Was the best defensive player on the 49ers...Alex Smith?

[Fat Elvis]

There was a lot of talk about how the play of the 49ers defense dropped off the second half of the year; part of that is due to the injury to Justin Smith, but his injury only kept him out of the last two games. Other people said that the 49ers defense simply ran out of gas at the end of the season. One interesting stat, depending on how you look at it, is the time of posession under each of the 49ers QBs last year.

One knock on ASmith on this board is how he is only a "game manager." But what does that mean? For some, it means that he is incapable of winning a game by himself and relies on the team around him. Is it possible that it might be the other way around? One quality that you look for in a QB is his ability to raise the level of play of those around him, and I would argue that is equally, if not more important than being able to toss the rock down field all day long.

People argue that ASmith benefited from a stout defense, but I would argue that it might be the other way around. What he does, he does very well. It may be boring, but it really fits with the WCO philosophy. Smith keeps his offense on the field a looong time giving his defense plenty of time to rest and stay fresh throughout not only the game but the season as well.

Kaep may be flashy and exciting, but once he took hold of the 49ers reigns, something happened to the team: the defense started dropping off in production and there was a significant shift in the time of possession.

Factoring out the OT games, when ASmith was QB, the 49ers dominated ToP by an average of 3:30 per game, however, once Kaep took over as QB, the 49ers only held the ball an average of 40 seconds more than the other team. (FTR, the two OT games ToP favored the opposing team by an average of 1:08)

Three minutes may not seem like a long time, but for a defense it is an eternity. Alex Smith will make not only our offense better, but he will make the Chiefs defense significantly better by keeping them off the field and keeping them fresh.

You can bemoan the fact that ASmith does not throw the long ball a lot, but he really doesn't have to when you are 19-5. However, when he does throw the ball 20+ yards, in 2011 when he turned things around at least, he was among the best in the league. (Can't find 2012 stats for 20+ yard pass attempts).

I'm less mad now than I was when this trade was first made, and I would still like to see us draft Geno (I think they are basically the same QB to be quite honest-- call me a moron etc, but their completion percentages, td/int rations, passer ratings and whatnot are almost identical coming out of college) so I will hope the 5th time is a charm and ASmith will help turn the Chiefs franchise around.

[cdcox]

If you have an offense that takes a large number of plays to go down the field, it also means that the yards per play are relatively low. So you have a situation where you have many opportunities to make a mistake as you methodically work the ball down the field in small bites, and a pop gun offense that isn't very well equipped to recover from a mistake (penalty, sack or stuffed running play) if it is made. Fall behind two scores and you're likely done.

While a quick strike offense can wear down a defense, it comes with two compensating advantages. First you are always in the game since you can come back. You can run a game winning drive with ease, since that is your normal mode of operating. The other advantage is psychological. It puts a lot of pressure on the opposing offense to keep up. That pressure takes them out of their game plan, makes them one dimensional, and forces mistakes. It can provide a lot of opportunities for your defense. Denver's quick strike offense during their Super Bowl years help their defense look better than it actually was.

[ChiliConCarnage]

Herm? Is that you?
I guess that's one way to find an upside. The 9ers D tired out because they scored more but they still scored more and made it to the Super Bowl so it didn't seem to have a net negative effect.

Obviously Reid and Dorsey see something most of us aren't. Let's hope they are right. The one thing that makes me feel better is that Reid has had a pretty good eye for qbs. If we'd hired a coach like Lovie Smith and pulled this move I'd be going crazy.

[Mr. Laz]

The most important job the offense has is to protect the defense.

~signed Marty Shottenheimer~

[Pasta Little Brioni]

Yup, Marty just JIHP

[Rasputin]

What's the difference from having Cassel to hand off the ball or Alex Smiff hand the ball off to running backs?

[Coogs]

Look how much better our defense was with Kyle Orton than it was with Cassel. Hell, Hali even came out and said as much. I think a QB can make a whole team better... even the defense.

[ChiefMojo]

Difference is more times than not Smith could move the chains when needed to with his arm while Cassel couldn't. Coogs is correct, it was amazing how our team performed even with Kyle Orton at QB. Cassel was just that plain bad!

[Brock]

Originally Posted by KC Tattoo

What's the difference from having Cassel to hand off the ball or Alex Smiff hand the ball off to running backs?

Andy Reid doesn't run that kind of offense.

[cdcox]

Originally Posted by ChiefMojo

Difference is more times than not Smith could move the chains when needed to with his arm while Cassel couldn't.

49ers 3rd down conversion rate isn't very good under Smith.

[O.city]

You do realize what kind of offense Andy Reid runs right?

[prhom]

I think the important question is who made the team better? I agree with cd that if the only thing your offense does well is dink and dunk then you will be at risk of falling behind early and never being able to get back into the game. Ideally, you want your QB to both manage the game and run a quick strike offense. Peyton is the best at doing that for his team that I've seen. He can just as easily take 6 minutes off the clock at the end of the game and leave the other team with 30seconds as he can run a two minute drive to score the game winning TD.

Since there aren't many guys out there that can do both, I'd rather have the quick strike, big play guys. The pressure of having to score points to keep up with you is better than keeping things close and hoping the other team doesn't get a turnover or big play at you yourself can't match when it counts.

[Mr. Laz]

I think a lot of it's in the defensive player's heads.

because if they can stop a 3rd down conversion they get off the field ... simple as that.


Maybe it's in the opponent's offensive player's heads.


more pressure on the opposing offense
less pressure on your defense

[Coogs]

Originally Posted by KC Tattoo

What's the difference from having Cassel to hand off the ball or Alex Smiff hand the ball off to running backs?

The difference will be if Smith can make a play when the other team has the box stacked with 8 to 9 players. Cassel couldn't do that, so it seemed as if there was pretty much always 8 or 9 in the box. Tough running and tough short passing due to to many in the area all the time.

Can Smith make the plays and back the other team off the LOS?

If so, then our whole team could get better pretty quickly. If not...

[Mr. Laz]

Originally Posted by Coogs

The difference will be if Smith can make a play when the other team has the box stacked with 8 to 9 players. Cassel couldn't do that, so it seemed as if there was pretty much always 8 or 9 in the box. Tough running and tough short passing due to to many in the area all the time.

Can Smith make the plays and back the other team off the LOS?

If so, then our whole team could get better pretty quickly. If not...

From what i saw, Harbaugh protected Alex Smith the same way the Chiefs protected Cassel.

run,run,run ... play defense

Only throw when YOU chose to keep the pressure off of the QB.


From what i've seen, Smith is not the kind of QB that can throw a defense out of their game plan.