NFL '13 SEASON THREAD

[ninersdd]

Just realized that for the 3rd straight year, the Niners will draw an old division rival in the playoffs. Saints in 2011, Falcons last year, and now the Panthers again.

[IceCap]

49ers- Colin f'ing Kaepernick. Everyone spewed bs about NFL quarterbacks not losing their jobs to injury when Cutler came back. Alex Smith says otherwise. He plays well and does the responsible thing by choosing not to play with a concussion. What does that get him? He looses his job.

Yeah because it has nothing to do with the fact that Colin Kaepernick fits the 49ers system better than Alex Smith did and Jim Harbaugh could see that from MILES away.

Really, the concussion was kinda perfect timing for the 49ers, because I really do feel that Jim Harbaugh was looking for ANY excuse he could find to bench Alex Smith in favor of Kaepernick. There wouldn't have been all the drama the off season prior with Peyton Manning if Jim Harbaugh really had any confidence in Alex Smith. Which was completely justifiable. Sure he had a handful of nice games in 2011, but he was flat out AWFUL FOR SIX FULL SEASONS prior to that.

That was a really weak argument at the time, and it's mind blowing that it still persists to this day despite the fact that Colin Kaepernick did in ten games what Alex Smith never could.

I thought you were a Bucs fan. Where did this 49ers fandom come from?

Seriously though, here's how I see it. Alex Smith had to deal with a revolving door of crappy coaches for the majority of his career in San Francisco. I have to imagine that will mess up most quarterbacks. What happens when he gets a competent coach for two seasons running? He gets better and starts to succeed. Imagine that.

Alex Smith, at the time he lost the starting job in San Francisco, was doing his job well. Him losing it despite that doesn't sit well with me. That it happened when he was doing what was in the best interests of his own well being only makes Harbaugh look worse to me.

Oh well, Kaep keeps playing on while Alex Smith sits at home another year.

Oh please. Take a look at the stat lines from that KC/Indy game. Alex Smith had a tremendous game and did everything he had to do. Blaming Alex Smith for that loss when it was the KC defence that completely imploded is just nonsensical.

[JayMac]

49ers- Colin f'ing Kaepernick. Everyone spewed bs about NFL quarterbacks not losing their jobs to injury when Cutler came back. Alex Smith says otherwise. He plays well and does the responsible thing by choosing not to play with a concussion. What does that get him? He looses his job.

Yeah because it has nothing to do with the fact that Colin Kaepernick fits the 49ers system better than Alex Smith did and Jim Harbaugh could see that from MILES away.

Really, the concussion was kinda perfect timing for the 49ers, because I really do feel that Jim Harbaugh was looking for ANY excuse he could find to bench Alex Smith in favor of Kaepernick. There wouldn't have been all the drama the off season prior with Peyton Manning if Jim Harbaugh really had any confidence in Alex Smith. Which was completely justifiable. Sure he had a handful of nice games in 2011, but he was flat out AWFUL FOR SIX FULL SEASONS prior to that.

That was a really weak argument at the time, and it's mind blowing that it still persists to this day despite the fact that Colin Kaepernick did in ten games what Alex Smith never could.

I thought you were a Bucs fan. Where did this 49ers fandom come from?

Seriously though, here's how I see it. Alex Smith had to deal with a revolving door of crappy coaches for the majority of his career in San Francisco. I have to imagine that will mess up most quarterbacks. What happens when he gets a competent coach for two seasons running? He gets better and starts to succeed. Imagine that.

Alex Smith, at the time he lost the starting job in San Francisco, was doing his job well. Him losing it despite that doesn't sit well with me. That it happened when he was doing what was in the best interests of his own well being only makes Harbaugh look worse to me.

Oh well, Kaep keeps playing on while Alex Smith sits at home another year.

Oh please. Take a look at the stat lines from that KC/Indy game. Alex Smith had a tremendous game and did everything he had to do. Blaming Alex Smith for that loss when it was the KC defence that completely imploded is just nonsensical.

I agree Ice_Cap. How can you blame a QB when the offense scores 40+ points? The QB gets way too much credit and way too much blame.

[dbadefense1990]

And with that I will fade into the frosty night air, another championship safe from the grubby hands of obnoxious franchises.

The Broncos, Colts, Pats, and 49ers are still in it.

I'd like to know when the Broncos franchise became obnoxious.

With 5:28 left in the 1986 AFC Championship Game - it's entirely possible I may be a bit biased.

That's not the Broncos being "obnoxious." That's called a "classic Marty Schottenheimer choke-job."

[Still MIGHTY]

Onto Denver. The Chargers are comin' for ya, Payton!

Sean Payton and the Saints are going to Seattle. If the Chargers are coming for Payton, they missed their flight.

[IceCap]

Payton/Peyton tomato/tomato

Well not really but...you know

[Kramerica Industries]

49ers- Colin f'ing Kaepernick. Everyone spewed bs about NFL quarterbacks not losing their jobs to injury when Cutler came back. Alex Smith says otherwise. He plays well and does the responsible thing by choosing not to play with a concussion. What does that get him? He looses his job.

Yeah because it has nothing to do with the fact that Colin Kaepernick fits the 49ers system better than Alex Smith did and Jim Harbaugh could see that from MILES away.

Really, the concussion was kinda perfect timing for the 49ers, because I really do feel that Jim Harbaugh was looking for ANY excuse he could find to bench Alex Smith in favor of Kaepernick. There wouldn't have been all the drama the off season prior with Peyton Manning if Jim Harbaugh really had any confidence in Alex Smith. Which was completely justifiable. Sure he had a handful of nice games in 2011, but he was flat out AWFUL FOR SIX FULL SEASONS prior to that.

That was a really weak argument at the time, and it's mind blowing that it still persists to this day despite the fact that Colin Kaepernick did in ten games what Alex Smith never could.

I thought you were a Bucs fan. Where did this 49ers fandom come from?

Seriously though, here's how I see it. Alex Smith had to deal with a revolving door of crappy coaches for the majority of his career in San Francisco. I have to imagine that will mess up most quarterbacks. What happens when he gets a competent coach for two seasons running? He gets better and starts to succeed. Imagine that.

Alex Smith, at the time he lost the starting job in San Francisco, was doing his job well. Him losing it despite that doesn't sit well with me. That it happened when he was doing what was in the best interests of his own well being only makes Harbaugh look worse to me.

Oh well, Kaep keeps playing on while Alex Smith sits at home another year.

Oh please. Take a look at the stat lines from that KC/Indy game. Alex Smith had a tremendous game and did everything he had to do. Blaming Alex Smith for that loss when it was the KC defence that completely imploded is just nonsensical.

I'm gonna take this POV to certain extents as well. Alex Smith is not one of my favorites, he never really has been, and I think Kaepernick took the Niners to some heights that I'm not sure Alex Smith had in him, but the Niners as a TEAM had been a mess for a decade before Harbaugh was hired; that's not entirely on Alex Smith right there. Lord knows we have plenty of Bears fans around here who bitched about the Bears offense during the Lovie years - look at the turnover at the O-Coordinator position and some sense can be made out of it; hell, they still had average units even with a healthy and firing Jay Cutler. Stability is underrated only because it never gets appreciated when you have it.

In Alex Smith's final appearance at Candlestick late in Week 17 against the Cardinals in 2012, he was greeted with a pretty solid standing O by the Niners. That tells me all I need to know about how most 49ers fans remember him and think of him, for what he did and what he had to deal with, during his time in SF.

--

And, yeah, somehow finding a way to poke fun at Alex Smith when he had a career game and his team still managed to lose just smacks in the face of some really unjustified sour grapes. Alex Smith isn't the reason the Chiefs D couldn't hold a 28 point lead in the 2nd half. That's ridiculous.

(EDIT: Well, that below response is enough to kind of help me understand what you were getting at, so I'll cut the slack.)

[FiddySicks]

49ers- Colin f'ing Kaepernick. Everyone spewed bs about NFL quarterbacks not losing their jobs to injury when Cutler came back. Alex Smith says otherwise. He plays well and does the responsible thing by choosing not to play with a concussion. What does that get him? He looses his job.

Yeah because it has nothing to do with the fact that Colin Kaepernick fits the 49ers system better than Alex Smith did and Jim Harbaugh could see that from MILES away.

Really, the concussion was kinda perfect timing for the 49ers, because I really do feel that Jim Harbaugh was looking for ANY excuse he could find to bench Alex Smith in favor of Kaepernick. There wouldn't have been all the drama the off season prior with Peyton Manning if Jim Harbaugh really had any confidence in Alex Smith. Which was completely justifiable. Sure he had a handful of nice games in 2011, but he was flat out AWFUL FOR SIX FULL SEASONS prior to that.

That was a really weak argument at the time, and it's mind blowing that it still persists to this day despite the fact that Colin Kaepernick did in ten games what Alex Smith never could.

I thought you were a Bucs fan. Where did this 49ers fandom come from?

Seriously though, here's how I see it. Alex Smith had to deal with a revolving door of crappy coaches for the majority of his career in San Francisco. I have to imagine that will mess up most quarterbacks. What happens when he gets a competent coach for two seasons running? He gets better and starts to succeed. Imagine that.

Alex Smith, at the time he lost the starting job in San Francisco, was doing his job well. Him losing it despite that doesn't sit well with me. That it happened when he was doing what was in the best interests of his own well being only makes Harbaugh look worse to me.

Oh well, Kaep keeps playing on while Alex Smith sits at home another year.

Oh please. Take a look at the stat lines from that KC/Indy game. Alex Smith had a tremendous game and did everything he had to do. Blaming Alex Smith for that loss when it was the KC defence that completely imploded is just nonsensical.

This 49ers "fandom" comes from growing up in 49ers territory just outside of Reno, Nevada. I had season tickets to the Wolf Pack when Kaepernick was there and I would spend the majority of my Saturdays either at Mackey Stadium or watching the Wolf Pack on TV, and the majority of my Sundays watching the 49ers play because they were what was on TV. I was watching when Kaep made his debut in 07 after Nick Graziano went down in a blowout vs Fresno State and nearly willed them to a win. I was at many of the games he played in, and even stormed the field after the big win over Boise in 2010 (yet ANOTHER game in which he basically willed the Pack to a win after they were down big). Despite the fact that they're the local team, I haven't been a huge 49ers fan since I was about 5. I've always liked them a bit because my whole family are Niners fans, but I picked the Bucs when I was a kid and have stuck with them. But when he got picked up by the Niners (I was at a Wolf Pack draft party that day, actually) I simply had to jump on the wagon when the local hero was drafted by the "local" NFL team. As a fan, I've literally been a Kaepernick fan since the ground floor.

That said, I've watched a TON of 49ers games as well due to where I grew up. I watched Alex Smith toil away for half a decade with the Niners before they got Kaep, and I agree with you that part of his problem was the fact that he had a new offensive coordinator every single year he was there (And some AWFUL ones at that). But the way that Kaepernick plays and the way that Smith plays are simply night and day different. Kaepernick is a player that has the ability to make big plays with his feet as well as his arm. Alex Smith has never been anything more than a game manager. That was obvious to anyone who watched the Niners on a regular basis, and it was obvious to anyone who watched Kaepernick play in depth just what kind of playmaker he could be. I mean just look at the 2011 and 2012 seasons. Watch the games where Alex Smith struggled. I'll use the 2012 Niners vs Giants game for example. The Niners got down a score or two and it was basically over because Smith simply isn't the type of quarterback that's built to come back from down. Look at the Rams game too. The Niners were down, Smith couldn't do anything, he got hurt, and Kaep came in and got them back to tie that game. It was also visible in the NFC Championship game vs Atlanta. They got down big, and Kaep was able to lead them back to the win.

So really, this "Irrational hatred" you speak of (well, spoke of, you apparently edited that out) is nonsense. It has nothing to do with me hating Alex Smith. I wish him all the best, and I actually have positive feelings towards the Chiefs because of him. I wish I could've worked out for him in San Francisco, I really do. But it simply never was going to happen after they got Kaep because he's simply a better quarterback than Alex Smith.

I get SO sick of 49ers fans whining about how Alex Smith "got the short end of the stick!" He had SIX YEARS to prove himself to a fan base that was very willing to accept him, and never was able to. By the time he started showing any real promise, it was basically too little too late. I'll tell you the same things I tell all of those 49ers fans who are stuck on this thought that Smith got the raw end of the deal. Go back and actually watch the games these two have played in. You'll see just why the change had to happen.

And finally, you as a Chargers fan should know what blind loyalty to a player or a coach gets you. It gets you Norv Turner (Who, ironically, was Alex Smith's OC in 2006).

[Cosmic]

Anyone else think the sand colored field really works? It's a nice neutral color that really brings out the colors in the uniforms.

It was horribly distracting. It looked like San Francisco was a Boise State-esque home team.

[infrared41]

Anyone else think the sand colored field really works? It's a nice neutral color that really brings out the colors in the uniforms.

It was horribly distracting. It looked like San Francisco was a Boise State-esque home team.

Yeah, I was mostly joking.

[The Six]

That was a really weak argument at the time, and it's mind blowing that it still persists to this day despite the fact that Colin Kaepernick did in ten games what Alex Smith never could.

He hasn't done anything Smith couldn't do. Niners could have gone to the Super Bowl two years ago if it werent't for a horrible special teams play.

[Kramerica Industries]

See, I didn't mind the fact that the grass was dead at all. Most northern facilities are Field Turf these days; it's nice to see the rare difference of teams playing on natural, dead, grass. Who knows when we'll see that again.

It helped that the game was so damn good (as Packers/Niners tends to be). Easily the best game of the weekend, as far as I'm concerned.

[Gothamite]

I'm more so exhausted of the same teams having playoff success.

You know, this is absolutely true. For all the circlejerking over NFL parity, it's really been the same old teams at the top for the last 10 to 15 years, with many of the same teams at the bottom, too. How dare anyone talk about parity with the playoff streaks and droughts in this league.

The NFL, more than any other major league, has equality of opportunity. Not of *outcome*, to be sure, but *opportunity*.

If the same x number of teams are always more competitive year in and out, that's because they're superior organizations. They have better executives who choose better players and hire better coaches to maximize that talent. The Packers are a better organization. The Steelers are a better organization. The Patriots, much as I hate them, are a better organization.

Every team starts from the same place. With the same money. What the teams do with that is up to them, and that's where good organizations are separated from the bad.

The Kansas City Royals might hire the smartest baseball people in the world, but that only goes so far when you're competing with teams having payrolls two, six, eight, maybe even ten times the Royals'. Nobody can stay competitive for long with those odds. The Chiefs, on the other hand, only have to worry about being smart. That could keep them near the top of the AFC for the next decade.

That's what we mean when we talk about parity in the NFL. Equality of opportunity, not outcome.

Not entirely true. While every team has the same cap, not every team can afford to put up the up-front money that it takes to get certain players signed to cap-friendly contracts. For example, I don't think Jacksonville can give a player a contract with 50M guaranteed and 30M up front, while teams like the Patriots, Washington, Eagles, Cowboys, Broncos, NY, etc can. Technically they all fit their players in the same cap, but some teams can afford to be more creative than others. Of course, you don't see all of those teams doing that, which validates the point that it's better to be smart than rich, but being rich certainily helps.

Sure, some teams are now burdened with the bad decisions of their past executives. That's the reverse of what I mentioned above, that some organizations are just better than others. Some organizations are just plain bad. Rotten to the core, often starting with a bad owner.

But those bad contracts can be cleared off, in a little time, and then the team can build properly. The obstacles are virtually all self-made in the NFL.

[infrared41]

See, I didn't mind the fact that the grass was dead at all. Most northern facilities are Field Turf these days; it's nice to see the rare difference of teams playing on natural, dead, grass. Who knows when we'll see that again.

It helped that the game was so damn good (as Packers/Niners tends to be). Easily the best game of the weekend, as far as I'm concerned.

On a rare playoff weekend where every game was pretty damned good. Anyway, the dead grass didn't bother me either but I'm kinda used to it. Back in the day with the real* Browns, by playoff time the field at Cleveland Stadium was essentially dirt that had been painted green.

*to add a little more context to BucFan's question about my "favorite" NFL team - try as I might, I've never been able to get as attached to the current Browns as I was with the original version. It's just not the same. My guess is most Browns fans in my age group probably feel the same way.

[CS85]

It hurts my soul to read idiotic comments on twitter about how Rodgers and McCarthy are running the Packers into the ground. Who are these horrible creatures?

[HedleyLamarr]

See, I didn't mind the fact that the grass was dead at all. Most northern facilities are Field Turf these days; it's nice to see the rare difference of teams playing on natural, dead, grass. Who knows when we'll see that again.

It helped that the game was so damn good (as Packers/Niners tends to be). Easily the best game of the weekend, as far as I'm concerned.

The Patriots game next week....

[Kramerica Industries]

Field turf.

[HedleyLamarr]

Denver, then.

[ADW77]

Denver, then.

Denver's turf is a hybrid and while the cold will effect it, as you can see from last year's game, which was < 10 degrees at kickoff, it remains green and for the most part, just fine.

You get the usual tread down the middle of the field, but it's really not bad.

[IceCap]

49ers- Colin f'ing Kaepernick. Everyone spewed bs about NFL quarterbacks not losing their jobs to injury when Cutler came back. Alex Smith says otherwise. He plays well and does the responsible thing by choosing not to play with a concussion. What does that get him? He looses his job.

Yeah because it has nothing to do with the fact that Colin Kaepernick fits the 49ers system better than Alex Smith did and Jim Harbaugh could see that from MILES away.

Really, the concussion was kinda perfect timing for the 49ers, because I really do feel that Jim Harbaugh was looking for ANY excuse he could find to bench Alex Smith in favor of Kaepernick. There wouldn't have been all the drama the off season prior with Peyton Manning if Jim Harbaugh really had any confidence in Alex Smith. Which was completely justifiable. Sure he had a handful of nice games in 2011, but he was flat out AWFUL FOR SIX FULL SEASONS prior to that.

That was a really weak argument at the time, and it's mind blowing that it still persists to this day despite the fact that Colin Kaepernick did in ten games what Alex Smith never could.

I thought you were a Bucs fan. Where did this 49ers fandom come from?

Seriously though, here's how I see it. Alex Smith had to deal with a revolving door of crappy coaches for the majority of his career in San Francisco. I have to imagine that will mess up most quarterbacks. What happens when he gets a competent coach for two seasons running? He gets better and starts to succeed. Imagine that.

Alex Smith, at the time he lost the starting job in San Francisco, was doing his job well. Him losing it despite that doesn't sit well with me. That it happened when he was doing what was in the best interests of his own well being only makes Harbaugh look worse to me.

Oh well, Kaep keeps playing on while Alex Smith sits at home another year.

Oh please. Take a look at the stat lines from that KC/Indy game. Alex Smith had a tremendous game and did everything he had to do. Blaming Alex Smith for that loss when it was the KC defence that completely imploded is just nonsensical.

This 49ers "fandom" comes from growing up in 49ers territory just outside of Reno, Nevada.

I was just giving you a hard time for your crack at infrared41 for being a Packers and Brown fan Didn't mean anything by it.

I had season tickets to the Wolf Pack when Kaepernick was there and I would spend the majority of my Saturdays either at Mackey Stadium or watching the Wolf Pack on TV, and the majority of my Sundays watching the 49ers play because they were what was on TV. I was watching when Kaep made his debut in 07 after Nick Graziano went down in a blowout vs Fresno State and nearly willed them to a win. I was at many of the games he played in, and even stormed the field after the big win over Boise in 2010 (yet ANOTHER game in which he basically willed the Pack to a win after they were down big). Despite the fact that they're the local team, I haven't been a huge 49ers fan since I was about 5. I've always liked them a bit because my whole family are Niners fans, but I picked the Bucs when I was a kid and have stuck with them. But when he got picked up by the Niners (I was at a Wolf Pack draft party that day, actually) I simply had to jump on the wagon when the local hero was drafted by the "local" NFL team. As a fan, I've literally been a Kaepernick fan since the ground floor.

I certainly understand the appeal behind being a fan of a player since the "ground floor," but it can lead to what you warn about later. Blind loyalty.

That said, I've watched a TON of 49ers games as well due to where I grew up. I watched Alex Smith toil away for half a decade with the Niners before they got Kaep, and I agree with you that part of his problem was the fact that he had a new offensive coordinator every single year he was there (And some AWFUL ones at that). But the way that Kaepernick plays and the way that Smith plays are simply night and day different. Kaepernick is a player that has the ability to make big plays with his feet as well as his arm. Alex Smith has never been anything more than a game manager. That was obvious to anyone who watched the Niners on a regular basis, and it was obvious to anyone who watched Kaepernick play in depth just what kind of playmaker he could be. I mean just look at the 2011 and 2012 seasons. Watch the games where Alex Smith struggled. I'll use the 2012 Niners vs Giants game for example. The Niners got down a score or two and it was basically over because Smith simply isn't the type of quarterback that's built to come back from down. Look at the Rams game too. The Niners were down, Smith couldn't do anything, he got hurt, and Kaep came in and got them back to tie that game. It was also visible in the NFC Championship game vs Atlanta. They got down big, and Kaep was able to lead them back to the win...

...I get SO sick of 49ers fans whining about how Alex Smith "got the short end of the stick!" He had SIX YEARS to prove himself to a fan base that was very willing to accept him, and never was able to. By the time he started showing any real promise, it was basically too little too late. I'll tell you the same things I tell all of those 49ers fans who are stuck on this thought that Smith got the raw end of the deal. Go back and actually watch the games these two have played in. You'll see just why the change had to happen.

Alex Smith was a few special teams mishaps away from playing in the Super Bowl two seasons ago. It's not like Kaepernick showed up and took them to heights that were unthinkable with Smith. Smith proved that he could do what he had to do for that 49ers team to succeed. It's not his fault the special teams unit the bed in that NFC Championship game vs New York. Would San Francisco have beaten New England in the Super Bowl that year? Who knows. Maybe not. It's worth noting that Kaepernick lost his Super Bowl appearance a year later though.

Sure, Smith had has bad games under Harbaugh's regime. So did Kaep though. He struggled in the middle of the current season and his numbers have been down compared to what he managed to do last year (when teams had little game tape on him). So I'm not seeing where the undeniable improvement comes from. He can "will" a team to win? That works in college. The inspirational heart of a champion stuff doesn't always work in the NFL.

Is Colin Kaepernick a better quarterback then Alex Smith? Maybe. My point is that any way you spin it, Smith got a raw deal. His team was winning and he lost his job. That. Isn't. Right. At least not in my book. Maybe it's my tragically Canadian sensibilities coming into play, but you don't bench a guy when he's succeeding. It's poor form.

So really, this "Irrational hatred" you speak of (well, spoke of, you apparently edited that out) is nonsense. It has nothing to do with me hating Alex Smith. I wish him all the best, and I actually have positive feelings towards the Chiefs because of him. I wish I could've worked out for him in San Francisco, I really do. But it simply never was going to happen after they got Kaep because he's simply a better quarterback than Alex Smith.

Alex Smith went 30/46 for 378 yards with 4 touchdowns and no interceptions in that loss to Indianapolis. That's a career game, even in a loss. Smith did everything anyone could have asked him to do in order to win that game. He only ended up on the losing end of the score because KC's defence couldn't hold a 28 point lead. Saying "oh well, Alex Smith sits at home again while Kaep moves on" struck me as irrationally hating on the guy considering he wasn't the one responsible for the loss.

And finally, you as a Chargers fan should know what blind loyalty to a player or a coach gets you. It gets you Norv Turner (Who, ironically, was Alex Smith's OC in 2006).

Sorry, I don't see the parallels. Smith was winning when he lost his job. Turner actively sucked at his job in San Diego.