The 49ers are pushing the NFL to change the stats from Monday night’s win over the Cardinals in order to get Smith the record for highest completion percentage in a game.
Since it seems pretty clear that the pass the 49ers would like the NFL to include in Smith’s numbers was a backward throw to Michael Crabtree, Smith will probably have to be content with being named the NFC offensive player of the week. There are worse consolation prizes to go with a 24-3 victory and an 18-of-19 passing night that included three touchdowns.
It has been an interesting few weeks for Smith. He spent last week fighting off assertions that he was lacking confidence in his abilities after two straight bad performances on the heels of another nearly flawless performance against the Bills. That inconsistency is the biggest issue for Smith to iron out over the rest of the season.
He doesn’t need to put up games like Monday’s on a weekly basis, but he also has to avoid the other kinds of games if the 49ers are going to remain near the top of the NFC over the long haul.