This is my Saturday column. These are the top-five questions and answers every 49ers’ fan needs to know: QUESTION: Why is Colin Kaepernick getting sacked so much? ANSWER: Jim Harbaugh’s offensive scheme. NFL defensive coordinators figured out Harbaugh’s offense lacks a way to beat blitzes consistently. Defenses are sacking Kaepernick on a league-high 9.1 percent of his drop backs and, when defenses blitz, they’re sacking Kaepernick even more frequently –…
SANTA CLARA – Alex Smith was interviewed by Bay Area reporters on a conference call Wednesday afternoon. Here’s a transcript. Q: Is it weird it to be game planning and studying the 49ers’ defense as an opponent? AS: It is and it isn’t. It’s so far removed. I feel like a lot has happened since then and we played them last year in the preseason. A lot has gone on….
Wednesday, I ranked the top-five defensive coaches in the NFL right now. Today, I rank the top-five offensive coaches. 1. Sean Payton – He’s been the Saints’ head coach for seven seasons. Before that, he was the Giants’ offensive coordinator three seasons. Except for his first year in New York, Payton’s offense has ranked top-ten in yards every season he has coached. The one season his offense didn’t rank top-ten,…
Here is my Wednesday column on Jim Harbaugh. Under no circumstances should the 49ers give Jim Harbaugh a contract extension this offseason. Let him play out the final two years of his deal. Or let him win a Super Bowl before giving him a raise. Apparently, Harbaugh wants to be the highest-paid head coach in the NFL. Hey, so do I, but I don’t deserve to be. Harbaugh doesn’t deserve…
Which quarterback will have a better 2013 season – Colin Kaepernick or Alex Smith? On the one hand, Kaepernick is the superior physical talent and it isn’t close. On the other hand, Smith had the superior passer rating last season – 104.1 to Kaepernick’s 98.3. This season, Smith will have the younger and better running back (27-year-old Jamaal Charles vs. 30-year-old Frank Gore), and the younger and better No.1 wide…
A few days ago I explained why this Alex Smith trade to the Chiefs made the most sense. I’m glad Andy Reid read my blog. I don’t think it will be a problem for Alex Smith to pick up Reid’s system. In the previous seven systems Smith has learned in the NFL, there have been elements and philosophies very similar to Reid’s. Mike McCarthy, Smith’s first NFL offensive coordinator, most…
I don’t know for sure, but as I analyze it, it seems the Chiefs are the team that will most likely trade for Alex Smith. Here’s why. The Chiefs legitimately have no realistic quarterback options on their roster. Matt Cassel has exhausted his nine lives, and Brady Quinn is not the answer. The Cardinals, the other team reportedly interested in Alex Smith, have at least three quarterbacks on their roster…
