Newsday (N.Y.): Season of redemption for 49ers QB Smith

By Art Spander
Special to Newsday

SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- He wasn't supposed to be here, one game from the Super Bowl, not after the criticism, the boos and time on injured reserve.

Then again, as the first player picked in the 2005 NFL draft, a quarterback chosen to lead the San Francisco 49ers, Alex Smith was supposed to be here, facing the Giants on Sunday in the NFC Championship Game at Candlestick Park.

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Copyright © 2012 Newsday. All rights reserved.

SF Examiner: In Smith, the Bay has a new miracle worker

By Art Spander
Special to The Examiner

Think he managed that one well enough? You want to compare Alex Smith to Joe Montana or Steve Young? Well compare away. Alex is the new miracle worker by the Bay.

What he managed to do on Saturday at the ’Stick was turn logic and inevitability upside down.

This was one for the ages, and for the Niners. This one was redemption for Alex Smith...

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Copyright 2012 SF Newspaper Company

Newsday (N.Y.): Smith, Davis lead 49ers to thrilling upset of Saints

By Art Spander
Special to Newsday

SAN FRANCISCO -- The other quarterback was the magic man. Drew Brees did what he could, but Alex Smith did what nobody thought he could -- become a winner.

Smith, maligned in his previous six seasons after being taken as the overall No. 1 pick in the 2005 NFL draft, threw a 14-yard touchdown pass to Vernon Davis with nine seconds remaining to give the San Francisco 49ers a 36-32 NFC divisional playoff win over the New Orleans Saints Saturday.

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Copyright © 2012 Newsday. All rights reserved.

SF Examiner: Alex Smith managed the San Francisco 49ers to playoffs

By Art Spander
Special to The Examiner

The 49ers have gone beyond expectations and predictions. Who imagined, after eight consecutive losing seasons, they’d finish the regular season with the second-best record in the NFL? Who dared think they would have the top defense against the rush?

A bye in the first round of the playoffs? That’s for teams like the old Niners or the new Packers, except these Niners reached that pinnacle — and it is a pinnacle as well as an advantage — while the Saints and Steelers, Super Bowl entrants the previous two years, did not.

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Copyright 2012 SF Newspaper Company

SF Examiner: San Francisco 49ers aren't catching breaks these days

By Art Spander
Special to The Examiner

Jim Harbaugh was talking about criticism, conceding when the 49ers lose, there will be second-guessing.

“The whys for what happened,” he calls it. The worry is not what happened, but what didn’t happen, with the 49ers unable to get a victory.

“They’re the hunted now,” Harbaugh said of his Niners, after winning the division...

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Copyright 2011 SF Newspaper Company