ProFootballFocus. QBs in Focus: Alex Smith

[ViperVisor]

https://www.profootballfocus.com/blo...us-alex-smith/

Yuuuuppp....

[chiefzilla1501]

Originally Posted by OnTheWarpath58

If we can't expect an offense whose only goal for the last 26 minutes is to chew up clock to get ONE more first down, then we have RIDICULOUSLY low expectations.

Which, let's face it - we all know is true - because only on CP is 23 TD's and 3,300 yards - in a passing dominated league - considered some amazing accomplishment.

Also, here's a really important point....
Most QBs who chew up clock rely on their running game heavily to do that. Knile Davis was getting swallowed up in the second half.

Imagine if we had a starting RB in the second half, let alone Charles. Imagine if Avery was there so there was still threat to stretch the field. Imagine if Reid wasn't so damn predictable in his playcalling the second half that the Colts weren't sniffing the plays out. So even if we're being critical of Smith for 4 possessions, he was asked to do something you shouldn't have to ask of a QB. Which is to chew up clock on his own executing lousy plays without a running game and with a key receiver missing against a defense that is gunning to stop the short game.

[OnTheWarpath15]

Originally Posted by Messier

Again, all you do is bring up the offense. Here's my main problem with that game. The Colts had TD drives lasting: 1:52, 1:28, 1:41, 4:02 (The long one), and 1:15.

Even if the D lets them score every drive if they just made sure the drives took over 2 minutes, the Colts wouldn't have had time to come all the way back.

I bring up the offense because you and others refuse to acknowledge the role the offense played.

There's no argument regarding the defense. We know they played poorly over the last 26 minutes. What goes unnoticed is how they set Alex and the offense up in the first 34 minutes.

If the defense makes a play here or there in the last 26 minutes - we win.

If the offense makes a play or two - or even extends one drive in the last 26 minutes - we win.

They both played a role in the loss.

[OnTheWarpath15]

Originally Posted by chiefzilla1501

It's a fair comment. But he did get 5 first downs in those 26 minutes you're referencing. And it's pretty hard to do that when you lose Donnie Avery, who is the only guy who can even remotely stretch the field. And I absolutely blame the offense, but Andy Reid gets the majority of that for frustratingly conservative playcalling which is typical botched game management for him.

And by the way, I'm not sold on Alex Smith. I hated his first 10 games or so. I was critical of him even in the second half of the season where he played well, but didn't close out games. But for this one game... he not only played like a hall of fame QB, he did more than that. So yeah, given that he did that, it's really hard to get on him for a few missed shots here and there.

No one is saying he didn't play phenomenally over the first 34 minutes.

But games are 60 minutes long, and this place would chew up and spit out any other QB who played a great half and disappeared in the second.

It's a monster double standard.

[SAUTO]

Originally Posted by OnTheWarpath58

I bring up the offense because you and others refuse to acknowledge the role the offense played.

There's no argument regarding the defense. We know they played poorly over the last 26 minutes. What goes unnoticed is how they set Alex and the offense up in the first 34 minutes.

If the defense makes a play here or there in the last 26 minutes - we win.

If the offense makes a play or two - or even extends one drive in the last 26 minutes - we win.

They both played a role in the loss.

Exactly
Posted via Mobile Device

[OnTheWarpath15]

Interesting how we had no problems scoring points and keeping the ball moving in the first half, all without Charles - but now there are all these excuses why it couldn't continue (not even the scoring, just moving the chains) in the second half.

[Messier]

Originally Posted by OnTheWarpath58

I bring up the offense because you and others refuse to acknowledge the role the offense played.

There's no argument regarding the defense. We know they played poorly over the last 26 minutes. What goes unnoticed is how they set Alex and the offense up in the first 34 minutes.

If the defense makes a play here or there in the last 26 minutes - we win.

If the offense makes a play or two - or even extends one drive in the last 26 minutes - we win.

They both played a role in the loss.

I have mentioned the offense. I said every loss is a team loss, but some things are more to blame than the others. One side of the ball was beyond inept in the fourth quarter. The offense scored enough so that the ONLY thing that could cost them the game is a complete unraveling of the defense, and thats what happened. Sure, the offense could have picked up another 1st down, but that is not what lost the game. Again why I brought up the 1995 Colts game, I guess the defense shares that loss too, but when you look back at it, do you blame them?

[SAUTO]

Originally Posted by Messier

I have mentioned the offense. I said every loss is a team loss, but some things are more to blame than the others. One side of the ball was beyond inept in the fourth quarter. The offense scored enough so that the ONLY thing that could cost them the game is a complete unraveling of the defense, and thats what happened. Sure, the offense could have picked up another 1st down, but that is not what lost the game. Again why I brought up the 1995 Colts game, I guess the defense shares that loss too, but when you look back at it, do you blame them?

Some consider special teams as defense...
Posted via Mobile Device

[Messier]

The D didn't just play poorly, they had an epic melt down.

[chiefzilla1501]

Originally Posted by OnTheWarpath58

I bring up the offense because you and others refuse to acknowledge the role the offense played.

There's no argument regarding the defense. We know they played poorly over the last 26 minutes. What goes unnoticed is how they set Alex and the offense up in the first 34 minutes.

If the defense makes a play here or there in the last 26 minutes - we win.

If the offense makes a play or two - or even extends one drive in the last 26 minutes - we win.

They both played a role in the loss.

Just so we're clear about what happened the last 26 minutes:

2nd half - drive #2: 2 first downs. Smith fumbles (2:45 minutes)
2nd half - drive #3: 3 and out
2nd half - drive #4: 3 plays leading to a field goal
2nd half - drive #5: 3 first downs. 2:47 burned
2nd half - drive #6: 5 first downs. 5 minutes burned
2nd half - drive #7: 2 first downs. On 4th and long throws as perfect a pass as he could have thrown that would have set up a game winning field goal.

That's 12 first downs. That's not quite consistent with the dialogue that we weren't moving the chains.

[Messier]

Originally Posted by JASONSAUTO

Some consider special teams as defense...
Posted via Mobile Device

Yes. Fantasy Football.

[OnTheWarpath15]

Originally Posted by Messier

I have mentioned the offense. I said every loss is a team loss, but some things are more to blame than the others. One side of the ball was beyond inept in the fourth quarter. The offense scored enough so that the ONLY thing that could cost them the game is a complete unraveling of the defense, and thats what happened. Sure, the offense could have picked up another 1st down, but that is not what lost the game. Again why I brought up the 1995 Colts game, I guess the defense shares that loss too, but when you look back at it, do you blame them?

There you go again - trying to assign all of the blame, or even a percentage of the blame. (not sure how anyone can accurately compute that, but...)

There IS no SINGLE reason why we lost that game. There are MANY reasons why, including the offense, defense and coaching.

Regardless of how well the offense AND defense played in the first 34 minutes, NO ONE played well enough to win in the last 26 minutes.

It really is that simple, but you refuse to realize it because *gasp* it takes away from Alex having a great first half. Again, the DEFENSE had just as great of a first half, but no one seems to mind trying to lay it all at their feet.

Some serious hypocrisy going on...

[Saccopoo]

Five Pro Bowlers on defense. 28 point lead. 0.9% chance of winning.

Originally Posted by Coogs

Yet we scored 26.9 points a game to 25.9 for the Saints.

Originally Posted by chiefzilla1501

It's a fair comment. But he did get 5 first downs in those 26 minutes you're referencing. And it's pretty hard to do that when you lose Donnie Avery, who is the only guy who can even remotely stretch the field. And I absolutely blame the offense, but Andy Reid gets the majority of that for frustratingly conservative playcalling which is typical botched game management for him.

And by the way, I'm not sold on Alex Smith. I hated his first 10 games or so. I was critical of him even in the second half of the season where he played well, but didn't close out games. But for this one game... he not only played like a hall of fame QB, he did more than that. So yeah, given that he did that, it's really hard to get on him for a few missed shots here and there.

Originally Posted by Messier

Again, all you do is bring up the offense. Here's my main problem with that game. The Colts had TD drives lasting: 1:52, 1:28, 1:41, 4:02 (The long one), and 1:15.

Even if the D lets them score every drive if they just made sure the drives took over 2 minutes, the Colts wouldn't have had time to come all the way back.

Originally Posted by chiefzilla1501

Just so we're clear about what happened the last 26 minutes:

2nd half - drive #2: 2 first downs. Smith fumbles (2:45 minutes)
2nd half - drive #3: 3 and out
2nd half - drive #4: 3 plays leading to a field goal
2nd half - drive #5: 3 first downs. 2:47 burned
2nd half - drive #6: 5 first downs. 5 minutes burned
2nd half - drive #7: 2 first downs. On 4th and long throws as perfect a pass as he could have thrown that would have set up a game winning field goal.

That's 12 first downs. That's not quite consistent with the dialogue that we weren't moving the chains.

Pwnd.

[OnTheWarpath15]

Originally Posted by chiefzilla1501

Just so we're clear about what happened the last 26 minutes:

2nd half - drive #2: 2 first downs. Smith fumbles (2:45 minutes)
2nd half - drive #3: 3 and out
2nd half - drive #4: 3 plays leading to a field goal
2nd half - drive #5: 3 first downs. 2:47 burned
2nd half - drive #6: 5 first downs. 5 minutes burned
2nd half - drive #7: 2 first downs. On 4th and long throws as perfect a pass as he could have thrown that would have set up a game winning field goal.

That's 12 first downs. That's not quite consistent with the dialogue that we weren't moving the chains.

So let's go through these:

Fumble. Guess I"m not allowed to point out how this played a role...

Three and out. Hmmm.

Set up on a short field, you kill less than 90 seconds and score 3 points. Obviously, 7 points would have been worth a gold brick here, but so would getting a single first down.

2:47 burned, but only 6 plays run. Less than 30 seconds per play. Monte and I were screaming wondering why we weren't running the play clock down to a second or two before snapping the ball. Happened on other drives as well.

Good drive.

Final drive - if anyone steps up and makes a play BEFORE this point, we're kneeling down the clock. Reid goes full reerun and calls time out on a play in which Bowe has an obvious win matchup against their 5th CB.

Game over.

If anything, my mistake was using the phrase "moving the chains". They did it, but didn't take any time in doing so. Three fist downs in a row is great, but if they are followed by a 3-and-out, you've still only chewed a small amount of time off the clock.

[chiefzilla1501]

Originally Posted by OnTheWarpath58

No one is saying he didn't play phenomenally over the first 34 minutes.

But games are 60 minutes long, and this place would chew up and spit out any other QB who played a great half and disappeared in the second.

It's a monster double standard.

Smith didn't disappear in the second half. The running game COMPLETELY disappeared. Andy Reid's playcalling was obscenely bad. Smith was down three starters on an offense we already know is lacking talent, including one pro bowler. If you are eating up clock, you ALWAYS look to your running game. Know how many yards we ran for in the second half? 24 ****ing yards on 9 attempts. 24! We averaged less than 3 yards per carry.

He made one critical mistake by turning the ball over in the 3rd. Apart from that, 12 first downs in an offense with a horrible running game. When the team needed him most, he engineered a 5 minute drive to burn clock and set up a key field goal. When they needed him big time, he stepped up on 4th and long and threw as perfect a pass as you can expect from a QB that Bowe was literally inches away from catching in bounds.

So yes, we're literally nitpicking about a few mistakes here and there in a game where he was carrying the team under extraordinarly bad circumstances.

[Messier]

Originally Posted by OnTheWarpath58

There you go again - trying to assign all of the blame, or even a percentage of the blame. (not sure how anyone can accurately compute that, but...)

There IS no SINGLE reason why we lost that game. There are MANY reasons why, including the offense, defense and coaching.

Regardless of how well the offense AND defense played in the first 34 minutes, NO ONE played well enough to win in the last 26 minutes.

It really is that simple, but you refuse to realize it because *gasp* it takes away from Alex having a great first half. Again, the DEFENSE had just as great of a first half, but no one seems to mind trying to lay it all at their feet.

Some serious hypocrisy going on...

You are doing the exact same thing in trying to say it was a team loss. You don't like Smith, you want it to be a little his fault, so you keep assigning blame everywhere. Yes, in a team game, everyone shares the loss (for the record, there I said it again), but come on, the offense slowed down is getting equal treatment as a defense that let the Colts score in record time. Everyone gets some blame. The D gets most of it from me.