Say this for Alex Smith — and Niners fans have said plenty — but the guy knows how to avoid a sack.
At least, that is, better than Troy Smith, who has thrown 59 passes in the past two games and taken 11 sacks (one every 5.4 attempts). Alex Smith has thrown 242 passes this season and taken 13 sacks (one every 18.6 attempts).
Offensive coordinator Mike Johnson said Troy Smith was responsible for
at least three of the six sacks the Niners allowed against Tampa Bay,
which had managed eight sacks in its first nine games. On two occasions,
Smith held the ball too long and on another occasion he rolled out and,
instead of throwing the ball away, ran out of bounds for a two-yard
loss, which goes as a sack in the stat book.
“All of it was me,” Smith said. “I control and dictate a lot of things
as a quarterback, and definitely I talk about decision-making and where
you’re going with the ball. I talk time and time again, sometimes the
best throw is a throwaway. If you can avoid a sack, if you can avoid a
costly mistake, you do just that. I just have to continue to get
better.”
Last week, FOX analyst Kurt Warner said defenses would begin adjusting
to Smith, who had much of his success making plays outside the pocket in
his first two starts. Warner predicted opponents would begin to mix up
coverages, pin him in the pocket and force him to read defenses and make
throws.
Sure enough, Johnson said the 49ers tried to move him outside the pocket
Sunday, but the Bucs were ready after Smith picked up many of his 356
yards against St. Louis by rolling right and looking downfield. Smith
completed just one pass of more than 18 yards after connecting on five
throws of at least 30 yards against the Rams.
“We did attempt to run one of those bootlegs to the right earlier in the
game and they brought a blitz off the right side and we threw it away,”
Johnson said. “We called another way later in the game going to the
left and they dropped out in coverage and sank the defense … I think
they watched tape from last week and that’s why the initial part of that
game there were throws underneath.”
Said Smith, “Obviously, they game planned extremely well.”
In the past two games, the Niners are 3 for 23 on third-down conversions and sacks have contributed to that unsightly stat.
Of the 20 failed third-down attempts, seven are connected to sacks.
Three have come due to a sack on third down. Four others have come after
a sack has created a third-and-10 (or longer) situation.
The 49ers did a better job of getting in manageable third-down
situations Sunday. In their 0-for-11 third-down performance against the
Rams they needed at least seven yards on eight occasions. Against the
Bucs (3 of 12), they needed six yards or less on eight occasions, but
went 2 for 8.
They passed on six of those eight third-down attempts and Smith was 2 of 6 for 17 yards.
After two impressive starts, Smith looked — and sounded — like a potential savior for a previously 1-6 team.
After Sunday, he looked — and sounded — like a former fifth-round pick with five career starts.
Smith did scramble for 45 yards on five carries, but he couldn’t outrun a defense that was several steps ahead.
“When you’re game-planning, it’s on the blackboard, and once you put an
‘X’ on the blackboard, it doesn’t move,” he said. “But once you play a
guy in real life, he spins, he moves, he’s not going to stay in the same
place. Tampa Bay was just that.”
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