Kurt Warner brought up an interesting point on NFL Network. Alex Smith got a concussion, and when he came back he didn't have his job.
What happens when the next 49er gets a concussion?
This goes for any position and any team. NFL players have been hiding injuries as long as the league has been around. They know not being on the field can result in losing their job. Urlacher admitted recently to hiding concussion symptoms from docs.
This goes for any position and any team. NFL players have been hiding injuries as long as the league has been around. They know not being on the field can result in losing their job. Urlacher admitted recently to hiding concussion symptoms from docs.
It does, and coaches and managers always tell players that it's not the case. Well, the stating QB of a Super Bowl contender just had it happen to him, and the precedent has been set that you will lose your job. It exacerbates the player safety issue.
It does, and coaches and managers always tell players that it's not the case. Well, the stating QB of a Super Bowl contender just had it happen to him, and the precedent has been set that you will lose your job. It exacerbates the player safety issue.
It's already happened. This is no different. Brady, Hostetler replaced injured guys and went on to win the SB. I know there is many others. It has been going on since the NFL was around in all positions. The San Fran situation is nothing new. Players lose their jobs all the time due to injuries, it's the nature of the sport.
In many cases the coach was considering the change but he injury made the decision easy.
Kaepernick pissed that game away. Harbaugh has no one to blame but himself. I think it's obvious (for whatever reason) that Harbaugh doesn't like Smith, so I bet he goes back to Kaepernick next week.
1. That safety was a bad call. The ball crossed the line of scrimmage out of bounds.
2. Ginn could have caught that ball and he should have knocked it out of bounds or through the end zone.
1. Why did he have to throw it just inches over the line of scrimmage, when you could just sling it across the state border to Illinois? The refs made a mistake, but human error is always a possibility...
2. Kaepernick made a horrible throw, would've been at least another safety even if Ginn knocked it out of bounds.
Maybe the playcalling was bad, but Kaepernick's performance was also mediocre. If Smith would've played like that, fans would've started a public campaign to demote him behind Tolzien on the depth chart...
1. Why did he have to throw it just inches over the line of scrimmage, when you could just sling it across the state border to Illinois? The refs made a mistake, but human error is always a possibility...
2. Kaepernick made a horrible throw, would've been at least another safety even if Ginn knocked it out of bounds.
Maybe the playcalling was bad, but Kaepernick's performance was also mediocre. If Smith would've played like that, fans would've started a public campaign to demote him behind Tolzien on the depth chart...
The playcalling was absolutely horrible. I can't remember a game in the Harbaugh era that featured worse playcalling. As for Kaepernick, he was certainly not nearly as good as he was in his first two starts, but considering that no other QB in NFL history had a first two starts as great as his, any rational person knew a drop-off was going to come. Kaepernick made a terrible mistake that probably cost the 49ers the game, but he also made more than a few big plays against a very good defense that put half of Missouri into the box and put all kinds of pressure on him. The 49ers' offense was brutal today, no question, but that had far more to do with arguably the best offensive line in the NFL being uncharacteristically dominated. The Rams' front four is extremely underrated and is very explosive, but the 49ers' offensive line simply **** the bed today. There are going to be games like this for every team and every quarterback, especially a young one. As bad as that option toss was, the fact that somebody employed by an NFL team actually thought that running the option inside your own 10 yard line with less than 4 minutes left in a 1-score game is mind-numbing. Greg Roman and Harbaugh have reaped the praise (deservedly so) for all they have done in the last year or so. Especially this year. But they also deserve to be slapped upside the head for that playcall in that situation.
I knew that the world was waiting for this to happen. Now ESPN can send out their long line of experts to validate why going with Kaepernick was the wrong decision. We can criticize Kaepernick for the mistakes he made in this game. He deserves to be criticized. But it's going to be difficult for someone to make the argument that in a game that the 49ers could not block anyone, even if they had been in a wheelchair, that the outcome would have been different if Smith was the QB. Alex Smith's greatest problem is his tendency to take sacks like they are free candy being offered to a little kid. The safety the result of a very borderline intentional grounding call. The fact that that Kaepernick even managed to throw that ball away is impressive, considering he took the snap and about three Rams were standing next to him. There is almost no chance that Smith is even able to buy enough time to get rid of that ball. And Kaepernick did not throw the ball behind the line of scrimmage intentionally. He was basically running backwards at full speed and was forced to jump and throw the ball away while being completely off-balance. He used every ounce of his arm strength to try to get that ball as far up the field as possible, but at the angle he was at in relation to where he needed the ball to go, he would have needed to defy the basic laws of physics . A quarterback that wasn't as physically gifted, with less mobility and a weaker arm would have gotten crushed before he could have even thought about throwing the ball away.
Going back to Smith now is pointless. Unless Kaepernick completely disintegrates, and last I checked , he has played 2 fantastic games and 1 mediocre one, there is no reason to bother debating this.
Last edited by Blades of Glory: 12-02-2012 at 08:20 PM.
The playcalling is just way too safe considering the talent they have on offense. With Hunter and Manningham out..we get to see more Jacobs and Ginn(ugh) instead of young guys like Jenkins and James. That irks me. Ginn has been a disaster all year and Jacobs is done.
Barring, well, anything short of him somehow regaining the starting job and leading the 49ers to a Super Bowl victory, Alex Smith will almost certainly be cut in the offseason and I'm sure that the Vikings might be interested.
Barring, well, anything short of him somehow regaining the starting job and leading the 49ers to a Super Bowl victory, Alex Smith will almost certainly be cut in the offseason and I'm sure that the Vikings might be interested.
The rumblings have already started up here in the north land.
Once Harbaugh named Kaepernick starter when Smith became healthy, that was his way of saying he believes Kaepernick is better and he is taking over the QB position.
If he were to go back to Smith, he'd wreck Kaepernick's confidence and the team wouldn't know who the guy was. No need for desperation moves after 1 bad game all around, besides cutting Akers, of course.
Once Harbaugh named Kaepernick starter when Smith became healthy, that was his way of saying he believes Kaepernick is better and he is taking over the QB position.
If he were to go back to Smith, he'd wreck Kaepernick's confidence and the team wouldn't know who the guy was. No need for desperation moves after 1 bad game all around, besides cutting Akers, of course.
To consider it a desperation move to go back to the starting QB that was playing pretty damn well before his injury is exaggerating the situation. The reality is that Smith is the best guy to help win now for this team. Kaepernick's confidence is irrelevant at this stage as he's young and it can be built back up again. This team is a Super Bowl contending team but not with a QB that needs in-game learning experiences or on-the-job training. Even if he turns it around now, he's got no playoff experience and will again have to learn on the fly. The last two weeks, Kaepernick hasn't played well enough to sit another QB who was hot before injury.
To consider it a desperation move to go back to the starting QB that was playing pretty damn well before his injury is exaggerating the situation. The reality is that Smith is the best guy to help win now for this team. Kaepernick's confidence is irrelevant at this stage as he's young and it can be built back up again. This team is a Super Bowl contending team but not with a QB that needs in-game learning experiences or on-the-job training. Even if he turns it around now, he's got no playoff experience and will again have to learn on the fly. The last two weeks, Kaepernick hasn't played well enough to sit another QB who was hot before injury.
How is Smith the best guy to help the team win? With a competent kicker, Kaepernick's record would be 3-0 as starter.
Playoff experience is irrelevent. Smith had none before last season. I don't think he's a much better qb because of it or that he has to be the guy starting those games. Kaepernick has the ability to make better throws, scramble out of sacks, and tuck the ball and run for tons of yards. To me, that makes him the better qb and the guy who can really hep the team win now.
How is Smith the best guy to help the team win? With a competent kicker, Kaepernick's record would be 3-0 as starter.
Playoff experience is irrelevent. Smith had none before last season. I don't think he's a much better qb because of it or that he has to be the guy starting those games. Kaepernick has the ability to make better throws, scramble out of sacks, and tuck the ball and run for tons of yards. To me, that makes him the better qb and the guy who can really hep the team win now.
3-0 as a starter where in two games, he hasn't done any better than Smith. Yes, he has potential to be better than Smith. He is not now and that's the point. He had that game against Chicago where he looked great and has been average with flashes since. You want to talk about conceivable records then you could say that the 49ers would have been in the Super Bowl if it wasn't for a kick returner with Smith in charge. His record the two seasons under Harbaugh is more impressive than a conceivable 3-0 where he didn't look any better than Smith had in two of those three games.
As for the experience argument, there's a vast difference between a young player who has limited in-game experience going into the world of the playoffs and a player that may not have playoff experience himself but has had many years of regular season experience to fall back on. Kaepernick has neither and his being green is showing more and more as teams figure him out. He's not the guy to go to yet for the rest of the year or beyond.
Kaepernick's 3 starts have been better than half of Alex Smith's starts this season. Smith and Akers are clearly not as consistent as they were last season.
Kaepernick might be about as good, but the reality is Alex was a big part of the resurgence of the 49ers last year, and after all these years waiting for him to play well and finding a competent coaching staff for the first time since Mariucci, it feels very unclassy of the 49ers to throw him under the bus because he gets a concussion and the rookie has 2 good games.
Kaepernick's 3 starts have been better than half of Alex Smith's starts this season. Smith and Akers are clearly not as consistent as they were last season.
Based on what? At least there was nothing good in that last game...
He played great against Bears, then decently against Saints (defense won that game). And that's it. Doesn't look that consistent either...
