NFL 2012

[Desert Dust]

Sanchez still has $8 mil guaranteed, gonna be tough to get rid of him.

Too bad. One of the problems with Sanchez is he is just not very tough. I'd put Sanchez at about #50 on the "Toughness List" for NFL quarterbacks. Give him his $8,000,000, a beach towell, and a one-way ticket to Santa Monica. 

[kopfjäger]

 

[kopfjäger]

This has nothing to do with this season, but I found it surfing YouTube tonight.

http://youtu.be/x6zcRPp8zVg

http://youtu.be/KVD601uqD8s

[kopfjäger]

Final MNF game tonight in lieu of playing Christmas Eve.

Falcons get home field advantage with win.

[kopfjäger]

Tebow is going to Jacksonville next year, which is where he should have gone this year instead of letting the Jets make the beast with two backs him over.

[kopfjäger]

Seahawks are punking the Niners. 

[Desert Dust]

Seahawks are punking the Niners. 

+1 The Hawks look strong on both sides of the ball.

Put Smith in for the 2nd half?

[kopfjäger]

+1 The Hawks look strong on both sides of the ball.

Put Smith in for the 2nd half?

They should have started him again after he came back from the injury. 

[Triple J]

They should have started him again after he came back from the injury. 

Right. Smith would have done even worse. The qb wasn't the niner's problem.

[kopfjäger]

Right. Smith would have done even worse. The qb wasn't the niner's problem.

No doubt. They were totally outplayed on both sides of the ball and that rookie QB, Wilson is a hell of a player.

[Langanobob]

No doubt. They were totally outplayed on both sides of the ball and that rookie QB, Wilson is a hell of a player.

Pete Carroll's done a great job with the Seahawks in general and with Wilson in particular.  It's a  subjective observation but it seemed from the first series that the Seaawks were playing with enthusiasm and really enjoying the game.  The 'Niner's were very serious.

I'm a  49er and Kaepernick fan, being from Reno.  I could hardly wait all week for this game  .  Reminded me of 2008.   We've put off getting a big screen tv since it would only enhance the pain of watching my teams lose.

- Bob

[Desert Dust]

They should have started him again after he came back from the injury. 

I agree. Smith had the third highest passer rating in the NFL, he just came off of a game in which he completed 18/19 passes, but he was benched when he got a concussion.

Yes, Kapernick has a great upside with his tremendous arm and his speed in the open field, but he doesn't yet have the poise of Alex Smith. With Kapernick, I've seen muffed snaps, turnovers, indecisiveness, and him trying to be Peyton Manning at the line of scrimmage, which resulted in wasted timeouts or delay of game penalties.

Bottom line: Kapernick is the future but he needs more time in a developmental role; Smith does a better job of taking care of the football and running the offense.

[Triple J]

Bottom line: Kapernick is the future but he needs more time in a developmental role; Smith does a better job of taking care of the football and running the offense.

Smith is similar to Dilfer when he was with the Ravens. Can't scramble, and no arm. Kaepernick is already better than him. No way the Niners beat the Patriots the week before with Smith at QB.

The Seahawks just flat outplayed the Niners on both sides of the ball.

Plus, with Justin Smith out the Niner's defense isn't anywhere near as good...and Vernon Davis getting knocked out early was a huge blow to the offense. Gore was bottled up as well. I think the game would have been even uglier with Smith at QB...he would have been sacked a dozen times, and there would have been zero deep threat.

[Desert Dust]

Smith is similar to Dilfer when he was with the Ravens. Can't scramble, and no arm. Kaepernick is already better than him. No way the Niners beat the Patriots the week before with Smith at QB.

The Seahawks just flat outplayed the Niners on both sides of the ball.

Plus, with Justin Smith out the Niner's defense isn't anywhere near as good...and Vernon Davis getting knocked out early was a huge blow to the offense. Gore was bottled up as well. I think the game would have been even uglier with Smith at QB...he would have been sacked a dozen times, and there would have been zero deep threat.

Please allow me to refute: First, Smith can scramble better than most quarterbacks. He scored a TD on a QB keeper last year against the Saints, and he has been effective at throwing on the run and in the pocket. (4.6 yards per rush)  Agreed, he is not the galloping stallion as is Kapernick, but still very effective when he needs to take off. And yes, he does not have the arm that Kapernick does, but Smith was the third highest rated passer in the league before his concussion. (Smith 104; Kapernick 96) Smith is extremely accurate with the football, which results in sustained drives and a rested defense. (70% completion rate) In addition, Smith takes care of the football and the offense better than Kapernick. With Kapernick I have seen a quick pitch thrown over the head of the receiver which resulted in the loss to the Rams along with several recovered fumbles and botched snaps. Kapernick has been lucky his mistakes didn't cost the team more games.  Also, I have seen numerous wasted timeouts and delay of game penalties because Kapernick can't keep the offense organized and flowing, which results to 3 & outs. Note to Kapernick: You are not Peyton Manning; stop attempting to call audibles in a noisy place like Seattle. Getting a play off is better than constantly burning valuable timeouts or receiving delay of game penalties.

By the way, Dilfer did win a Super Bowl with the Ravens. What happened after they sent him packing? Answer: No more Super Bowls.

I am not saying that the Niners would have beaten the Hawks at home with Smith. I'm just saying that I want the experienced QB who can run the offense efficiently without making potentially catastrophic errors for now.

Conclusion: Smith for now, Kapernick for the future.

[Langanobob]

I'm tending to agree with you but for different reasons.  From a purely skill and ability level, Kap should start.  He's made some mistakes, and didn't have a great game in Seattle, but most of his mistakes are cancelled by some pretty good and big plays.  His first half season of starting and he's playing and winning as well as Smith after 7 seasons.  Better to get Kap more experience as fast as possible because he will be an awesome QB very soon.  As competent as Smith is, he'll never ever be described as awesome.   And remember, Smith threw 3 picks against the Giants, and I don't think he would have fared much better against the chainsaw that was the Seahawks last weekend.

The differences between a winning and losing team can sometimes be very small, and on what I'll call the psychic level for lack of a better term.  Regardless of who is the best QB for the present, I think Harbaugh has done some undefinable but serious damage to the 49ers team and their ability to win by dumping Alex Smith the way he did.   Nothing to do with Kap's play or leadership, but I'm not sure they'll survive very long in the playoffs.

We'll soon know!  I waited half a year for the NFL season to start and I can hardly believe it's almost over already.

- Bob