Over the next few days, I’ll give midterm report cards for the 49ers starting players and coaches. Let’s start with Alex Smith.
His completion percentage is 69.4. That’s the best in the NFL and 10 points higher than his career average. His TD percentage – 5.7 – is 7th-best in the NFL and 2 points higher than his career average.
His interception percentage is 2.4, which is close to his career average of 2.9 and almost a point-and-a-half higher than his league-low 1.1 interception rate last season.
He’s been sacked 22 times, and he was responsible for 7 because he held onto the ball too long.
He’s at his best when the opposing defense expects the 49ers offense to run the ball. He still struggles in obvious passing situations, like when the 49ers are losing by 10 or more points.
He’s had four outstanding games – in Arizona against the Cardinals, at home against the Bills, at home against the Lions and in Green Bay against the Packers.
He’s had three not-so-good games – at home against the Seahawks, in New Jersey against the Jets, in Minnesota against the Vikings.
And he’s had one terrible game – at home against the Giants.
Smith has not played three good games in a row. To win the Super Bowl, he’ll have to play at least three good games in a row in the playoffs.
MIDTERM GRADE: B-.
49ers RSS feed
Loading ...
I think that is a very fair grade and accurate assessment. Grant based on the remaining part of the schedule, do you see it gettin easier or harder the remaining 8 games?
I think four games will be easy – both Rams games, the Saints game and the Cardinals game.
I think the other four games will be tough: vs. the Bears, vs. the Dolphins, @ Patriots, @ Seahawks.
I would put it at a B- to or C-plus same thing, since he played 4 very good games, think he played more than one poor game. Our defense will be challenged against New England, they never give up, and AS needs to come up big on that game, in case we do get down by 10 or more. I am sure BS will give him a A-, and blame the poor game on some guy who ate a bad sausage and is upchucking in the stands..
Do we think this year’s schedule has been / will be more difficult than last year’s? After all, we are playing a “first place” schedule this year.
I think more difficult. The division teams are playing much better than last year. We caught GB with their pants down, that would be a tougher game now. Who knows what Saints team will show up.
I disagree, we didn’t surprise them at all. They were mad about how they exited the playoffs last year and that’s what everybody on the packers said along with everyone who picked them to win it.
We beat them straight up and we’ll do it again come playoff time. This ain’t Houston’s defense we got here!
Grant: How do the Niners beat the Bears? I think that’s the most important game remaining on the schedule, essentially like the Giants game was in the first half of the season.
Here’s my take: The Niners can beat the Bears by playing a game like they played against the Seahawks. Run the ball hard, short, Alex-style passes, and let the D bend but not break. Thoughts?
Bears suck … just wait
I agree Johnny- I will be really surprised if the Niners don’t punish them, winning by 2+ scores easily. I think it will be similar to the game the last time the Bears came to the Stick.
Really? So what are your thoughts on how the Niners do that?
Niners- Just by playing their game. CHI will not be able to stop the running game, GR will have plenty of scheme plays for the overly aggressive CHI DB’s.
The D will cause turnover happy Cutler to throw them a couple bones, and we’ll have a big ST play sprinkled in. Chicago never plays well on the West Coast either. SF 30 CHI 13
My wife and I will be in attendance at this game! We’ll be traveling 500 miles to SF to meet our son there. He will be just returning from Afghanistan and will be the first time we’ve seen him in over a year. A good old fashioned butt whoopin would be great for this occasion. Can’t wait!
B- is cool but I will give him a B+
The B for the early productionfrom the new bond btw him and crab \ mann
And the + for shutting up the haters and doubters(especially with the pressure of improving his play after the playoffs and the Free Agency distractions)
Nice grading grant on point with the b-
Is Alex Smith’s grade fair for those three games being his finger was injured during those games.
The problem with the injured finger is that it does not cover up the fact that AS did not see a wide open R.Moss in the endzone against the C-hawks. Other WR’ have been open as well and not thrown too.
The B- is fair in my opinion.
We rehashing this again? AS was in no position to make the throw when Moss cleared into the opening. Wasn’t that he didn’t see him, he got flushed to his left and was in no position to throw. Watch the film where you can see the whole play!
+ 1
+ 1 was for AES statement.
Montana Man the problem with AS, he does not see the entire field in other words 60,000 people see a wide open Moss except our limited QB.
@Neal
As is typical, you speak from a fan perspective…i.e., seeing the game on the tube, from multiple angles and sometimes in less than game speed….your comment ’60,000 people see a wide open Moss. except for our limited quarterback’, what a ridiculous statement to post……true, Alex may be limited, but that statement truly shows how limited your perception of the game is….
55Niner……”As is typical, you speak from a fan perspective”
It’s always easier to see things from a vantage point that’s at least 10 feet higher than the QBs eyes and no 300 lb-ers trying to crush you . LOL
@ 55 Niner,
Multiply that by 100, of other receievers that are clearly open he does not see, he does not see the entire field, most times, if primary is covered he dumps it off to a back for a short gain, your opinion is as well limited.
AES
Remember that 1 drop MC had in practice in his 1st week after he signed during the bye week? Let’s discuss that in detail.
Dear God man, quit pretending you support AS, and just flat out say you don’t. That pass was A PRE-SEASON PLAY! Its bearing, importance now is NOTHING. Iupati missed some blocks. Our D wasn’t great in the pre-season. Why no mention of those if you are ALL IN? Pre-season means zilch.
ALL IN is quickly becoming the biggest joke of the off-season. Your repeated use of that term looks ridiculous now with you looking back at a pre-season game and ridiculing AS for what YOU thought he should have done.
PS Look at who is supporting your post. Consider altering your conclusion based upon that fact alone.
Multiply by 100 times?
Well AS passes about 25 times per game or so. So for him to miss open guys x 100, that means we either have at least 4 receivers every pass play, and at least that many running wide open every play. That would assume he completes 0 passes as well.
When you consider AS is ranked among the elite in accuracy, the Niners have a lot of JR’s out there.
Neal, you are stupid. No other way to put it. 100x, when he has about 400 attempts or so a year, and he completes over 60%, your numbers don’t add up. Not so much unlike a presidental nominee’s budget proposal. Yours resembles “fuzzy math”. No way are you a liberal. Your math skills don’t resemble that of a liberal.
DS,
AES is referring to Smith missing Moss in the endzone during the Thursday Night game a couple weeks ago.
Jack
I wouldn’t call that missing RM. I’d call that a bad pass considering a defender was in the way. RM was still open when AS threw it. A better pass, and it was a TD to be.
I thought the topic was about AS’s field vision. It looked to me like AS was just in the process of moving to his left when RM got open as the DL came. The way I see it on pause, the second RM got open, AS was back on his heels. His feet weren’t set (going to what SY said about footwork and accuracy) and he wasn’t balanced. So even if AS saw RM get open when RM did, he couldn’t have delivered anything but a prayer pass hoping it got to RM without his balance/feet under him.
Just sucks his pass was eventualy Int anyway.
@Neal…
You obviously haven’t read very many of my posts…..my opinion, as well as my criticisms are FAR from limited……because I don’t get on here and daily criticize the play of Alex Smith does not make for a limited opinion…..I try to be objective in the criticism
I post, due in large part to the fact that I am watching the game on the television, and don’t have a players or coaches view of whats going on.
Grant you took the grade right out of my mouth. B- is pretty much on track. There will be those who criticize you because in their world its not about stats but the measure i use and used when i coached is the eye test and i give him a B-. I think he will raise his grade to a solid B by the end of the season.
Hey Grant another good piece, however I am not sure you are giving enough credit to the Rams Def! They are pretty tough and Head Coach Fischer does a good job of game planning. I could see another Minnesota fiasco because as good as the ninners are they may lose one to three more games. Their is a lot of talent in the NFL and anything is possible. Any reason why you feel the Rams will not be a worthy opponent? Especially in St. Louis? Dont get me wrong, I love Harbaugh and know the ninners are way more talented but these are human beings and the next stinko could be around the corner!
The Rams have very little talent on offense. I doubt they’ll score a TD against the 49ers.
You are probably right, Bradford seems to be hanging in their though! Fischer is good but glad to have your confidence! Those other games will be tough! Especially with two good CB’s that you just pointed out in my other post. I Forgot how good McCourty is! They may be moving up on your rankings! Hope the ninners improve and are up for the challenge. Maybe I am being to judgemental but with the Halloween theme I still feel Alex has a little too much Dr. Jeckyll and Mr. Hyde in him! Thanks for the info and the comments!
Oh one other thing, How improved do you feel the patriots Def will be with CB Talib. I like him and think he is a good talent! Kind of surprising a DB would be using Steroids, must help with his speed or recovery!
I think that’s a big deal for the Pats. Kyle Arrington is no good. Now the Pats have two good corners – Talib and McCourty.
The pats moved mccourty to safety
Grant McCourty is awfull. He is the pats best db but thats like being the tallest midget. He has no ball skills and never turns to look for the ball causing him to get flagged for PI all the time. When we play them we should exploit their LB and S lack of coverage skills although their CB are the worst in the league
Will Aqib’s mom shoot Schiano now?
I think this is a bit harsh. I’d save A-/B+. Theres clearly a higher level of qb play out there (Mannings, Brady, Rodgers, Brees) but Smith is comfortably in the second tier this year.
Smith is 4th in pass rating (which disproportionately awards his cautious but efficient style), 10th in tds, 1st in completion percentage, 5th in ypa, and 9th in qbr. He’s also doing the little things that don’t show up in the stat sheet like making the right adjustments at the line.
Don’t get me wrong, he has room to improve (especially in taking fewer sacks) but he’s been more than above average this year. Thats the definition of a B+ to me.
I think the Niners lose 1 game, maybe 2 tops. The only tough game left is the Patriots. Bears is at Candlestick and you can never tell with Jay Cutler and that offense. I give the Niners the edge. They will beat Seahawks and Miami has a rookie QB.
As for Smith, I wanted Peyton Manning last year. It didn’t happen. We move on. Smith is getting better. When he’s good, he’s really good. Like Buffalo and AZ, even though those were sub-par defenses, he looked elite. When he’s bad, he’s as bad as he’s ever been. We all know he needs to be way more consistent. But in this system, if teams have to worry about him, he can hurt teams. He has shown his upside — now he just needs to learn how to take a sack, and to see the field better.
I love the way Randy Moss scored his 2nd TD. He ran through the D. Hopefully it encourages Alex to think, “Hey, if I pass to that guy, he can go make something happen.”
AZ defense subpar? They are top ten in points alowed, passing yards allowed. They beat the Pats, pounded the Eagles.
I don’t get this tendency to denigrate the opponents the Niners blow out.
Come on, Rib. You know playing the 49ers have nothing to do with teams looking bad.
B- is a fair grade.
Grant do you get any sense that the coaches are working on evening out Alex’s performances? They must see things that he has difficulty with and focus on correcting them.
Nice post Grant. I still feel Alex gets too antsy, hurries his progressions, but on paper he continues to show improvement. I hope the second half of the schedule will put Alex on pace, but my question to you is the how. How does he shift to throw the ball with quicker reads? Can he move from the pocket without the erratic running and deliver a responsible pass without the errant turnovers?
Grant….”He still struggles in obvious passing situations”
Don’t you mean he and his pass protection???
In speed reading I missed any mention of the hurt finger on his throwing hand during those two bad games that he had. He said no problem, but the game said problem. Last week he was good and I believe that his hand is better now. This week will tell a lot about how the offense does and how the defense handles the passing game. I hope that my analysis is correct.