Singletary's Dilemma is Playoff Defense, Pop Warner Offense

I love Mike Singletary. I have been a fan of his since he destroyed opposing offenses when he roamed the field for the Monsters of the Midway. I was thrilled when he was named Head Coach of the San Franciso 49ers and admire his great motivational and leadership qualities. There is no chance the 49ers will ever have a poor defense with Mike at the helm. Offense, on the other hand, appears to be another story.

SINGLETARY COMMENTS ON 49er OFFENSE AFTER BEARS DEBACLE:

"I thought [QB] Alex [Smith] did a good job."

"I thought our offense did what they needed to do in order for us to win the game. Yes, we would have like to have gotten more points, and I think that will come."

"I thought we did a good job running the ball. We felt that we could be effective running the ball, and it showed later on. And, because I felt our defense would do a good job against their offense, it’s the reason that later on in the game we decided to run the ball more and not take a risk in throwing the ball and run some time off the clock and put the game away. And, that’s pretty much it.”

With all due respect, Mike, what the hell are you thinking? The offense did not do what they needed to do to win the game. They did everything they could to lose the game and it was only the heads up play of the defense combined with Jay Cutler's horrible performance that barely enabled the Niners to escape with a victory. The play calling makes the word vanilla look radical. It was pathetic, and I am disappointed to know that you think it was good.

Most 49er teams throughout history would have buried the Bears by three or four touchdowns, and Mike, I've seen every 49er team in history. Let's face it, Mike. Alex Smith lacks the natural instincts to be a consistent leader of a team. He doesn't even believe in himself, how do you expect the rest of the team to fall behind your rather transparent praise of him?

As to running the ball, you continued to run the ball because you don't trust Alex Smith and I don't blame you. Come on, Mike, for a man committed to honesty your words of praise about him ring hollow. I realize that you have few choices. Shaun Hill was only a shadow of the leader we came to love the past couple of seasons and Alex Smith will never be more than Alex Smith. A pass is only a risk when you have a mediocre QB throwing the ball.

Smith's passer rating is 79.5; Shaun Hill's passer rating was 79.6 at the time he lost his starting job.

When the light bulb goes off in your head and you finally admit to yourself that this is true, the 49ers will have hope for the future.

SINGLETARY'S OBVIOUS ALTERNATIVE:

Mike now faces a true dilemma. He has #7 sitting on the bench. Nate Davis is a big kid who can run the spread effectively. He makes quicker decisions than Alex Smith, has a stronger and more accurate arm, is more mobile, and plays with poise and confidence, something Alex has not done in five years. His rocket arm is impressive and with receivers like Crabtree, Morgan, Hill and Jones, this talent is being wasted on the bench.

Naysayers and youthful Niner fans who know nothing about winning or consistency, see Alex Smith as a failed project and blame the team for throwing him in the mix too early. Maybe they are right. They post on various forums that Nate should sit not only this season but next, too. They are scared to death to ruin another QB prospect the way they feel that Smith was ruined. Frankly, Scarlet, I don't give a damn.

Dan Marino, Ben Roethlisberger, Joe Flacco, Matt Ryan, and now Josh Freeman, have all benefited from playing in their rookie season. Nate Davis is a man, not a little kid who has to be protected like the current QB. Give him a chance.

PREDICTION:

Mike, if you stick with Alex and your Pop Warner level offense, the playoffs will be out of reach and you will lose the support of many 49er fans who see the potential greatness in Nate Davis, and blame you and Jimmy Raye for the most boring 49er offense in history -- and justifiably so. As it stands now, Mike, you will deserve all the criticism you receive.

Get Nate Davis in there running the spread with Crabtree, Hill, Morgan and Jones, put Bruce out to pasture, and you will create some excitement in San Francisco. Until you do that, your Pop Warner offense will continue to be:

BORING

and the fans continue to wait...

Copyright @ 2009
All Rights Reserved

Singletary Faces Major Turning Point

After being just two seconds away from an undefeated 4-0 start, the 49ers came crashing to earth on Sunday as the Atlanta Falcons humiliated them 45-10 at Candlestick Park. For the first time this season, we were able to see what an outstanding job Mike Singletary has done to date with a team whose weaknesses were exposed for all to see.

Now facing a bye week ahead, and with the prospect of both the Arizona Cardinals and Seattle Seahawks returning to form, Mike Singletary is faced with some major decisions. On the defensive side of the ball, the 49ers are sound and talented. Manny Lawson has been inconsistent, and the secondary has had its good and bad moments, but the unit as a whole is among the league's upper echelon. Patrick Willis and Takeo Spikes have been sensational, and Justin Smith and Isaac Sopoaga have been staunch against the run.

Aubrayo Franklin, after an excellent start to the season, had a terrible game yesterday, and Dre Bly should be cut. His hot dog performance and insistence that "Dre does what Dre does", proves that he is an individual playing on a team and there is no room for that kind of childish behavior on a winning TEAM, With just a few adjustments, the defense will remain solid.

THE TEAM UNDER REVIEW

The fly in the ointment for the 49ers is the offense. That they have been able to go 3-2 with Jimmy Raye's plain vanilla offense is remarkable, but it's time to play PROFESSIONAL football and this offensive scheme may be fine for a Pop Warner league team lacking a good QB, but it has no place in the NFL.

Let's pick the offense apart. First, the offensive line is just that -- offensive. To say that Shaun Hill has little or no time to pass is an understatement. Eric Heitmann and Joe Staley have been adequate, but the guard play of David Baas and Chilo Rachal has been very disappointing. Right tackle has been inconsistent with Snyder and Pashos both having mediocre performances. Elevating Alex Boone from the practice squad may be a good move as he will be a future starter and needs to get some reps.

At wide receiver, it is obvious that the Niners lack a breakaway man like they faced in Roddy White of Atlanta. Josh Morgan has disappointed, not only because he dropped a certain TD pass vs. the Rams, then made the excuse that the ball was "coming down like a punt", but because yesterday he was not running full out in an attempt to catch a pass. Anything less than 100% effort is unacceptable.

Brandon Jones has yet to set foot on the field and Jason Hill is apparently in somebody's doghouse but gives great effort on special teams and is, in my estimation, the best wide receiver we have active at this time. Arnaz Battle has never been great, and Isaac Bruce is ready for Social Security and shows it. The best receivers right now are the Tight Ends, Vernon Davis and Delanie Walker.

THE FORK IN THE ROAD -- SINGLETARY'S MOMENT OF DECISION

As someone who shares a birthdate with Singletary, I have insight into his thought processes. He's a Libra to whom balance is essential in life. Mike can see both sides of a situation and is motivated by fairness and discipline. His decisions are always made with the best interest of his team in mind and he will make sacrifices to see that his goals are met.

Now the 49ers are at a fork in the road. They are moving in the right direction with the Playoffs and eventually the Super Bowl as the goal. Yesterday's blowout exposed the weaknesses, and unfortunately, the biggest weakness is at QB. I love Shaun Hill. He is a leader, determined, and excellent game manager, and tough. However, he does not possess the passing skills to take an NFL team to a title. That fact became obvious to me yesterday for the first time. I wanted him to succeed badly, but he just doesn't have "it", and "it" is what is needed at the position to take the Niners to the next level. Continuing with Hill as our starting QB is only delaying the development of this team.

Mike is now faced with a dilemma. Shaun Hill is a serviceable quarterback, an excellent game manager, a fairly accurate passer with a soft arm, and a leader. Alex Smith came to the 49ers with great physical ability but no natural instincts for the position. Alex continues to take way too long to set up and deliver the ball. He makes very slow decisions which results in a very slow delivery. His passing is scattershot at best and while he has a strong arm, he is and continues to be very inaccurate. The game has never slowed down for Alex. He will NEVER be a top quarterback for the 49ers.

THE CRABTREE CONNECTION

As we enter the Bye week, the future of our receiving corps has come to camp. Michael Crabtree, if he is anywhere near as good as expected, will bring the excitement and explosiveness to the receiving corps that is needed. With Jones returning from injury and Jason Hill and Morgan ready to go, and with the return of Frank Gore, this offense should be ready to reduce the vanilla bean running scheme and go to the air with effectiveness.

Enter Nate Davis. In two preseason games he has demonstrated a rocket arm, and makes plays that the other two guys simply cannot; he is mobile and can make throws on the run the others cannot, and he makes excellent decisions. I don't care that he has only faced backups -- his ability is right there for all to see.

Most important of all is his poise. In four years, Alex Smith has continually shown that deer-in-the-headlights quality that frustrates 49er fans. Many blame his failure to excel at QB on the 49ers. They say he has been ruined by them due to having too many offensive coordinators, a poor supporting cast, etc. I say that is baloney (bologna to my Italian readers). In reading the forums and comments of many of the newer and younger 49er fans who don't even have a clue as to our winning tradition, beg and plead not to rush Davis into the fray and ruin him like we did Alex. I read comments saying he's our QB for 2010, 2011, and even 2012.

Why wait? Do the names Flacco, Ryan or Roethlisberger ring a bell? All were highly successful in their rookie season.

If I were Mike Singletary, I would get Nate Davis and Michael Crabtree together and have them start working on their chemistry right now during the bye week. They are the touchdown combination of the future for the 49ers and it makes no sense to finish this season with either Hill or Smith since neither is the future of the 49ers.

I am now in my 64th season as a 49er fan, having seen every quarterback in Niner history from the great Frankie Albert up to not so great Alex Smith, and consider myself to be a pretty good judge of quarterbacking talent. Nate Davis possesses the most talent and ability to be seen in a 49er quarterback since Steve Young. It makes no sense to hold him back. The only way he is going to develop that talent is to PLAY. We discovered a gem, let's polish it and put it on display. It is time!








Copyright @ 2009
All Rights Reserved