Alex the Aggressor

Coach Mike Singletary has stated that Alex Smith will remain the 49ers' starting quarterback for this Sunday's game against the Oakland Raiders. Whereas it would be oh-so-easy to jump on the bandwagon (or off of it, as it were) and pile more boos on to Alex, I agree with the decision.

The main reason being those two fantastic fourth-quarter touchdown drives against the Eagles, after the very public and televised tongue-lashing that Singletary gave to Smith (it reminded me of what happened to Vernon Davis a couple of years ago). Hey, whatever works - it was the motivator that turned Davis' awesome potential around... maybe Singletary needs to berate Smith before every game! (in the tunnel, maybe, before the team runs out onto the field). Those two drives were beautiful, the work of the NFL-caliber quarterback that Singletary has been telling us he sees in Smith. And in a recent appearance before the media, that's what Smith says he knows now, that he has to play with less caution and more of what I'm assuming is aggression.

For the past few weeks, I've compared Smith's turnovers to the numerous ones that Brett Favre has committed throughout his storied career, only Smith hasn't balanced all of those turnovers with the great threading-the-needle, how-did-he-do-that? type of plays that are sending Favre to the Hall of Fame. Favre is always going for the gusto, and therefore the mistakes are easier to swallow. With Smith, his mistakes seem to come from trying to avoid mistakes. It's very frustrating to watch. Yet in this last game, Smith threw a beautiful pass to Vernon Davis in the end zone, tightly covered by two defenders.

Realizing that there is much more to the game than I understand, that maybe defenses have been different during those great drives that Smith has led, I still can't help but wish that Smith would consistently produce a string of those superb drives that have led to touchdowns. And I don't even mean those touchdown drives to begin the last two games - those were nicely run, precise drives. What I'm referring to are the 'two-minute' kinds of drives that were run when the Niners tied the game late against the Saints, and those two late touchdown drives against the Eagles. Why can't he play that assuredly the entire game?

The idea I've been mulling around is to maybe let Alex run some no-huddle drives every now and then to keep defenses off balance. Let him call the plays during those times; I'm guessing he has called some of the plays himself for the two-minute or catch-up drives. He's a very bright quarterback, so I think he should be allowed to truly run the offense more often and see how that goes. And be more aggressive. If he leads the team with the same attitude he exhibits when he's playing catch-up, maybe that will be the turning point in his career. Because after he fumbled against the Eagles, which led to the touchdown for them, I thought that Alex's career might be over. He'd get pulled, a quarterback change would be made, and if he had any time left in the NFL, he'd have to start over with another team, probably as a backup. The two post-browbeating touchdown drives he led in the most recent game meant everything.

As for all the turnovers against the Eagles, yes, three were made by Alex. But only one I found egregious: the fumble. His first interception on the long attempt to Ted Ginn Jr. was really fine - at least he was making a long pass downfield. Interceptions happen to all quarterbacks, and it was attempting to stretch the field. Good teams overcome plays like that. The last interception was the result of a good pass rush by the Eagles. Sure, Alex could have taken the sack but the interception wasn't all on him; the 49ers offensive tackles pretty much whiffed on their blocks too.

Which leads to another important point: it's a TEAM GAME! Alex hasn't been good enough to overcome team mistakes, but he is still one player. The Niners could have beaten the Falcons if not for Nate Clements' fumble on his interception return. If the defense had stopped the Saints on their final drive for the game-winning field goal, the Niners would have had a chance to make it to overtime. This past Sunday, Frank Gore fumbled twice, on what were shaping up to be excellent drives. There have been missed blocks and tackles - how much can you really blame that on bad coaching, let alone the quarterback? The players have to make the plays.

What Coach Singletary has done with the team this season reminds me of the commander from long ago who burned his fleet of ships when they got to shore, ensuring that his army had no choice but to win the battle. Singletary has hitched the quarterback responsibilities entirely on Smith, and so it will go, sink or swim. I'm hoping that finally Smith had the epiphany we've been waiting for, and will play with that special winning edge that the Niners need. Because if they still intend to make the playoffs, they have to start winning. Not come close, certainly not get blown out, but plain and simple: WIN!!!