Mike Singletary is just like you.
He screams at Alex Smith.
Mike Singletary is just like you. (OK, some of you).
He still believes in Alex Smith.
In the fourth quarter of Sunday’s 27-24 loss to the Eagles — after
Smith’s killer fumble and three straight incompletions on the following
drive — Singletary (screaming loudly) and the fans (booing viciously)
had finally had enough.
No more. I can’t take it. I’m done with this guy.
But then Smith got another chance.
And he looked good. Really good. Like maybe he’d finally arrived.
Then, the next day, Smith pledged to play more fearlessly. And that sounded good. Really good. Like maybe he’d finally arrived.
Now,
Singletary (and, perhaps, some of you) is back to believing. Bench this
guy? How silly of him. What was he thinking? He says Smith won’t be on a
short leash against the Raiders.
What’s different this time?
“I
think the thing that really came to him on Sunday, was just the fact
that anytime that I go out there and I go out there with an edge, I play
the game,” Singletary said. “I play the game with the best of them. And
I think that mindset is something that he has to keep in the forefront
of his play at all times. And it’s that mindset that’s going to take him
where he wants to go.”
In other words, that sideline screaming has finally unlocked the gunslinger inside Alex.
Nonsense,
right? You can’t just flip a switch in your sixth season and — presto!
— will yourself to have such intangibles. Or can you? Didn’t
Singletary get in Vernon Davis’ face and — presto! — that bust finally
blossomed.
I know. It’s hard to believe this time will be
different. How many times can you, like Charlie Brown, end up flat on
your back after the football was, yet again, pulled away at the last
moment?
You know the drill by heart. Alex Smith will resemble an
above-average NFL quarterback (He’s arrived!) only to follow with a
killer mistake (We want Carr!) that confirms your suspicion that he’ll
never cut it.
Singletary calls this “inconsistency.”
You call it torture.
The 2010 season in review:
SEAHAWKS 31, NINERS 6
SMITH STATS: 26 of 45, 225 yards, 0 TD, 2 INT
QB RATING: 52.5
HE’S ARRIVED: Smith opened by completing 13 of 16 passes for 110 yards, leading the Niners to a 6-0 lead.
THE KILLER MISTAKE:
One of those early incompletions was a fourth-and-1 pass on the Seattle
6 in which he overthrow a wide-open fullback Moran Norris — a
connection that would have given the Niners a 10-0 second-quarter lead.
Instead, the 49ers trail by eight points at halftime.
THE KILLER MISTAKE (honorable mention): Trailing
14-6, Smith overthrew Michael Crabtree on the third play of the third
quarter, the resulting interception was returned 32 yards for a score by
Marcus Trufant and the rout was on. Smith completed 13 of his last 29
passes for 115 yards with no touchdowns and two interceptions.
SINGLETARY SAYS: “I think as time went on he began to press a little bit more.”
SAINTS 25, NINERS 22
SMITH STATS: 23 of 32, 275 yards, 1 TD, 2 INT
QB RATING: 82.2
HE’S ARRIVED: Smith
was brilliant on a clutch game-tying, fourth-quarter drive. In 53
seconds, he completed 4 of 5 passes for 51 yards, scrambled twice for 24
yards and threw a two-point conversion pass to Vernon Davis. Wow.
THE KILLER MISTAKE:
Trailing 19-14 at the Saints 22 with 11:19 left, the Niners appeared
poised to retake the lead. But Smith’s first-down pass, a slant to
Michael Crabtree, was deflected at the line and intercepted by Tracy
Porter.
SINGLETARY SAYS: “He continues to feel more
comfortable in what he’s doing – I think there are a number of things
that Alex has not shown yet that he will as he continues to progress.
The comfort level that he’s going to feel going forward. I think that
he’s only going to get better.”
CHIEFS 31, NINERS 10
SMITH STATS: 23 of 42, 232 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT
QB RATING: 68.8
HE’S ARRIVED:
Um, this game isn’t the greatest example … he did complete 11 of 17
passes in the first half for 104 yards with no TDs and one INT. Really,
though, he never looked particularly good.
THE KILLER MISTAKE:
In a scoreless tie in the second quarter, Smith’s pass intended for
Crabtree was deflected and intercepted by cornerback Brandon Flowers.
The turnover enlivened the Chiefs offense, which had managed two
touchdowns in the season’s first nine quarters. On the first play after
the interception, Matt Cassel threw a 31-yard touchdown pass to Dexter
McCluster. The Chiefs never trailed in the game.
SINGLETARY SAYS: “He hasn’t played his best. He’s played OK. He’s been inconsistent, just like the entire team.”
FALCONS 16, NINERS 14
SMITH STATS: 21 of 32, 188 yards, 1 TD, 2 INT
QB RATING: 65.6
HE’S ARRIVED:
Deep into the second quarter, Smith was nearly flawless, completing 13
of his first 15 passes for 118 yards with one touchdown and no
interceptions. He completed 5 of 5 passes for 40 yards and threw an
11-yard TD pass to Vernon Davis on the Niners’ opening drive.
THE KILLER MISTAKE:
Leading 14-7 at the Atlanta 34 with 1:20 left in the second quarter,
the 49ers were ready to take at least a 10-point lead into halftime.
Instead, Smith, under pressure, panicked and sailed a pass to Frank Gore
which was intercepted by linebacker Curtis Lofton. The Falcons took the
turnover and kicked a field goal to close within 14-10 at halftime.
Smith completed 8 of his final 17 passes for 70 yards with no TDs and
two interceptions.
SINGLETARY SAYS: “I think in the one play
that he made where he threw the ball and it was high to Frank, that’s
just a situation where he didn’t want to take himself out of field goal
range. But he just has to do a better job in terms of where to place the
ball. Sometimes you have to eat it. Sometimes you have to try to get
rid of it, so in those instances, yes, he was pressing it a bit. But I
thought many of his other throws went well.”
EAGLES 27, NINERS 24
SMITH STATS: 25 of 39, 307 yards, 3 TD, 2 INT
QB RATING: 92.8
HE’S ARRIVED: Trailing
24-10 with 11:10 left, Smith, perhaps emboldened by Singletary’s
screaming, completed 10 of 11 passes for 99 yards and two touchdowns.
The first touchdown drive featured a beautiful 36-yard laser down the
middle to Davis.
THE KILLER MISTAKE: Trailing 17-10, the
Niners had a second-and-5 at the Eagles 35 with 13:40 left. Smith was
pressured while rolling left and, without being touched, fumbled the
ball, which was picked up and returned 52 yards for a touchdown by
Philadelphia safety Quintin Mikell.
SINGLETARY SAYS: “He plays
well, most of the game. He plays well as I look at him, and then maybe
two or three times there’s inconsistency and there’s no reason for it. I
think when he’s pressing, and when he starts pressing a little bit too
much, then that’s when, that’s when bad things happen. And that’s
something that he has to obviously get better at.”
