Quarterback: B. Alex Smith had an A performance in the first half (12-16, 119 yards, 1 TD, 116.4 rating). He made two plays in the second quarter that were particularly good. First, Jonathan Goodwin snapped the ball over his head. Smith picked it up in stride, rolled all the way to the right and threw 25 yards on the run to Frank Gore in the end zone. Gore drew the pass interference call, and that set up his 1 yard TD run two plays later. Also, Smith made a perfect throw to Kyle Williams in the end zone halfway through the second quarter. But Smith did almost nothing in the 2nd half. Yes, the offensive line and the play calling take a lot of the blame for that. Still, Smith needs to audible more. Some sacks happened because he didn’t set up the protection properly – there weren’t enough blockers, or DeMarcus Ware wasn’t double teamed. Smith has the power to fix this at the line of scrimmage. He took a devastating sack in overtime, followed immediately by a delay of game penalty. Also, the interception he threw in the third quarter was terrible. It was his second wildly inaccurate pass in a row on that drive. He finished the game with a 99.1 rating, but I can’t give him higher than a B.
Offensive Line: D. Brian Billick said at the end of the 1st quarter: “This offensive line is a great one.” I disagree. They couldn’t pass block or run block. They gave up six sacks, and they paved the way for a measly 74 team rushing yards. What does this group do well? The tackles need blocking help from tight ends on passing downs, and on running downs they get very little push on the defensive line. If Alex Smith’s first read isn’t open, the play most likely won’t work, because he won’t have time to go to his second read. The Niners need to call more plays where they roll Smith out of the pocket.
Running Backs: C. Frank Gore averaged 2.4 yards per rush. That’s awful, but it’s not all his fault. A lot of that was bad play calling and bad blocking. You’d think Jimmy Raye was the offensive coordinator the way this team stubbornly runs up the middle over and over again for no gain. Despite a complete of lack of running room, Gore ran tough, busting through the Dallas line for a touchdown in the second quarter. He also had a very nice draw run in the second half, as well as a very strong 7-yard gain in overtime. Also, Anthony Dixon picked up 6 yards when he needed one on third and short.
Wide Receivers: B+. No one in this group eclipsed 40 yards receiving, but they all executed their roles in the offense. Josh Morgan was good on slants. Braylon Edwards dominated early and his loss was a huge blow for the offense. Kyle Williams had a tremendous touchdown catch, and he should get more playing time. Ted Ginn Jr. led the team with 7 catches and only had one drop.
Tight Ends: B. Delanie Walker had a nice touchdown. Vernon Davis wasn’t a factor in the passing game. Neither player impeded the Cowboys pass rush very well.
Defensive Line: A. Completely shut down the run, like they always seem to do. McDonald got their one sack, but both he and Justin Smith were in Tony Romo’s face a lot. Sopoaga was only credited with one tackle, but he was a big factor in shutting down the Dallas running game.
Outside linebackers: C. This group recorded six tackles total – three for Brooks and three for Haralson. Brooks hit Romo on the first third down of the game and broke the quarterback’s ribs, but neither he nor Harlason nor Aldon Smith pressured Tony Romo significantly in the second half. Also, Brooks offsides penalty at the end of the first half was brutal. Instead of the 49ers going into the locker room up 14-0, the Cowboys scored a long touchdown on the next play and the score was 14-7at halftime.
Inside Linebackers: B+. Patrick Willis had nine tackles and NaVorro Bowman had ten. That’s outstanding. They struggled in coverage, though. Often Fangio had them covering running backs one-on-one. It seems like inside linebackers do most of the linebacker coverage in a Fangio defense, not the outside guys. Fangio sometimes tried to use a bracket zone to defend Jason Witten – Willis or Bowman would pick him up short, and Reggie Smith or Donte Whitner would play over the top. This coverage never worked. Tony Romo would complete the pass to Witten right as he passed the linebacker, and the Cowboys would gain about 20 yards.
Cornerbacks: C. Carlos Rogers froze on the 77-yard pass play in overtime. But he had a great game until then. He covered both Austin and Witten better than any other Niner. Also, he had a nice blitz in the second quarter, hitting Romo on his broken rib. When Romo had one-on-one coverage with Tarell Brown or Tramaine Brock he threw at them, and they got burned. Brock got an INT, but Carlos Rogers made the play by tipping it right to him. This group needs Shawntae Spencer back as soon as possible. Brown and Brock are backups.
Safeties: D. They miss free safety Dashon Goldson, who has much more “dart,” as Jim Harbaugh would say, than Madieu Williams. Williams was late to pick up Miles Austin twice for touchdowns. Whitner simply could not cover Witten. Reggie Smith looks like he isn’t 100 percent – he’s gotten juked for touchdowns twice in two weeks.
Special Teams: A. Ted Ginn Jr. had 45 punt return yards and Kendall Hunter returned one kickoff 43 yards. C.J. Spillman had a big time tackle. David Akers hit a 55 yard field goal. Andy Lee punted six times for 332 yards, an average of 55.3 yards per punt. This is the Niners best unit. Coach Brad Seeley is doing a terrific job.
Coaching: D. The play calls worked in the first quarter, and some of them worked in the second quarter, but Harbaugh got thoroughly outcoached in the second half. Only two catches for Vernon Davis is no good. All those runs up the middle on first down were no good. Quick slants seemed to work on first downs, but Harbaugh and Roman called those plays infrequently. Also, as you know, Harbaugh made a tremendous mental error at the beginning of the fourth quarter, declining the 15 yard penalty that would have given the offense first and ten at the Dallas 22 and a chance to close out the game. Harbaugh coached not to lose, and they lost.
Final Impressions: I couldn’t believe how loudly the stadium cheered when Alex Smith threw his interception in the third quarter. It sounded like Dallas was the home crowd. Also, it is easy for opponents to throw all over the Niners defense. There is no reason to run into their 3-4 defense. That’s a losing battle. A better way to attack this team is to spread them out. Put four wide receivers on the field, so Reggie Smith and Tramaine Brock have to play, and then pick on them. Or, you can pretend to run into the 3-4 front, then play action and hit on big gains, like Dallas did in overtime. Either way, the Niners need to show the league they can defend the pass or else every team will throw 50 times a game against them.
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