Did 49ers see what we all saw on Thursday night?
By Ira Miller
Friday, November 30th, 2007 at 5:04 am in Uncategorized.
There’s a side story to Dallas’ 37-27 victory over Green Bay on Thursday night, and it concerns the 49ers.Let’s get to the point: In more than two full seasons, has Alex Smith shown anything that makes you think he was a better choice for the first draft pick than Aaron Rodgers, based on how Rodgers performed in his first extended appearance for the Packers?Didn’t think so.The choice of Smith over Rodgers was the first significant decision of Mike Nolan’s regime running the 49ers. I thought at the time he should have taken Rodgers because Rodgers was more prepared to play sooner and had the temperament that was needed to take on the tough job in San Francisco.Now, it’s tough to make comparisons because Rodgers had the luxury of sitting behind Brett Favre for two and a half years and Smith got thrown in as a rookie and has been beaten up a little with the 49ers. But Rodgers sure looked cool and calm as he took over with a 17-point deficit on the road against one of the three best teams in the NFL.I thought Mike McCarthy, the Packers’ coach, made a mistake calling for a 52-yard field goal instead of trying for a first down on 4th-and-inches with five minutes to go and a 10-point deficit. Even though Mason Crosby made it, the field goal was hardly a gimme, and the Packers had been moving the ball.At any rate, Green Bay had to be encouraged by what it saw of Rodgers – 18 of 26 for 201 yards, a touchdown and a passer rating of 104.8, plus 30 yards rushing on five scrambles. And San Francisco fans have to be concerned that the decision to choose Smith instead of the kid from Cal looks even worse now.
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November 30th, 2007 at 9:14 am
Yes, Aaron Rodgers did look good against the Cowboys and the obvious would be to write how good he looks in comparison to Alex Smith. But I disagree. If the situations were reversed, with Smith learning his trade patiently and Rodgers thrown into the fire immediately, with an unstable coaching staff, we’d be speaking forlornly of Alex Smith right now. I contend that the 49ers coaching staff ruined Alex Smith - at least up until this point.
November 30th, 2007 at 10:26 am
You may be right. Nonetheless, regardless of whether the coaches “ruined” Smith or made a bad decision, Rodgers looked very good and showed more promise than Smith has shown in two-plus years.
December 1st, 2007 at 8:38 am
Hi Ira,
First, there’s a grammatical error in the title of the column (unless you intended it as a special effect?)
Second, Rodgers showed that he’s way ahead of Smith at this point in time. But as the previous reader posted, Nolan has just about destroyed Smith’s development. I have never seen a head coach with greater offensive ineptitude than Mike Nolan. I don’t think any rookie QB would survive Mike Nolan.
December 5th, 2007 at 7:20 pm
I was thinking the same thing! Smith has started at least 20-24 games and never a glimpse of consistency. Look at Cleveland’s QB in his limited amount of starts. The cream rises and the crud sinks. Quit making excuses for Smith and admit the truth: he is a really nice guy thats sucks as a pro QB.