That's why I'm trying to avoid the "what if" game that everyone else wants to play - there are too many variables.

Does he play lights out for 55 minutes - putting up 36 points and giving the defense a 23 point lead, only to see them give it all back before he ever throws the INTs?

Or does he play poorly, miss some opportunities to put the game away, it stays tight, and then he throws a late INT?

Again, "good enough" is going to be interpreted differently by different people.

This is what I mean.

Smith did nothing for 2 full quarters, but because we had a chance to win at the end, some people think that's good enough.

If he plays even average ball in Q2 and Q3, that game never comes down to the final possession.

You said it's not too much to ask for a QB who won 11 games to win a PO game.
Said he has played like top 10 QB the last five weeks.

What is YOUR interpretation of played well cause it doesn't seem like you have a solid handle on it.

PI completely disagree with you on his level of play against Denver at Arrowhead.

If it weren't for Avery and others dropping really good throws, Alex would have had over 400 yards passing and the outcome would be completely different.

I'm not one to use WR drops as an excuse, but Alex was playing at a high level that game.

My point is that, win or lose, it doesn't change who this guy is as a QB.

Sure, he may go out there and play a shit game - in which case we lose and he played a huge part of it. It doesn't mean he's a shitty QB, it means he's a slightly above average QB that had a bad game at a bad time.

If he has a great game and takes us to a win - he's not a better QB; he just played a great game.

So why are folks still eager to say that the playoff game will be dispositive of who the guy is as a QB? Tom Brady's playoff losses don't define who he is as a QB, nor do his wins - the guy's just a great QB. Same story with Brees, Rodgers, etc...

Mark Sanchez's playoff wins don't define who he is as a QB - he's a shitty QB. Same with Tim Tebow and Jake Delhomme.

Alex Smith is who he is. At this point we have to hope he goes out and plays a good game when we need him to, but in the end it doesn't really change who he is. He's a solid QB that is capable of playing good games and capable of playing bad ones. We just need to hope the bad ones don't come in the post-season.

You need to go back and watch that time span without the emotion of the moment.

Alex was putting the ball on the money.

I understand. For me, I like to keep it simple. How does a player finish..that is all that matters.

I mean, isn't giving yourself a chance to win "good enough"?

He wasn't great, but we were a play from overtime.

In fairness, those two comments are correct.

Yeah, we scored 38? points in that game, but we were also pretty shitty IIRC on 3rd down. 30% I think, while SD was near 50%.

So yeah, I can see why some would say those things. Personally, I think he played about as well as he's capable of in that game, so I can't blame him.

I can understand why others might blame him partially, however. Anyone blaming him completely is a moron, though.

I don't know what else Alex could have done during that time span...

Did you watch that game? The drops. My god, the drops.

Funny, my post said nothing about the last five weeks.

Might want to go back and re-read it.

Well, because everyone needs answers and they need them now. It's all black and white. Bets depend on it. People argue this shit for months and need to know if they won. And you think this has to do with football?!?

Seriously though, spot on... I was amused at the reactions to the losses. We've known what this team was and how Alex Smith fit at the end of September, or maybe sooner. We discussed for 2+ months that the team could win some games but probably couldn't beat the high scoring offenses, which was fine because 2-14, of course... then they lose a couple to a couple of high scoring offenses and suddenly everything has changed!

If people are tired of talking about Alex Smith now, just wait until the playoff game is over... either way, holy shit, this place is going to be really crazy.

IIRC, Duncan Idaho broke down each of those drives, and 3 of the 4 drops had no bearing on the score - we scored on the drives in question.

No we didn't.