SF Examiner: Singletary still has work to do

By Art Spander
Special to The Examiner

His phrase was “the enemy within,” an apt description of the opponent the 49ers, as any team where losing has been the norm, must learn to defeat before consistently defeating other teams.

We had a whiff of the idea from Mike Nolan, who perhaps went about it a little too vociferously. Losers think like losers. Winners, to the contrary, believe they will win.

Now we find Mike Singletary, all motivation and emotion, pounding even harder on the theme established by the man he replaced 13 months ago: The culture must change before the record will change.

Read the full story here.

Copyright 2009 SF Newspaper Company

RealClearSports: Cutler Turns Over a Victory to the 49ers

By Art Spander
For RealClearSports.com

SAN FRANCISCO -- In the future we're destined to have pro football eight days a week. It's unavoidable, like death and taxes. Fumbles, interceptions, holding penalties by the hour.

But right now it's only Sunday, Monday and, had we forgotten, Thursday night, that series now restarted to the delight of NFL Network if not the game's purists.

The San Francisco 49ers and Chicago Bears each played, and lost, Sunday, and then four days later, they were forced to face each other by the side of San Francisco Bay, two not very good teams offering a lot of not very good football.

Read the full story here.

© RealClearSports 2009

Niners may not be who we thought they were

SAN FRANCISCO -- The rant was predictable. What Mike Singletary said was the way the 49ers played, or in truth misplayed, is unacceptable. “Stupid stuff,’’ was his terse analysis of another game squandered.

Indeed, but should we, and he, expect anything else?

Maybe the Niners, who Sunday at Candlestick Park lost their fourth straight game, this one to the bottom-feeder Tennessee Titans, 34-27, are no more than they can offer.

Maybe those wins in September were illusory, giving everyone including the head coach the mistaken idea the team was in the upper echelon of the NFL.

Maybe the thought San Francisco could for the first time in seven seasons finish with a winning record, or at the least an even record, was the stuff of fantasy rather than reality, a dream for the faithful nurtured on the greatness of Montana and Young, Lott and Rice.

Indeed, the Niners could have beaten the Titans, perhaps should have beaten the Titans, whom they led 20- 17 in the fourth quarter. But they didn’t, and no matter how you analyze it, the four Alex Smith turnovers, three of them interceptions, the inability to shut down  Tennessee running back Chris Johnson (135 yards and two touchdowns), that’s all conversation.

Singletary, who now has a losing record, 8-9, since being elevated to then interim head coach a year ago, spoke of giving away the ball and of giving away games, both contentions being undeniable.

“The No. 1 thing is we cannot turn the ball over,’’ said Singletary after the Niners record slipped to 3-5, “and that’s the thing that basically killed us today . . . We’re not finishing football games. If you go back to Minnesota, back to Indianapolis, back to the game today, take your pick, we’re not finishing games.’’

But the response to both explanations is a question, to wit: Why? Why are the Niners making mistakes? Why are the Niners blowing leads down at the end?

Could it be their players simply are not as good as the other team’s -- even a team such as the Titans, which won a second straight game after opening with six consecutive defeats? Could it be the offensive game plan, so restrictive, doesn’t fit the players in the lineup?

Singletary is understandably supportive of offensive coordinator Jimmy Raye, since he is the man who chose Raye. And no intelligent coach knocks his players, not when there are eight games to play, one of those games in quick turnaround on Thursday night against the Chicago Bears at the ‘Stick.

But Alex Smith isn’t there yet, despite all out-of-control optimism constructed over the previous two games. And the offensive line remains a problem, even though Singletary avoided a direct assessment of this game with the answer, “You know what, the past two weeks, I think they played well, I really did.’’

They didn’t play terribly well when Alex, who appears more comfortable in the shotgun formation he played at the University of Utah, was under center in the “T.’’

Smith was sacked four times, one of those resulting in a lost fumble with some nine minutes left in the third quarter when the ball was knocked out of his hand as he reached back to throw.

Raye, the coordinator, had been criticized for his conservatism, mainly because Shaun Hill was at quarterback. But with Alex playing a third straight game and starting his second in a row, it wasn’t what was called -- Smith threw 45 passes and completed 29 -- but the style that was utilized.

So many of the passes were short and wide, four yards, five yards. Alex has an arm. What he didn’t have was time, and perhaps Raye figured that into the equation.

What nobody figured was Smith would throw three interceptions, although one came after the Titans had taken a 27-20 lead in the fourth quarter, and Alex was forcing an attempted comeback and two others came after tipped balls.

“I wouldn’t say that at all,’’ Singletary insisted when asked if the interceptions were Smith’s fault. “I thought Alex was playing well today, for the most part. When you get turnovers, obviously you can’t say that, but I thought he made some good decisions . . . It looked to me that he was getting the ball where it needed to go.’’

The 49ers are not getting where they need to go. Losing to the Vikings, then undefeated, at Minneapolis, or to the Colts, still undefeated, at Indianapolis, both narrowly, is no sin. But losing to the Titans could be considered one.

When Alex, as a starter four and five years ago, before the injuries and agony, had an unusual number of fumbles, someone, fact or fiction, determined Smith had abnormally small hands. Singletary refused to enter that discussion.

“What he did in the past,’’ Singletary said of Smith, “I’m going to leave in the past. All I know is what I saw today was a quarterback throwing the ball pretty effectively. As far as the fumbles, we have to look at it, but I’m a little bit surprised he hasn’t fumbled more. When you get a quarterback that’s coming in new and not taken any snaps during the year, there are some of the things you’re going to have early on.’’

It’s early for Alex. For the 49ers, it may be later than they think.

SF Examiner: Smith gets another chance

By Art Spander
Examiner Columnist

Unfinished business. That was Alex Smith’s explanation for returning to the 49ers last spring when logic dictated he take his battered psyche and repaired arm to another franchise.

“It was important,” said Smith. “I felt like I had unfinished business here.”

Business he barely had a chance to start. Business which none of us ever believed he would get the opportunity to complete. And now business that would make his story enthralling.

They are his team, the 49ers. As they were supposed to be, before the constant chaos and frequent injuries. He came back, against our better judgment, given the chance for a comeback of another sort, to prove the faith once shown in him was justified.

Maybe he shouldn’t have been the first pick in the 2005 draft, but he was. There had to be some reason: talent, smarts — after all, Alex graduated Utah in 2½ years — and intuitiveness.

He’s only 25. That’s the same age at which Joe Montana became a starter in 1981. And while no one is declaring Smith the new Montana, Alex has years ahead of him, and yet years of experience.

In ’06, Alex’s second season, when he had the wise Norv Turner as offensive coordinator, Smith became the first Niners quarterback to take every snap in every game.

There’s no guarantee Smith will be a savior, despite his three-touchdown passing performance off the bench last Sunday. But here was a lesson. Smith, the Niners’ first choice in ’05, throwing to Vernon Davis, the Niners’ first choice in ’06.

There are factors such as chemistry, desire and coaching — especially coaching — but in football ability invariably makes a difference. First-rounders are supposed to be great. Otherwise they wouldn’t be first-rounders.

Mike Singletary, the guy in charge of the Niners, is impatient. He doesn’t suffer fools or laggards. Or quarterbacks who complete only 6 for 11, as did Shaun Hill the first half for the 49ers against Houston.

It wasn’t all Hill’s fault, and he is a fighter, someone who has beaten the odds. But he doesn’t have the capability of Alex Smith.

“When I looked at Alex,” said Singletary, “I didn’t know what we were going to get when he went in.”

What he, we, the Niners got was a quarterback under his sixth coordinator in six seasons, a quarterback whose courage had been questioned by the very person who drafted him, former coach Mike Nolan, playing beautifully.

No, the Houston Texans had not prepared for Smith — although in the NFL such an oversight is inexcusable. And no, Smith, who went in with the Niners trailing, 21-0, couldn’t get them closer than 24-21.

But the man who was a teammate of Reggie Bush at Helix High in San Diego, who played his college ball under Urban Meyer, had us thinking less of the present than of the future.

The Niners through history have been the team of Frankie Albert, Y.A. Tittle, John Brodie, Montana, Steve Young, Jeff Garcia — quarterbacks who could find a receiver and find a way.

Alex Smith was drafted to be next in line, heir to that throne. He again has been handed the crown. And the football.

Time to finish business.

Art Spander has been covering Bay Area sports since 1965 and also writes on www.artspander.com and www.realclearsports.com. E-mail him at typoes@aol.com.

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http://www.sfexaminer.com/sports/Spander-Smith-gets-another-chance-66768407.html
Copyright 2009 SF Newspaper Company

SF Examiner: Choosing between Russell and Hill

By Art Spander
Special to The Examiner

SAN FRANCISCO — You’ve been around. You know the axioms of sport, the clichés. You know that no matter what you’ve done before, your reputation is dependent on the last game. “What have you done for us lately?” is sport’s ultimate question.

What Shaun Hill of the 49ers and JaMarcus Russell of the Raiders did was get people talking, get people asking: “Which one would you rather have as your quarterback, this season or in the future?”

The subject was fodder for Gary Radnich’s morning show on KNBR (680 AM). Hill’s last game, a week and a half ago against Atlanta, was his worst game. Russell’s last game, Sunday, a win over the Philadelphia Eagles, may have been his best.

All of a sudden we could see the potential in JaMarcus, who, despite his flaws, looked like a young man with a future, a young man who was the first pick in the draft. All of a sudden we could see the failings of Hill, who went undrafted and spent nearly six seasons in the NFL without throwing a pass.

So, we were asked, if you were starting a team, who would you rather have, Russell, the All-American, the very first selection in the ’07 draft who because of poor work habits and a degree of confidence that nears arrogance had been a bust, or Hill, the guy in control, the one who earned his place, but at 29 is as good as he’ll ever be?

I’ll take JaMarcus. There had to be a reason he was chosen over everyone else. He is supposed to lead a team to championships, even though Raiders coach Tom Cable properly pointed out, “‘supposed to’ are scary words; there are a lot of things in this world that are supposed to be but are not.”

A great quarterback wins games, not merely manages games. Indeed, Hill had a 7-0 record at Candlestick Park as a starter, but the Falcons quickly took him out of his comfort zone. Having to play from behind, Hill was flustered and frustrated.

Russell’s also been frustrated in his two-plus seasons, but against the Eagles, who are supposed to be a good team — thank you, Tom Cable — JaMarcus made the right plays. He appeared to understand what is required of a quarterback.

A player is allowed a stinker now and then, but what happens if Hill starts to slide? Do the Niners finally give the bewitched Alex Smith an opportunity? Like JaMarcus, Alex was the first pick in the draft. Once again, there had to be a reason.

We’ve learned success comes from more than talent. Just because you can throw a ball 60 yards or shake off tacklers doesn’t always mean you’ll have the magic to make teammates better, to make them believe in you.

Tom Brady was a sixth-rounder. Kurt Warner needed seasons in the Arena League and Europe to prove he could be an NFL starter. There are exceptions. There are mistakes.

But if the scouts think someone can play and someone else can’t, it’s difficult to defy the odds. Shaun Hill has done all he could. It’s simply that JaMarcus Russell should be able to do much more.

Art Spander has been covering Bay Area sports since 1965 and also writes on www.artspander.com and www.realclearsports.com. E-mail him at typoes@aol.com.

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http://www.sfexaminer.com/sports/Spander-Choosing-between-Russell-and-Hill-65123177.html
Copyright 2009 SF Newspaper Company