of money and whatnot in the NFL. Do you agree with that?
“No.”
Did you find when you first became an NFL coach, did you think that would be more of a challenge than it has been?
“To build a team?”
To create a team atmosphere, selflessness?
“No, I can’t remember thinking that.”
Is your experience in the NFL similar to what it was at Michigan, as far as that specific aspect?
“At times it has been yes.”
What have you seen from Rams QB Sam Bradford this season? How has he improved?
“He’s always been a pretty top-notch guy. I know we didn’t see him last year, he was inactive for both games that we played against them. But, all the things you look for from a top notch quarterback in this league. He’s got a calm demeanor in the pocket. Excellent technique, footwork, arm strength, real good location. Good football player.”
When you’re watching film of the opposing offense, do you go sit in with defensive coordinator Vic Fangio and try to find little tips that help him out or is that more of the defensive coaching staff?
“That’s more of the defensive coaching staff’s responsibility. There will be times where it could happen either way, we’ll ask Vic a question or [defensive backs coach] Ed Donatell or [defensive line coach] Jim Tomsula or [assistant secondary coach] Greg Jackson, [linebackers coach] Jim Leavitt. Sometimes we’ll actually sit down and watch multiple games with a similar defensive structure. That could happen on the other side too, with a similar style offense, a west coast team. We kind of mentor each other that way, but it’s not an every week kind of thing.”
When you have extra days to prepare like this, like you’ve had, what’s the sense among the coaching staff about how to seize those extra days, prepare more?
“What’s the sense among the coaching staff how to seize the extra days to prepare more?”
Do they spend a lot of extra time preparing the gameplan like that or do they actually have a couple extra days to take off on their own?
“Yeah, there’s days to do both.”
Did you take the full weekend off too?
“Yeah, Saturday and Sunday.”
Had it been a year since you’ve done that? How long has it been since you took a weekend off?
“I don’t know, five months, three, four months.”
Do anything fun?
“Yeah, did a lot of fun stuff with my wife and kids. Just visiting with them around the house. A train ride, went to a toy store. Fun stuff.”
We wanted to ask, how was it being in the parade driving the cars for the big Giants parade?
“It was great, a big thrill and it was a nice way to say job well done to the players and staff of the San Francisco Giants.”
49ers RSS feed
Loading ...
JH gives you guys NOTahaiNG!
Nothing*** damn phone!
Can’t wait for the the glorious thumping the Rams are about to receive.
For a group of people who ask questions for a living I’m shocked by the number of yes/no questions being asked.
Lufkin Texas. They were a super power in East Texas for quite awhile. They still have the most massive high school offensive line I’ve ever seen. Their O-line routinely has multiple 300 pound players. They’ve fallen off in recent years. They are still very good but they aren’t winning state championships like they were at one time.
LeSean McCoy is becoming one of the best running backs in the league.
And Michael Vick is becoming one of the worst QB’s in the league.
Alot of the blame should be on the OLine. Its absolutely horrible.
Your right Adam it has been bad but some of the decisions he makes now are almost rookie mistakes.
HE has made horrible decisions as well. Its sad to watch such a horrible o line and qb play from a team that was suppose to be a playoff contender.
I think Reids time was done 2 years ago. As good a coach as he is, I’m not sure even he knew what to do with Vick. Sometimes athletic QB’s can be very difficult to coach and develop a system for as well as the surrounding talent.
McCoy is an absolute beast. He is running like Adrian Peterson, angry and fast. Philly needs a complete overhaul on defense.
Adam707,
Most of the blame hoes on that o line. I listen to their fans and they know its the lines fault. They run block but they can’t pass block. They can’t pick up a blitz.
Jordan,
the hypocrisy is ridiculous. Watching Mike Vick this season is sad. He is a warrior with tremendous heart. He is also taking record amounts of punishment behind the worst Oline in the NFL.
For all of his mobility I actually see a QB that sits in the pocket and attempts to let his plays develop. He literally has zero time to throw, gets his ass kicked and doesn’t complain.
Philly is ruining him. Reid needs to go, the game has passed him up. I think all the personal things that have happened in his life recently have stolen his fire.
Bay,
The worst part is that the o line is so bad and they don’t even leave a back in to try and pick up a blitz. All the clowns here that think Smith is better than all these other QB’s is ridiculous. Put any one of these guys in this offense. It instantly gets twice as good as it is now. Andy Reid is done. He’s gone bro. He knows better than to bench Vick. That rookie would get destroyed like David Carr did.
Any intelligent football fan can see that the eagles o line is pathetic.
@ b23welcher:
Any intelligent football fan can see that the eagles o line is pathetic.
Apparently, so can you.
Your attempt to absolve Vick of all blame for the pass protection issues is more than a little ironic. Ross Tucker spent several minutes this morning talking about Vick’s seeming inability to understand the team’s blitz pick up schemes. It’s not all on the line.
@ bay:
the hypocrisy is ridiculous.
Well, if anyone knows hypocrisy, it’s you.
But when our offensive line struggled the past two years, it was somehow all on Alex.
Philly is missing 3 starters on their Oline, but a lot of it is on Vick for not getting the Eagles out of a bad play at times. He actually did a nice job last night of audibling to some runs away from the blitz so he seems to be getting better at his recognition but it’s probably too late to save their season.
Their Oline is terrible though, and some of the hits Vick takes are hellacious. Not much you can do when defenders are coming through gaps without being touched.
It funny how many times you see a QB sign a big contract, and then they are replaced with the second string guy, whose salary is a fraction of what the starter gets and performs better. That is one thing the Niner won’t have to worry about with Smith, he knows he just fits into one sytem, and no other team would be interested in him as he would take 2 or 3 years to learn a new sytem.
Then people wonder why I throttle Neal. Where on earth on this thread are we talking about Alex Smith? It’s clowns like this that cannot talk football and want to continually harp on Smith.
Neal get a life and stop obsessing about Alex, are you really that much of a loser that you need to talk about him and him only?
Axel Foley Prime Slime Time Butterball turkey lip welcher, I just love getting under your fur, watching the same at the pound. Heard your mommy kicked you out of the basement. Good for her, nothing but a free loader
Rocket where you at? See comments.
Prime
rocket has a habit of not finding the posts which start it and placing blame on them.
As for Vick, he is about the only player I do hate. He deserves everything that he gets with his criticisms. He never should have been let out of prison.
I suppose in a way I like how he was allowed back in the NFL. That way people can beat on him, hit him, curse at him, and it is all allowed in the game of football. Had he gotten a job as an Office Clerk, it would be illegal if those things happened to Vick.
Not sure about Vick the person but it’s astounding to see how much he has regressed as a QB. There was a point where he could do no wrong on the field, pure athleticism at its finest. Then since last year he has looked very average. I know Philly has its problem on defense as well, but Vick has cost them some games on his own this year.
Prime
Kolb had a winning record in that same year Vick played great. Maybe it wasn’t Vick as much as many think. Maybe that team was just really good.
Then last year they were the hyped team, and nobody was surprised by anything now. Kind of like CK coming in. The more teams saw him, the more they learned how to stop him. Well, last year teams started to figure Vick out. And they barely finished at .500 if not for a late season win streak.
This year, the NFL knows Vicks tricks. And he REALLY SUCKS in the redzone. 10 TO’s in the redzone mid-way thru! That is double AS’s Int from all last year!
Thats one of the great things about the NFL. The coaching in this league is phenomenal. Once teams have enough film on someone, they will exploit it to the 10th degree.
This is why I have a lot of faith in this years Niners. Our coaching staff always bounces back and with time to prepare, there is no one better at getting these guys ready. Now the Giants game was surprising but since last year I don’t think there was one game where we got outcoached or were not prepared to play.
It’s so great seeing Michael Vick fail. He is the lowest NFL player on any field. Keep the failure coming. Ruff ruff!
The Eagles have quit on Andy Reid. When you miss countless tackles, that means you have given up. Bye bye Andy. Hello Sean Payton.
Prime
Do you think Sean will leave Drew Brees? And want Vick? I don’t know Vick’s contract hit, but he signed a near $100 million contract after 1 season of him beating sub 0.500 teams then losing his first playoff game. I don’t think he wants to go anywhere else. For one thing he is a PR nightmare. How do you explain hiring a guy who told his DC to go all out against AS in a pre-season game because JH didn’t call him up before the game to discuss how the 2 teams will play.
Reid should have been fired for that alone. I agree he has over-stayed his welcome.
Payton to Philly or Dallas is the rumor of the week. Both teams need to draft a QB for the future and with SP’s ties to Dallas, it’s probably a better fit.
I never have liked Vick as a QB so whoever inherits that team will have to develop a system that utlizes some great playmakers in McCoy, Jackson, and Maclin, and like you said with the cap hit, might be stuck with him til they develop some body better.
How about Kap to the Eagles for….kidding!
CK for…Jackson?
I don’t care much for Jackson though. He is a WR diva. Would never fit with the tough Niner attitude.
It would be cool if Philly traded Vick to AZ for Kolb. Kolb isn’t quite so careless with the ball (Philly issue) and Vick can make plays as QB (even if those plays are 50% beneficial for the other team) which is an AZ issue. Considerig how much each are overpaid, how much of a difference is it?
How about that trade? Then we can see MV vs PW/NB/JS/AS. Fun!
I think both teams made hasty decisions and now have to swallow those contracts. Kolb is horrible and Vick is too sporadic. Watchin this game I feel for Vick, he is getting killed back there.
I think Vick’s contract is structured so if he is cut this offseason it won’t cost the eagles anything but if they keep him next year his salary would be something like 17.9 mil.
@philly
According to the website, MV is due $15.5 million in 2013 (a raise in base salary of $3 million) and the signing bonus is the same as this year and he has no Misc. part of his salary. A cap hit of $16.9 million in 2013.
In 2014, MV is due a roster bonus of $3 million. Then in 2015, a roster bonus of $2 million He was given a roster bonus of $3 million in 2011. But no roster bonus for this year or next year (2013).
http://www.spotrac.com/nfl/philadelphia-eagles/michael-vick/
Man, you aren’t kidding. The Eagles performance last night was embarrassing. I think Reid’s a good coach but he has to be fired. He’s lost that team.
I don’t think Reid has lost the team. I think he’s paying the price for naming an Oline Coach the DC a couple of years ago, and for not having quality depth on the Oline. The players are still playing hard for him; they just don’t have the schemes on defense to compete and the their Oline is a group of pylons.
One of the tell tale signs of a team giving up is when guys on defense dont swarm to the ball, gang tackle, and overall try and one arm tackle guys.
The Eagles last night looked terrible from a hunger point of view. They have given up on Reid’s message.
Neither team can stop the run. Gore and Hunter should run wild on the Saints.
Haha! Did you hear Brees post game interview? He said the Saints have the best RB’s in the NFL as a group. That’s funny! He said the book of the 2012 Saints has yet to be written. He’s an idiot.
@montana
He’s paid a lot to be an idiot. If the idiots here were paid that much, the nation would have a much larger debt crisis than it does at present.
The only way the Saints will make the playoffs is if everybody else screws up. Can’t hate the guy for saying that. That is what he is supposed to say and believe.
Interesting that Moss was one of the players to stick around during bye week. Not what I would expect from “I play when I wanna play”.
You are all about negatives. That was a story and perception about moss that has been buried and regarded as an over kill. His record and behavior this year has debunked that feeling towards moss.
About time you move forward and focus on the positives.
But seriously why are you so bitter?
You are not happy about anything? A true frenchy you are
msc,
It seems you have a stalker.
Here’s a first half story that should interest some who follow this blog. Eric Branch, formerly of this blog and current Niner beat writer for the Chronicle has named his first half Offensive MVP for the Niners: ALEX SMITH!!!!
No way he did!!!
All things fair – of course Alex is our MVP. The biggest question coming out of last season was can Alex continue to have success or was it a fluke season after the lockout or was it all JH coming in and saving the franchise.
Even the biggest Alex critics or haters hav to agree the crow is starting to taste good
@ 6-2 it is confirmed the niners did not need another QB to replace Alex
He showed leadership during the lockout and since proved he is a true franchise QB
Even if we don’t win the superbowl Alex is gonna be here for a loooooong time
You can’t really say he isn’t. In the games where he has played poorly, the Niners lost. That means the other offensive players were unable to make up for what AS failed to do. Which tells me that AS is the most important player on the offense.
Not exactly shocking news when a 6-2 teams offensive player is the QB. Well, anywhere but here. And 19-5 is something that Rex Grossman (a QB many here claim is similar to AS) never achieved. Rex was 13-3 in 2006, then fell to 7-9. Unless AS fails to win 2 more games, he will be better than Rex. And in all liklihood, he will blow the Rex Grossman anaology out of the galaxy with another 10+ win season.
Sanchez in his “good times” was 9-7 in 2009 and followed that up with an 11-5 season in 2010. Then in 2011 Sanchez led the team to 8-8.
At no point did Sanchez lead the Jets on a record remotely as good as AS has with 19-5. At no point did Grossman lead the Bears to a record as good as 19-5. None of those QB’s had two good regular season W-L records in consecutive years. Neither did Trent Dilfer (another QB who is often brought up) as the starting QB.
Anybody who tries to use Grossman or Sanchez or Dilfer as QB’s who AS is similar too, is dismissed for lack of knowing anything about football.
That is a great question, why are all the haters always so angry? Always negative.
DS outside of the Manning arguement, Lemons will use the Rex, Tebow, Sanchez comparison to Smith til the cows start barking. He has been riding that forever. Glad you have shown him the light!
Prime
I want Cam Newton to be our QB! He threw the ball for all those yards last year while losing, now he isn’t throwing for all those yards and losing. The common theme here….Cam loses games.
But at least he isn’t Alex Smith. Who wins games at a near 4:1 ratio in the same time-span. Nobody is appreciatively better (5:1 or more).
FDM
I call them haters because to hate, you have to be angry. Kind of a requirement.
I would not argue that since AS touches the ball more than any player. But EB’ selection can be subjective as well. Iupati, A.Davis and F.Gore are other players who could also make the list without any debate on my end.
Then that just proves E. Branch doesn’t belong here then.
@ drsgrosse:
Thanks for the heads up. Here’s the link:
http://blog.sfgate.com/49ers/2012/11/05/surprises-amid-49ers-continued-success/
To get the Haters primed, here’s what Branch said about Alex Smith:
There is a tendency, born from years of practice, to focus on Smith’s shortcomings (he threw three interceptions against the Giants!). However, the much-maligned quarterback has been far more than a role player in San Francisco’s success. His numbers in the 49ers’ six wins: a 70.8 completion percentage (102 of 144), 12 touchdowns, one interception and a 122.3 rating. True, he put up a stinker in the blowout loss to the Giants, he’s occasionally failed to spot wide open receivers, and that interception against Seattle was ghastly. Guess what? The same could be said of any NFL quarterback – two-time Super Bowl champ Eli Manning has a 1-4 touchdown-to-interception ratio in his past three games. Smith leads the NFL in completion percentage and ranks fourth in rating and yards per attempt. He’s not perfect, and he’s not Peyton Manning, but he just might be pretty good.
Branch also named:
Goldson – Defensive MVP
Lee – Special Teams MVP
Culliver – Most Improved
Boone – Biggest Surprise
Gore – Winner of the I’m-Not-Done-Yet Award
claude
The haters are glad Branch isn’t here anymore. They remember having to read and defend their position to a guy who really analyzed the game. And that was when the Niners stank.
Had Branch been here for the JH era, the haters would freak out with nothing to provide them proof of their long held beliefs.
@ DS:
No wonder bay washes Grant’s car every weekend.
Goldson, eh? Interesting. It’s hard to single one person out. I can’t really fault the pick, he’s played better than he did last year (he sucked in the saints playoff game), but I’d lean more towards Justin Smith or Willis.
Smith is a key reason the 49ers can play with a light box and still hold up against the run. That’s the real reason our pass defence numbers have been so good this year.
Willis is often asked to man-cover pass-catching tight ends, and does very well. That’s a hard ask.
Goldson is put in a position to make plays, but it’s cuz of the heavy lifting by others too. That been said, he’s been dynamite when he does come up in run support. Wow.
There is a tendency, born from years of practice, to focus on Smith’s shortcomings
This is really what it comes down to. People turned on Smith and made up their minds he was a bust and can’t change their perception even though they can watch evidence to the contrary most weekends. There isn’t another player – nevermind QB – who has his game scrutinized more than Alex Smith because so many don’t believe he can play. I personally thought Smith was done twice before: after the second shoulder surgery and again when Harbaugh was brought in, but here he is.
This really is similar to when Steve Young (I’m not comparing Smith to Young so chill out) had to continually hear about how he couldn’t fill Montana’s shoes, couldn’t win in the playoffs etc. etc. until they couldn’t say those things anymore. So many fans just seem unable to enjoy the moment and the individual games where the team does well, instead focusing on what they feel the team can’t accomplish in the grand scheme.
A year and half ago, Smith was thought to be on his way out of SF, relegated to being a backup somewhere for as long as he could collect a check and then he’d join his fellow 1st round busts on the list of never were’s. Instead, he’s had a career resurgence, leading a run of 19-5 over the past two seasons and a spot in the NFCCG. This year he’s top ten in most passing categories with the exception of attempts and total yardage -which is not his fault anti Smiths, he doesn’t call the plays – and he still gets scrutinized under the microscope every week. It’s baffling to watch, because this is usually the type of guy and story people get behind and root for. The player who has had numerous things go against him from: bad Coaching to career threatening injuries, to being hated by the home crowd, but overcomes the odds and the obstacles to resurrect his career and become the QB of one of the best teams in the league. It’s really remarkable, at least to me, yet we still read all the negative stuff about him, not just here, but from national sports writers. That’s why I made mention of Peter King being a Smither yesterday. He wrote what a number of people who follow the team have seen for awhile. He’s really the first national writer who is catching on to the fact that this guy can play and he is not just some trained Monkey handing the ball off.
Ultimately this team needs Alex Smith to play like a top ten QB to win the SB. So far he has had some bumps along the road, but overall is playing the best season of his career and the numbers and record back that up. Let’s hope people keep doubting him all the way to The Big Easy.
Rocket, great read. Over the years I’ve written hundreds of comments backed by fact and asking the blamers to just enjoy the ride. It doesn’t work. I’m not about politics on a sports blog, but a great analogy would be trying to get a republican to think like a democrat and vote for the candidate that is a democrat. It seldom happens. Just the way it is!
Rocket,
That was the best Smither column I ever read, not like other Kool-Aid drinkers, the thing about Smith this year is that he is very inconsistent. 4 great games, 3 poor games and one below average. As Grant said the Chosen one will need to play 3 great games in a row, can he do it, is he capable, who knows. Can he play well against the Rams and the Bears to play great 3 games in a row, that is the question.
He has plenty of supporters. I’ve been seeing more AS jerseys and even the great Peter King is now a fan. All arrows up! Right Neal?
Hof,
You are very confused they are Aldon Smith jerseys, not Alex.
Thanks Neal…I think.
Smith has been inconsistent his whole career up until now. I don’t think he’s played 3 poor games, but everyone has their own opinion on it. I would say he’s played one really poor game against the Giants, an uneven game against the Vikings and did what was asked of him in the others. What I look at is how Smith’s performance relates to wins by this team and this season he is being relied on a lot more to be a factor in winning a football game.
A lot of people were predicting a big drop by the Niners because of them not being to sustain the great TO ratio they had last year. Well they were right about them not being able to sustain the ratio, but not about the drop in wins. That is due to the Offense playing a big role in the outcome of the games.
That is straight out of Bays dumb mouth! Jersey sales dictate popularity. Who cares? It’s about wins! You win fans love you, you lose it’s time to be benched.
@Neal you are either the biggest follower or you are actually Bay or 23 welcher cause whatever they say you repeat like a parrot. So what is it? You a little pet or are you one or both of them?
Hof,
I know you do and I know a lot of times it falls on deaf ears, but if you’re like me, you make posts that you would personally be proud of and happy to read and not worried about how people judge them. The day you stop writing or communicating your points is the day the other side wins.
Rocket, you’re right. I haven’t stopped writing, but I’ve picked my spots more carefully. Good times!
Excellent discussion so far, gentlemen.
I would like to mention again something smith does very well that does not appear in a QB’s numbers; choosing between plays at the line of scrimmage. When you see all those great running numbers SF is putting up, remember, Smith came to the line with a run and a pass called and chose between them. Each successful run comes about because Smith reads the defense well.