A Farewell Letter to Alex Smith

Dear Alex Smith,

I wanted to write you today to wish you a proper farewell from the San Francisco 49ers organization. Moments after the Super Bowl ends, win or lose, will be the last moments where you don the gear of the five (nah, at that point, let's say six)-time champions.

It's weird for me to say goodbye to you in such a way, especially if you consider the arc of your career from being drafted #1 in the 2005 draft till the end of 2010, where your status with the team was in question following a series of lackluster seasons.

So long Alex. Thanks for the memories.

Granted, you didn't have much help. Year after year, a new coach or coordinator would come in and ruin any chance you had of establishing yourself as a consistent NFL quarterback. It also didn't help you missed a season in between in 2008, a year which most thought was going to be your last in your Niners career.

Somehow, through all of the turmoil and the catcalls for your ousting from the team, being replaced by the likes of Shaun Hill, Troy Smith, and Trent Dilfer, you somehow managed to keep a hold on the starting role entering the 2011 season, the inaugural tour of Jim Harbaugh's reign. It helped that there was going to be an extended lockout that extended into July that kept many teams from making moves outside of the status quo.

With Harbaugh's vote of confidence in his first offeseason as coach, you were the main man, the guy we fans would have to grin and bear another season with while we waited to rebuild and hope 2012 would be a great year with rookie Colin Kaepernick given the starting job to start the near season. Except you didn't play like you did the first six seasons of your career.

You finally broke through, like many QBs that Harbaugh has come across or recruited (Andrew Luck, RG3, now Kaepernick to name a few). With you under center, San Francisco started 2011 with nine wins in your first 10 starts en route to a 13-3 record and a first-round bye in the playoffs. You weren't exactly lighting up the scoreboard (only 17 TDs in 16 games & less than 200 yards/game), but you did everything required of you to win the games. You minimized mistakes, leading the league in interception ratio (only 1.1% of your throws were intercepted). You completed over 61% of your passes, a career-high.

And then there was the NFC Divisional game last year, the finest moment of your career. I was lucky enough to be in attendance for that game when the stadium shook several times in the fourth quarter. Your 28 yard scramble to put us ahead with just over 2 minutes left was not enough. Drew Brees' quick-strike ability required you to lead the Niners down the field again. And that's exactly what you did. Your pass that threaded the needle of the Saints defense to a similarly redeemed Vernon Davis was one that we Niners fans will never forget. Never mind the lackluster NFC Championship game the following week.

Alex: meet your successor.

The 2012 season started out well for you as well, proving to doubters that your 2011 season was no fluke. It helped to finally have a consistent offensive system for a second straight year. However, lurking in the shadows was a man toting a Pistol. A gun-slinger by the name of Colin Kaepernick, drafted in the second round by the Niners' brass. Harbaugh has been on record as saying he thought was the best player in the 2011 draft.

Colin's athletic presence was felt in small chunks, mostly in a role to throw off the opposing defense. But your job was fairly safe. Or so it seemed. Little did you know that reporting a concussion would be your undoing and essentially end your 49ers career. If we look at how your career started, it seems fitting that a play you likely don't even remember happening was likely the last one you played in a Niners uniform.

Kaepernick went on to throttling the Bears in his first career start, making fans and media wonder if Harbaugh would dare Wally Pipp* your career. Harbaugh dared to Pipp you, naming Kapernick the team's starter for the Saints game. He said he was "playing the hot hand", but you knew better. Harbaugh didn't draft Kaepernick to ride the bench for long.

Your strong 2011 campaign was better than Harbaugh could have imagined. There was no way in hell he could legitimately bench you to start 2012, no matter how much he was drooling at the sight of Kaepernick's rocket arm. Your concussion gave him his opening to start the Nevada product. Sadly for you and your starting aspirations, but luckily for Niners fans, the winning just kept on coming.

Now, you will sit on the bench in your final game as a San Francisco 49er. You may not have had the definition of a great career, but the moments you helped create in the past year and a half will never be forgotten. I hope you land with a team next year that will give you the chance to start next year, even if it's with a division foe in the Cardinals.

I hope you're able to get a Super Bowl ring in the meantime.

Sincerely,

49er Nation



*Pipp was the Yankees starting first-baseman who sat out one game due to a terrible headache and lost his job to a guy named Lou Gehrig, who never let go of the job for over 2,000 games.

From Risk to Reward: How the Harbaughs Made History

Bold moves by both Harbaughs have led their teams to the Super Bowl

In a football league rooted in conservatism, bold moves stand out like a sore thumb.

Remember years ago when Bill Belichick declined to punt on fourth and short from the Patriots own end zone against the Colts only to have his attempt to ice the game with a first down go down in a blaze, followed plays later by the inevitable Peyton Manning touchdown? Every expert dissected the idiocy of the play, wondering what would possess Belichick to go for the first down, one that would amplify the Colts' chances of winning.

No one speaks of this move if it works, so why the unequal treatment of coverage for these bold moves succeeding vs. failing miserably? The NFL, like many other sports and areas of life, is grounded in low-risk propositions that go along with the status quo.

In situations like Belichick's, about 30-31 other coaches would have punted in that scenario, even if that meant giving the ball to Peyton Manning with a minute and a half left. Even if it means bypassing the chance to actually win the game with one more first down. Time will never tell if Peyton scores from 70-75 yards out on that drive, but what time does tell is that coaches will always lean to being ultra-conservative, even if the risk that is taken is so small and the reward is so big (see John Fox's handling of the offense in the Broncos' last two drives of regulation - a first down in the second-to-last drive seals the game, but Fox decided to run it on 3rd-and-7; on the second drive, Fox told Peyton to take a knee despite the Broncos having plenty of time and timeouts to spare to get into field goal range).

Playing Harbaughs

Which brings me to my subject...or should I say, subjects: the Harbaugh Brothers.

Each man made a calculated risk in the middle of a solid regular season showing that many coaches would not dare make, for fear of losing their jobs if the move goes wrong.

The first bold move was made by younger brother Jim, who decided to start Colin Kaepernick following an Alex Smith concussion. Smith was coming off of one of his finest stretches of his career before the concussion, leading the Niners to a 6-2-1 record in his starts. So when he was cleared to play, Smith was surprised to learn that he lost his job to the talented former Nevada Wolfpack slinger. At first, Jim said he was just playing the hot hand, but the hot hand turned into the only hand - the right hand of Kaep.

The second bold move was made by John. This may have been even bolder than Kaepernick, if only for the timing of it as it relates to the postseason. With three games to go, John made the toughest decision he has ever made as coach - firing offensive coordinator Cam Cameron and promoting their QB coach Jim Caldwell to play-calling duties. At the time, the Ravens were in the process of a major downslide, which ended with them losing four out of their last five games. Still, at the time of the firing, the Ravens were well on their way to the playoffs and a division crown.

The move shocked Flacco and company. However, it has paid its dividends in the form of a much-improved running game: going from 108 yards/game with Cameron calling plays to averaging 155 in the six games with Caldwell.

Bold is Beautiful

Both moves were dissected heavily when made, but there's no questioning how effective both moves were. For how many people were critiquing the moves when they were made, you don't hear many people saying "I was wrong; Harbaugh was right." Yet you know if San Fran failed early in the playoffs or Baltimore didn't advance as far as they did, the talking heads wouldn't be able to stop talking about how right they were.

Fortunately for the Harbaughs, in a league that critiques bold moves, it's those very bold moves made by the boldest of coaches that has these teams in the position they are in. It's one of the many reasons why New England has succeeded as long as they have with Belichick. While others are playing "not to lose", these gents are playing to win the damn game.

Let's hope that some day, one day, these risky maneuvers, whether made on the field or off of it, are applauded and not lauded. Each coach still alive for the Super Bowl crown can attest to the rewards that their risks have led to.

Channeling Bill Walsh & A Look Towards SF/GB matchup

I hope this is a sight that us Niners fans will see, except with Jim Harbaugh being hoisted on top.

On my flight home from my 30th birthday Vegas trip, I read Building a Champion by Bill Walsh, and it was well worth the read for any football fan, especially 49ers fans.

The book covers his entire coaching career, allowing us to see how much of a genius the man was. His building of the 49ers from a team that had as much talent as an expansion team to a consistent Super Bowl contending team in only a couple of years was nothing short of miraculous.

Here are a few things I took away from it that (a) I didn't know going into my read or (b) apply to current football stories/situations:

1. Walsh liked to use plays from the past. As an assistant with the Bengals in the late 1960s, Walsh would look at plays on tape that had died out about twenty years earlier. His logic was that coaches would not prepare for plays that they have never experienced or seen on tape. This makes so much sense, yet I never thought of it. I have to believe coaches who can effectively look at the past in such a manner to design plays have a significant advantage versus those who don't.
   
2. Bill Walsh had a great coaching tree. I knew this going in, but forgot the extent of the tree. I went online and looked at the complete tree and was amazed. Many current coaches (including both Harbaughs) come from some branch of the tree. Not only that, but many of these coaches have won (or at least appeared in) Super Bowls: Mike Holmgren (one title); Jim Fassel; Sam Wyche; George Seifert (two titles); Andy Reid; John Fox; Mike McCarthy (one title); John Gruden (one title); Mike Shanahan (two titles); Brian Billick (one title); Tony Dungy (one title); Mike Tomlin (two titles); and Lovie Smith.
   
   By my count, that's 13 coaches from this tree who have made the Super Bowl, with 11 titles in this coaching tree since 1989 (basically once every other year since Walsh retired). With many of the Walsh tree still alive (the Harbaughs, John Fox, Gary Kubiak, Mike McCarthy and Mike Smith), #12 could be right around the corner.
   
   I found this on Wikipedia - the bottom part of each branch shows many of these familiar names coaching today:
   
   
3. Walsh's rise (and continued success) through the coaching ranks seems to be the path that Jim Harbaugh is following. Don't take this as an insult. I know Harbaugh doesn't have the coaching longevity and success that Walsh had, but his ascent is similar to Walsh's, with both having a brief successful coaching stint at Stanford before going to coach the 49ers. Harbaugh had more success in his first year as coach, but he had much more talent than Walsh did.
   
4. Another Harbaugh/Walsh comparison - the QB controversy: Harbaugh experienced his first "controversy" (although it seems to be more media/fan driven than anything) much earlier in his 49ers coaching career than Walsh did with Joe Montana and Steve Young. In Walsh's case, he was able to avoid the brunt of the controversy and hand that off to George Seifert (Montana was traded to Kansas City in the 1990s while Young helped the Niners win their 5th Super Bowl in 1995).
   
   One thing I can say about both coaches - they both seem to have a great handle on the quarterback position, which is the most important position to get right in the NFL. Walsh had an eye for talent - he brought Ken Anderson (one of the best QBs not in the Hall of Fame) to the Bengals in the 1970s, drafted Montana in the third round and traded for Steve Young for a few mid-round picks. Harbaugh has had his own Luck (literally, the Andrew version, while at Stanford anyways) and seems to have a potentially great QB with Kaepernick.

There were also some other stories that I found fascinating - his description of being chastised during the latter half of his stay in San Fran and feeling like there was really no way for the media to eventually turn on a coach seemed to mirror some current coaches who got fired (Andy Reid & Lovie Smith).

All in all, the Bill Walsh book set the tone for what will hopefully be a fantastic Saturday in 49er Country.

Quick Analysis for Saturday's game: Forget the Packers game in Week 1. So much is different now than the opener, most notably the switch from Alex Smith to Colin Kaepernick. After a slow start, the Packers finished strong down the stretch (outside of their Week 17 loss to the Vikings).

My biggest concern (outside of special teams - signing Billy Cundiff....yikes)  for the Niners heading into the game is Justin Smith, whose absence against the Seahawks in Week 16 was very noticeable. Justin's playing through the injury, although I don't think the Packers have the run game to expose this potential deficiency.

I do worry about Aaron Rodgers obviously, but I feel that we should be able to defend them better than most teams. I'm expecting the Niners to establish the run and have many long possessions that keep the Packers offense off the field and out of rhythm.

I look for this to be a lower-scoring game than earlier this season and lower than most Niners game have been down the stretch (total points in Niners games went from 36.5 in the first eight games to 47.25 in the last eight, which coincides with the change in QB). I see the Niners squeezing out a victory 21-17 to advance to their second consecutive NFC Championship game, where they will meet the Atlanta Falcons. I expect the Packers game to be the best game of the weekend for NFL fans.

In the other games, I have a gut feeling on Baltimore pulling off the upset (Peyton's teams seem to fail right around this time of year in this same situation) and Houston keeping it close, but ultimately losing to, the Patriots.

I hope my prediction (at least about the Niners victory) is correct. I will be at the Shamrock in the River North area drinking to victory or defeat either way. Feel free to join me.

Who's got it better than us? Noooooooo-body.

From Hunter to Hunting, LL Cool LMJ (Ladies Love Cool LaMichael James) & Week 14 Thoughts

Niners Nation seems torn over who should be starting at quarterback - the veteran Alex Smith or Colin Kaepernick, the unproven but more talented second-year QB who replaced a concussed Smith a month ago and has been named the starter once again.

Let's not focus on this for a minute - the media are focusing on this enough...too much if you ask me. Blame goes around to everyone for Sunday's loss to the Rams, particularly the lack of a running game in the second half (outside of a couple of Kaepernick scrambles) and some dumb play-calling - why have Colin pitch it in that situation when the play-calling had been to minimize risk the entire half/game?

There is a story I'd like to turn your attention to. The real story of what could be the Niners' demise, the story that most people (even a lot of Niners fans) are ignoring is the loss of Kendall Hunter, who as Frank Gore's complimentary back, averaged 5.2 yards/carry on 71 attempts. The void he left was felt last week when Gore, who rushed for 914 yards in 11 games with Hunter as his backup, had a season high in carries (23), but only totaled 58 yards (a season low 2.5 yards/carry).This included a terrible second half showing of 13 carries and 18 yards. It's only a one game sample, but I believe the loss of Hunter should be spoken about a lot more than whatever quarterback the Niners decide to line up under center.

Solutions for RB

The Niners have a few options after Gore that they can go with:

This is aside from using Kaepernick in running situations, like they did last week (9 carries, 84 yards). I do believe that as long as CK is starting - which I think will be the rest of the year and beyond, we will see a handful of designed runs for him that will net huge plays in each game.

Brandon Jacobs: He's only appeared in two games, getting a total of 5 carries for 7 yards. Any reasonable football fan will tell you that Jacobs is not a guy that can be counted on to "spell" Gore, or even be trusted to take a couple of series off of Gore's plate like Hunter did. I do not like him as the second option at all and I worry that our offense will suffer greatly if Jacobs remains the second option. No other running back besides Gore got carries besides Jacobs (4 carries for 6 yards against the Rams).

Anthony Dixon: He's been active for all 12 games, but only averages a carry per game - primarily used as a blocker. Like Jacobs, he's really not a serious threat to take away carries from Gore.

LaMichael James: He remains the enigma of the 49ers backfield. He hasn't be activated for any games yet this year - still awaiting that elusive first career carry. It's a carry that many of us Niners fans hope will be the first of many great ones w/ the team. If he shows the same explosiveness that he did with Oregon, we will have a great dilemma on our hands in the near future when deciding who to make our primary back - Hunter or James.

As crazy as it might sound to say, I believe James is the key for the 49ers offense going forward. His running style and speed is similar to Hunter's, a change of pace that is necessary and not seen with Jacobs (who has a similar style to Gore except for the simple fact that Jacobs sucks) or Dixon. He might have to shake off a little rust, and the Niners' matchups coming up aren't the easiest - against the Dolphins (3.7 yards allowed/carry - 4th best), Patriots (3.9/carry - 8th best), Seattle (which allows 4.5/carry) & Arizona (4.1/carry). As a whole, these games should provide the Niners with a true test as to whether they can rely on James in a Hunter-esque role in January when "The Tournament" starts.


Predictions for Week 14

As many know at this point, Harbaugh has been a machine, especially when it comes to getting his team's best efforts after losing the week before. Following his 5 previous regular season losses, the Harbaugh-led Niners have notched a victory in all of those following games, winning by a combined 106-17 in those matchups. The amazing stat (as if allowing 3.4 points per game in the game following a loss wasn't enough) is that in those games, the defense has allowed a total of ZERO TOUCHDOWNS. What he has done and been able to get out of this team is simply remarkable.

I do believe that the Dolphins will break that TD streak, but will likely only notch one, maybe two tops. Hunter may be out, but the defense will still continue to roll. I see a 20-13, 27-13 type of game here for the Niners. I really hope that they can get James going this week, because I don't think Gore will be able to continue to pile up carries like he did last week. The more carries he gets, the worse the Niners chances of winning will be.

Kaep Dance: How Alex Smith Lost His Job to Colin Kaepernick

Alex Smith will likely be doing a lot of watching the rest of 2012.

In a way, I feel bad for Alex Smith.

After a rocky start to his 49ers career which featured just as many offensive coordinators & systems as seasons played, Alex finally got into his groove with head coach Jim Harbaugh and offensive coordinator Greg Roman.

That triad of offensive folks has been an integral part in the sudden reemergence of a Niners squad that struggled to find offensive consistency in Smith's first six seasons on the team. Before the game in which Smith suffered his concussion against the Rams a couple weeks back, Smith was riding a hot streak with Harbaugh that he had never had before in his career. Including the 2011 playoffs, Smith helped lead the Niners to victories in 20 out of 26 games in the Harbaugh era (not including the tie, a game which he didn't finish).

However, he has been given the label "game manager" by many people. He has completed 64% of his regular season passes in the 25 regular season games in the Harbaugh era, but averaged under 200 yards a game (hardly a number that a great QB would average).

Then again, Smith was never supposed to be the key ingredient in 49ers success in the Harbaugh regime. A combination of a ground-and-pound with Frank Gore and play action has minimized the risk element that passing games can sometimes create (Smith had a league-low 1.1% of his passes intercepted last season).

With such success, why was Harbaugh so quick to oust a healthy Smith only to kick-start the career of Colin Kaepernick, who the Niners drafted in the second round of the 2011 draft?

It's quite simple - Harbaugh has wanted to move on from the Alex Smith era since he got to San Francisco

• Drafting of Kaepernick in 2011 2nd round, not a round where you normally draft QBs to be long-term understudies/back-ups. One of the first picks made in the Harbaugh era was the drafting of Kaepernick, who excelled in the pistol offense in his prestigious career at Nevada. At the time, Smith had been struggling to find consistency behind center. You could blame the coaches who couldn't maximize his talents (as Harbaugh has), the turnover of offensive coordinators in his tenure, the lack of talented targets that he has been surrounded with.
  
  For whatever reason, Smith has clicked for the Niners. Still, drafting Colin ultimately meant that Smith's days were numbered, even if he had as great of a run as he has now. The timing of the concussion allowed Harbaugh to insert Kaepernick into the starting lineup without ruffling the feathers of fans and media members who would have been puzzled and pissed off if Smith was demoted without seeing Kaepernick play.
  
  Sure, Harbaugh could have started the 2012 season with Kaepernick, but perhaps this was the easier way for him to insert Kaepernick into the lineup. Not as much fuss.
  
• Harbaugh flirted with Peyton Manning in the 2012 offseason. He may try to BS to the media and tell them he didn't want Peyton, but let's be real - Harbaugh wanted Peyton. He went to see Peyton's workout in March, only to be shunned when Manning chose the Denver as his next destination.
  
  During that time, Alex Smith didn't really field any serious offers from other teams. So when the Manning thing fell on its face, Harbaugh did an about-face and said Smith was their plan all along. The only way he's not legitimately BSing about this is if he thought Manning was not destined to be a Niner when he went to see him. Otherwise, Harbaugh was doing what most coaches would do with their starting QB - he coddles Smith's ego by telling everyone Smith was the planned starter for 2012 even though we know that the action of going to see Manning speaks louder than his words ever will.

Remember...Kaepernick still had to earn it...

The concussion was the best way for Harbaugh to make Kaepernick his starter. If Kaepernick had gotten beaten down by the Chicago Bears on Monday Night Football, we wouldn't be talking about this and Alex Smith would be starting against the St. Louis Rams on Sunday. Smith would have started the Saints game and would have remained starter throughout the season regardless of his performance in that game.

As long as he doesn't mess up badly, Kaep will remain 49ers starter for years to come

However, Kaep looked like an All-Pro in his first career start against one of the league's best defenses. That performance earned him another start, a tough road test against the Saints, whose defense, to put it politely, has sucked this year.

If Kaep comes down a little bit this week, will he be replaced? At this point, I believe he has to play his way out of a starting role - like 3 or 4 interceptions-bad, a performance that would have people questioning his judgment for Harbaugh to take him out.

As simple as it was, I believe that the Wednesday press conference was the coronation of the Kaepernick era. If Harbaugh really wanted to go back to Alex this week and beyond, I don't think we get a special conference to announce that he will go back to starting - we'd be reading a simple blurb in an online article about it.

Instead, Harbaugh awkwardly tip-toed around the idea that Alex was a back-up and said that he was playing the "hot hand" with Kaepernick. Uhm, last I checked, Smith's last full-game was an 18-for-19, 232 yard, 3 passing TD performance - not sure it gets any hotter than that. (Even if you believe that Alex is a game manager, those kind of stats don't usually warrant a benching).

We shall see how Kaepernick does in the coming weeks, with tough road tests at New England and Seattle sprinkled in the end of season schedule. I believe he will succeed just as everything and everyone has succeeded since Harbaugh has become coach - this is ultimately the main reason why I support Harbaugh's decision to go with Kaepernick.

In Harbaugh We Trust

Harbaugh has handed over the offense to Kaepernick. We should trust his judgment

Harbaugh may not be the best at covering up his BS, but no one can question his effectiveness as a coach in the past decade.

In his coaching stints with San Diego (college), Stanford & San Francisco, Harbaugh has amassed a record of 79-32-1 (over 70% winning percentage).

He had success at San Diego which has yet to be replicated. He built Stanford from a bumbling Pac-10 school to one that now succeeds in both recruiting and on the field. Now, he's maximizing the talent that the Niners have and that other coaches (like Singletary) were unable to turn into success.

His short reign as 49ers coach has been nothing but a tremendous success (21-5-1 regular season mark and likely a second division title in two years). I'm willing to give Harbaugh the benefit of the doubt on this decision, even if it means benching a guy who's playing the best ball of his career in favor of a younger, more talented quarterback.

If the Niners don't win the Super Bowl (or hell, if they don't advance to the same point of the playoffs that they did last year with Smith), I'm sure we will hear all about how this was a bad decision and that Harbaugh should have stuck with Smith. If we judged all football decisions based on this criteria though, we could say 31 teams made bad decisions in their quest to win the Super Bowl.

I say let's see what Kaepernick can do with the remaining 5 games and see just how right (or wrong) Harbaugh's decision to play him will be.

The Beginning of Kaep as the San Franchise & Other Week 11 Musings

The free Gameday Magazine I got from the PR folks after the game along w/ my ticket stub for the MNF game against the Bears

For those who are "friends" with me on Facebook, you know by now that I went to San Francisco with my girlfriend Jen to celebrate her 30th birthday. We did all of the cool touristy stuff - walked on Golden Gate bridge, walked by the crooked part of Lombard street (and even had a cabbie drive us through it), Alcatraz tour, and so on.

The last major thing we did before flying back to Chicago was catching the Niners match-up against the Bears in a battle of back-up QBs, both who got the start thanks to QB concussions to the starters a week before.

Many were expecting the battle of Colin Kaepernick & Jason Campbell to be an ugly one. Well, it was, for half of them at least. While Kaep shined in his first career start, Campbell never had a shot, battling the combination of slow feet, a bad offensive front five & a devastating 49ers front that never really gave Campbell and company a chance to get into an offensive groove.

With the Niners carrying a 20-0 lead into the half, the real question to be solved was whether the Niners could complete the shutout, not whether the Bears had a chance to come back (they didn't). 

Another question that arose around Niner Nation and on ESPN was whether the Niners should stick with the second-year QB from Nevada or go back to the less-flashy veteran in Alex Smith.

First row seats for MNF have their perks

I've gone back and forth on this, and I think I've settled on the realization that Harbaugh will let Alex Smith play as long as he's healthy. One start does not make a season, even if it's against a solid defense in the Bears. I was at the game, so I'm not sure if it was more what the Niners were doing that was creating offensive success or if the Bears were just having a difficult time adjusting to a QB they didn't have much tape on.

I was wrong...about the Niners going with a conservative approach and running it a ton with Kaepernick starting. They threw the ball a lot more than I thought - this makes me believe that Harbaugh trusts him with the offense (and gives me hope that he might get another shot sooner rather than later).

Whatever the reason, I expect to see Smith starting if he is healthy. I know the veterans on the team respect everything Smith has gone through in his career with the Niners to get where he is at now. As much as I'd like to see how Kaepernick can build off of this start, I think we may need to wait and see on it (assuming Smith clears concussion tests this week).

I still believe Kaepernick will have the inside shot to start 2013 as the starter - wouldn't be surprised to see Alex Smith starting somewhere else next year (Kansas City, Philadelphia, NY Jets are possibilities IMO). Time will tell, but I believe Week 11 was the start of Kaepernick as the San Franchise QB.

Week 12 Preview

One reason I think Smith will start if he is healthy is because the Niners will be heading to N'Orleans to face an upstart Saints squad that is heating up at the right time (won 5 of their last 6). It'd be a lot to ask a young QB like Kaepernick to deal with the daunting environment that the Superdome presents.

Kyle Williams in a moment of thought/prayer before the game.

When I projected this game a few weeks ago, I projected this game as a likely loss for the Niners, but now that I thought about it, I give the edge to the Niners (regardless of QB). The Saints' defense remains a work-in-progress (462 yards allowed/game is by far the worst in the league) while the 49ers allow almost 200 yards (two football fields) less at 277 yards/game.

I expect the 49ers to be able to move the ball however they want to. The Saints' best chance of winning (as always) is to air it out with Drew Brees at a high rate and hope the defense has an NFL-average type of defensive effort. I think the Niners' strong line will be able to contain the Saints front and get the holes for Gore and Hunter as they have all year.

If Hunter wasn't behind Gore right now, I believe we'd be talking about him the way we're talking about C.J. Spiller's impact on the Bills.

I'll say the Niners take this one (regardless of QB) 27-24.

I can't wait...to see what the stadium in Santa Clara will look like. I've been to Candlestick three times in my life (all in the past four seasons), and while I've enjoyed Niners' victories each time, the stadium was nothing special. It's in the middle of nowhere in a crappy neighborhood. While it won't be in the city limits anymore, that's ok. From what I've seen of the stadium, it looks like it will be quite the modern masterpiece. I hope to see it in the next five years, hopefully during/after a season in which we will have won another ring.

Rams-Niners Recap

Well ladies and gentleman, it happened. Colin Kaepernick got in to the football game for a significant period of time and showed what he had to offer. He was good, but not very good. I'd say he was like Alex Smith circa-2008 good. He did enough though to keep us from losing, but not enough for us to win. If there is ever any indication of how his day went it was when there was a wide open open Kyle Williams streaking down the middle of the field and your favorite guy, Kaep, checked it down for no gain. Sure, I'll give him the benefit of the doubt that he was over there on the sidelines talking to his boy's when they made the call to put him in the game. He also got little to no reps with the first team, so that added to his awkwardness. If he gets a full week with the first team and Alex can't go I know he'll do better, but for his first significant amount of playing time, I'll give him a C+.

As for the rest of the team, how did we not lose yesterday. It really looked like from the first series the Ram's wanted to win the game and then at about the 8 minute mark of the 4th Quarter they called a team meeting and said, "Guys, we can not win this game. We must at all costs lose." That is what they did. Fumble a punt return, delay of game on the game winning field goal try and oh the idiotic lineman who didn't report as an eligible receiver penalty. They were the best team on the field yesterday in more ways then 1. They were the best NFL football team and the best at giving away a game. Unfortunately for them, the Niners didn't wake up enough from their post-election slumber to win the game.

I consider this a loss, even though it shows up as a tie in the standings. With the three losses they have 2 come against teams that at that stage of the season they should have rolled over. Wake up guys and play like Noooo-BODY's got it better then us!