Alex Smith has had his ups and downs in his career and with the 49ers staying in the hunt for a playoff spot he has an opportunity to make the best of a rare second chance.  Smith finished his rookie season in 2005 starting the last nine games of the season with one touchdown and 11 interceptions.  Norv Turner was hired as offensive coordinator in 2006 and Smith slightly improved throwing 16 touchdowns with 16 interceptions.  He became the first Niner QB to take every snap under center in a season.  The Chargers hired away Turner the following season and replaced by quarterback coach Jim Hostler.  Hostler had no prior play calling experience and Smith’s progress stalled.  It marked the beginning of a downward fall for Smith as he separated his right shoulder in week 4 of 2007.  He would miss the next three weeks and come back for three games in which he was ineffective only to sit out the rest of the season on injured reserve because of his shoulder.  During this period Mike Nolan questioned Smith’s toughness by saying his shoulder injury was not as bad as being perceived.  The criticism took a toll on Smith’s confidence.  In 2008 he competed for the starting job but lost it to J.T. O’Sullivan and then before the start of the season he broke his right shoulder blade.  I labeled Smith a bust at that point as he would be sitting out the whole season and lost the starting job even if he was healthy.

Smith looked like he was not going to get a second chance to be a starter not only with the 49ers but with any other NFL team but he restructured his contract this off-season and took a significant pay cut to remain with the 49ers.  We know how the story goes up until now and Smith is ready to put himself back into the starting quarterback role for good this time but only if he can lead the 49ers back to the playoffs.  It will be an uphill battle for Smith and the 49ers because they will probably need a 4-1 record down the stretch to clinch a playoff spot.  Either way Smith will be counted on to lead the 49ers to wins as the offensive playbook has been adapted to his skills and abilities.  This time he has no excuses because of the spread formation and the talented receivers around him.  This is his chance to make a name for himself and disprove the bust label because a third chance will likely not come.

Niners Win 20-13

.

Mike Singletary’s intense passion and motivation gave him a perception of a head coach that is stubborn and unwilling to go against his “physical” with an F style of offense he wanted to install with offensive coordinator Jimmy Raye.  Singletary said in training camp that he wanted to run the football 60% of the time each game.  With a great running back in Frank Gore and an average, if that, non-big playmaking quarterback in Shaun Hill you would probably want to run the football a majority of the time as well.  Not only because of the “Fhysical” nature Singletary longed for but he realized Hill is a game-manager at best and at the time the best offensive player on the team was Gore.  Things have changed since the start of the season with Vernon Davis emerging, finally, Michael Crabtree (MCT) signed, Alex Smith inserted as the starting quarterback and the realization that the 49ers offensive line is not as good as originally thought and is no way cable of successfully running the football 60% of the time.  Even with the evidence of the last six weeks in which the offense was only successful in the spread/shotgun formation Singletary said all week that he was not going to deviate away from his offensive philosophy of running the football down the defenses throat.  He pulled a fast one on us yesterday, which was good, in that he had Raye pass the football on 41 of 61 offensive plays.  That comes out to passing the football 67% of the time.  And the result? A 49ers 20-3 defeat of a very good and playoff hungry team in the Jaguars.  The success of the offense allowed the defense to rest after coming off the field which produced six sacks, two fumble recoveries and three points given up.  Let’s hand out some game gold nuggets.

(Game gold nuggets are based on a 1 to 5 scale with, one being the worst, five being the best)

OFFENSE

Smith completed 27 of 41 passes for 232 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions.  The last stat is the most significant.  With Smith controlling the game while also moving the offense down the field for two touchdowns and two field goals Singletary was convinced that the 49ers can pass a majority of offensive plays and be successful.  “I would say right now I think we have more playmakers in the passing game. We have a lot of playmakers we can throw the ball to. … The best thing that happened this week is I saw leadership on the offensive side of the ball.” Singletary said.  Of the 41 pass attempts 34 of them, 82%, were in the spread/shotgun formation.  The 49er Faithful knows that Smith became a star in college because of Urban Meyer’s spread attack and the only success he has shown this season has been in the spread formation.  Of Smith’s two touchdown passes the one to Gore showed his maturity into a reliable starting quarterback and how comfortable he is now in running the offense.  He relied on his instincts as he scrambled to the right and looked as if he was about to try to run the football in for a score at the five-yard line but he pulled up and sent a perfect pass just over the Jaguars defense and floated perfectly into Gore’s hands as he straddled the sidelines with his toes for the score.  Vernon Davis was his usual self leading all receivers with six receptions for 69 yards and one touchdown.  Smith had plenty of time to pass throughout the game thanks to the offensive line that did not give up a sack.

When you pass 67% of the time the running game will of course suffer.  Gore only managed 33 rushing yards for 16 carries averaging only 2.1 yards per rush.  Even though Gore was heavily involved in the passing game, seven receptions for 14 yards and one touchdown,  the 49ers will need to be careful to not abandon the running game all together and become a one-dimensional team like they were in the first-half of the season only having success in the running game.  But with yesterday’s results and how fun it was to watch a vertical passing game for 67% of the time how could you not want them to pass the football a majority of the time?

The 49ers offense only managed three points in the second half.

DEFENSE

The 49ers defense had their best game of the season so far against the Jaguars yesterday.  (I leave out the Rams game, because the Rams are horrible and the Florida Gators could probably have as much success against them.)  The D only gave up three points, recorded six sacks (a season high) and two fumble recoveries and forced four punts on ten drives.  Defensive end Justin Smith had a big game with five tackles, 1 1/2 sacks, forced a fumble and recovered a fumble.  While the D did not give up a touchdown and limited another big-time Pro Bowl running back Maurice Jones-Drew ,75 rushing yards on 15 carries, they did give up 307 passing yards against David Garrard.  With 49ers offense only able to score a field goal in the second half the defense stepped up and recorded huge sacks that sealed the victory for the Red and Gold.  Outside linebacker Manny Lawson sacked Garrard in the third quarter that ended in a recovered fumble that also ended the Jags drive on the 49ers 17-yardline.  Again with the Jags inside the red-zone at the 49ers 14-yardline the D recorded another sack that resulted in a recovered fumble.  Outside linebacker Parys Haralson forced Garrard to fumble on the first play of the fourth quarter that stopped another Jags potential touchdown score.

When the 49ers offense is successful that carries over to the defense.  Not only because the D can rest more on the sidelines and get ready for the next series but seeing the offense finally make plays and put the 49ers in the lead early in the game the D stepped up like an MLB All-Star closer protecting a lead for a victory.  The D frustrated the Jags offense all game and never allowed them to get an offensive flow started.  Going forward if the 49ers want to contend for the NFC West and a playoff spot it will be the 49ers D that will win them games and not the offense.

In the 49ers five wins the D has given up only 35 points; In the 49ers six losses 178 points have been given up.

SPECIAL TEAMS

Not much happened with the special teams unit for the 49ers and Jaguars.  Kicker Joe Nedney added to the 49ers lead with two field-goals of 46 and 27 yards.  Punter Andy Lee was not his Pro Bowl self only averaging 37.6 yards on five punts but with the way the defense played Lee could have had the Jags start at mid-field after each punt and the 49ers would still have won.  The punt return coverage did give up a 42-yard return by Brian Witherspoon.  The 49ers had Jags kicker Josh Scobee miss two field-goal tries.

COACHING

Singletary held his cards close to chest all week indicating that the 49ers would not all of a sudden reverse course and become a passing team.  Secretly he has telling Jimmy Raye to channel the Utah Alex Smith and make him pass a majority of the time.  Easier said than done especially with the 49ers offensive line.  But you have to give Raye credit for developing a game-plan that best used his quarterback, wide receivers and running back in the passing game while exploiting an injured Jags secondary.  While I would have liked to have seen more success in the running game in the end it does not matter if it was the pass or run, or both that won you the game but that you got the win.  Given an early lead defensive coordinator Greg Manusky was able to rush Garrard with multiple blitz’s that forced sacks and turnovers.  Manusky had his linebackers do most of the blitzing as he left his secondary in coverage to limit wide receiver Mike Sims-Walker and Jones-Drew to only yards but no touchdowns.

Overall Singletary prepared his players on offense and defense well thanks to a great game-plans drawn up by Raye and Manusky.  After the game Singletary, Raye and Smith said they take the offensive strategy game by game and that next week there could be a majority of running plays called rather than passing plays.  This will surely be the theme echoed all week against a Seahawks team the 49ers destroyed with their running game in week two.  But I bet you that the cards will be held tight once again as the 49ers come out and pass all over a weak Seahawks secondary.

After the game Singletary said Vernon Davis, Alex Smith and MCT voiced their opinions about opening up the passing game.

Next up @ Seattle

The 49ers played the best four quarters of football so far this season against the Jags.  This will carry over against the Seahawks who they beat 23-10 in week two.  With a win against the Seahawks and a Cardinals loss against the Vikings, a Monday Night Football showdown will be set-up the following week between the 49ers and Cardinals for the NFC West lead.  One week at a time though, the 49ers look poised for another win.

Michael Lewis secures 49ers win

.

The win was ugly but it was a win nonetheless and ended the 49ers four-game losing streak.  Thanks to Bears quarterback Jay Cutler for continuing his best impression of Bret Favre by trying to pass into tight spots and throwing five picks.  Much of the credit has to go to defensive coordinator Greg Manusky who drew up a game plan that attacked what the Bears do best which is the pass.  Even though Cutler threw for 307 yards the 49ers defense executed Manusky’s game plan to almost perfection as the 49ers leaned on their defense to win the game.  Tarell Brown, Mark Roman, Aubrayo Franklin, Dashon Goldson and Michael Lewis were the five Niners to intercept Cutler.  Let’s hand out some game gold nuggets.

OFFENSE

The offense only gets one gold nugget because the lone bright spot on offense for the 49ers was the lone touchdown scored in the game by running back Frank Gore who rushed for 104 yards.  Other than Gore the offense was not very productive.  I thought Alex Smith was going to have a career game passing for over 300 yards but he only managed 118 passing yards completing 16 of 23 passes with no touchdowns and one interception.  Only one turnover for Smith which is good but for the 49ers offense to score only one touchdown on the five picks shows more that the 49ers offense is still developing with Smith and the spread formation rather than the Bears playing a good defensive game.  As unproductive as Smith was he was able to lead a drive in the fourth quarter that ran 6:14 off of the clock.  The 49ers did not get a score but running off almost half of the fourth quarter proved to be the key to the 49ers win.  Cutler drove the Bears down to the 49ers 1-yard line with eight seconds left on the clock.  Had the bears offense had more time for one more play could have been the difference between a 3-6 record and the 49ers imploding and a 4-5 record and the 49ers still being in the hunt for the playoffs.

With wider receiver Isaac Bruce inactive due to an ankle injury the 49ers went with youth at wide receiver with Michael Crabtree, Josh Morgan and Jason Hill.  The 49ers Faithful saw for the first time the future of the 49ers at wide out and although they did not have a big game the trio is something to look out for the rest of the season.  Crabtree lead all receivers with four receptions for 48 yards, Morgan had three receptions for 24 yards and Hill had just one catch for five yards.  Not spectacular but all three wide receivers have huge potential in the 49ers new offensive philosophy.

Singletary decided to go for it on 4th-and-1 on the Bears 46-yard line in the third quarter with a QB sneak up the middle.  The 49ers could not gain the needed yard and the Bears took over and eventually got a field goal.  Singletary was shown talking to his offensive line after the play probably asking why can’t five 300 plus pound men move the line of scrimmage one yard forward.  He then probably followed up with some encouragement.  But not getting a first down is a cause of concern.  With 49ers only up 7-3 in the third quarter the offense needs to capitalize on a play like that.  If the Bears would have scored a touchdown on the drive that followed the 49ers would still have their losing streak.

DEFENSE

This is the first time I have given out five gold nuggets but the defense deserves it not only for the five interceptions but also because they were the reason why the 49ers pulled out the victory.  The offense was only able to convert one touchdown out of the five interceptions which going forward the Niners need to do a better job of but once the defense was given a 7-0 lead they never looked back and forced Cutler to throw five picks.  The two biggest picks of the game were the two times the Bears reached inside the 49ers five-yard line and both ended in interceptions with the last one securing the Niners win as time expired.  Cutler is known to throw picks but the 49ers defense were quick to react to passes by breaking them up.  There were two other almost interceptions as the 49ers secondary did a great job of covering the Bears receivers and limiting WR Devin Hester to seven receptions for 48 yards and TE Greg Olsen to seven receptions for 75 yards.  Once again the 49ers front line stopped another great running back.  Matt Forte only managed 41 rushing yards on 20 carries and averaged a messily 2.1 per carry.  The 49ers could not keep Forte in check in catches as he led the Bears with 8 receptions for 120 yards.  Overall this was the best game defensively played by the 49ers this season as they came into the game with five picks all season and doubled their total to ten by the end of the game.

SPECIAL TEAMS

Usually kicker Joe Nedney and punter Andy Lee are automatic on special teams.  However Nedney missed a 39 yard field goal on the 49ers first possession of the game which could have been the difference between a win and a loss had Cutler thrown a touchdown in the final seconds.  Special teams always gets overlooked even when they play well but when they could have cost you the game the glaring mistakes are front and center.  Pro Bowl punter Lee had been playing well punting the football inside the 20-yard line 19 times so far this season but he did not have a good game last night.  Before the Bears final push to try to score a touchdown to pull out the win Lee punted after the 49ers ran 6:14 off the clock but booted it into the end zone.  Normally Lee is great at placing his punts where he wants to but he was off yesterday all game.  The return game was nothing special yet again.  Punt returner Brandon Jones only had one return for 4 yards and kickoff returner Arnaz Battle had 2 returns for 24 and 26 yards.

COACHING

Three game gold nuggets go to defensive coordinator Manusky for drawing up a great game plan for the Bears and for getting his defense prepared in only three days.  Manusky called the right blitz’s at the right time and had his safety’s stay back most of the game to keep the Bears from throwing a deep pass which the 49ers have given up numerous times this season.  For a defense that had not had a turnover since October 11 to get five picks all while not recording a sack is a step in the right direction for the D.

Singletary and all of the 49ers coaching staff did a great job in getting their team prepared during such a short week after coming off of four straight losses.  The short week could have been the reason why both offenses yesterday had such a poor performance but that did not translate to the defense for either team.  Kudos to Singletary going for it on 4th-and-1 in the third quarter but a better play could have been called by Jimmy Raye than a QB sneak up the middle.  Raye continued his use of the shotgun and spread formations which is good for Alex Smith when running the offense.  Even though Raye had his offense run off over six minutes off the clock in the fourth I think he was too conservative on the drive as he called ten rushes and only one pass in the 49ers final drive.  We got the win so I guess it does not matter but I was having visions of week three and the Vikings getting the football back with plenty of time to score the winning touchdown after conservative running plays forced the 49ers to punt.  Again, the receiver was in the back of the end zone waiting for the winning pass to be caught but this time the Niners had safety Michael Lewis covering the receiver and picking off the pass ending the game in favor of the 49ers this time.

Next up

@ Green Bay.  The 49ers will look to take advantage of the nine days off they have now and until week 11.  The Packers lost last week against the Buccaneers in a demoralizing loss that gave the Bucs their first win of the season.  The Packers will play the resurgent Cowboys this weekend at home so there is a high possibility the 49ers could be facing a team on a two game losing streak. Not sure if that is good or bad for the Niners but with so much time off between now and week 11 Singletary should be able to draw up a great game plan to start a 49ers winning streak.

]]> http://ninernoise.com/2009/11/13/niners-pick-cutler-five-times-end-losing-streak/feed/ 0