It was the coach, not the Quarterback

Heartbreaking loss tonight for the 49ers.  A dream season comes to an end essentially on a fumble.  But they are setup for the long haul.  Get used to the Niners being back in the elite of the NFC for a long time boys and girls.  And the reason will be Jim Harbough.  And the reason they were in this game tonight was Jim Harbough…not Alex Smith.

After last weekend the media made such a big deal about how great Alex Smith was against the Saints.  “He went toe to toe with Drew Brees and won” they said.  No.  Look at the facts.  Saints have a high risk/high reward defense that lives and die’s by the blitz.  The 49ers have one of the best O lines in football.  Smith got protection in that game and when that happens against the Saints defense just about any NFL QB can pick them apart.

It’s similar to Tebow.  San Fran has a great TEAM.  That gets lost on a lot of fans these days.  So many fans (especially the ones 20-30 who have grown up hearing the same things preached) think it’s literally all about wins and loses and if a QB wins then it’s the end all be all.  We’ve gone too far the other way now.

Back in 01, 02, 03 when Tom Brady was first emerging a lot of the media would say he wasn’t a good QB and it was all about there system.  No…it was that Brady made all the right decision’s with the football.  He wouldn’t turn it over, he was great in the red zone, etc, etc.  Those teams didn’t win solely because Tom Brady was good, but he likely didn’t get as much credit as he deserved (as crazy as that now sounds).

So you started hearing Brady apologists say to the Manning apologists “he wins and that’s all that matters”.  Which in large part was true.  For years a lot of guys that put up huge stats didn’t win.  Wasn’t just Manning vs Brady it was Montana vs Marino/Elway, it was Aikman vs Young, and on and on and on.

But fast forward to today, and it seems like as soon as a QB wins a game some people (not all) want to ignore EVERYTHING and say “yep, you see this guy is a winner.  His teams win”.  Well in some cases yes, but more often than not anymore, no.  2 perfect examples this season were the Urban Meyer desciples: Tim Tebow and Alex Smith.

The 49ers are so close to winning a Super Bowl.  That defense is amazing.  There coach is elite.  They have some great weapons on offense with Vernon Davis and Michael Crabtree.  I doubt they move on a QB this offseason, but they should.  If they get the right QB, this group will win a Super Bowl soon.