Comments on: Harbaugh does little to quiet 49ers QB controversy

By: megalodon1013

megalodon1013 — Wed, 21 Nov 2012 15:27:02 +0000

Kap is the man. I wonder if he does start next week and has a bad game, will everyone jump off of his band wagon? I’ve always pulled for Alex, but Kap has an outrageous arm. He throw further down the field running than Smith can with his feet set. With Kap in, R. Moss really seems like a threat. Kap stretches the field. Alex makes sure we don’t turn the ball over.

By: decon49

decon49 — Wed, 21 Nov 2012 02:24:10 +0000

lionsdraftguy says:
Nov 20, 2012 10:07 AM
Hey wheres AJ Jenkins at? Remember, the guy the Niners reached for and big mouth Harbaugh said was a #1 WR?

its called drafting for the future. we get it, youre jealous.

By: robertocfg

robertocfg — Tue, 20 Nov 2012 23:18:19 +0000

I get the feeling that the people that are saying that the reins of the offense should be given to CK are descendants of the ones that thought that Roger Staubach should have been benched in favor of Clint Longley.

Yes, Kaepernick had an amazing game, I’m not saying he didn’t. But relax, people. It’s one game. Alex Smith has been playing great. There was no film on Kaepernick and the Bears were overconfident. If CK is named starter, I’d give teams 2 or 3 weeks to figure him out.

Not saying that CK is not good. He played great and looks like a future NFL starter. But one game does not a career make.

By: dallascowboysdishingthereal

dallascowboysdishingthereal — Tue, 20 Nov 2012 21:45:21 +0000

Harbaugh is a brilliant coach that is creating a little healthy competition between both QBs. It only makes them play better. Other coaches would be wise to take notes. Namely Jason Garrett who praises Romo no matter how crappy he plays.

By: thermalito

thermalito — Tue, 20 Nov 2012 20:54:42 +0000

Call it what you want kids, but this is the beginning of the end for Alex Smith. Kaepernick is the real deal and Smith will never be anything more than a mediocre game manager.

By: buffaloniner

buffaloniner — Tue, 20 Nov 2012 19:52:26 +0000

And my guess is we still won’t know who’s starting until, ooooh I don’t know, right around game time next week. Call it what you want but what this really boils down to is intelligent coaching. If presented with an opportunity to keep the opposing defense guessing about who to prepare for, a smart coach will jump on it. The media dropped gold in Jim’s lap with their eagerness to make a 49ers “QB controversy”.

By: headonaswivel

headonaswivel — Tue, 20 Nov 2012 17:42:56 +0000

Lets not get ahead of ourselves here people. Kaepernick played very well against a good defense, which had a turrible day, but the Bears play a base defense almost every snap.

The Niners had a great game plan for Kaepernick and it showed. Their offensive line is awesome, and that helped him out a ton. The thing that I was most impressed with was his accuracy on the deep balls. However, watching the game he threw to his primary read on every throw but one, and I did take note, which was the Crabtree TD. In other words he stuck to the game plan, knowing he’d be seeing man coverage for the entire game… again great game planning by the staff.

Kaepernick has a great future ahead of him, but I think you have to ride with Alex Smith for the remainder of this season, next season though watch out Smith.

By: nflgiant

nflgiant — Tue, 20 Nov 2012 16:36:38 +0000

Alex Smith does not inspire his team the way Brady,(2-Mannings),Brees,Rogers,Big Ben.he just is not in that class and never will than be,that said he is better than 80% of the rest.Its too bad you lose your job to injury,but lets be real Kaep,has much more to offer than Smith has.Harbaugh has to go with his gut.

By: lionsdraftguy

lionsdraftguy — Tue, 20 Nov 2012 15:07:34 +0000

Hey wheres AJ Jenkins at? Remember, the guy the Niners reached for and big mouth Harbaugh said was a #1 WR?

By: realitypolice

realitypolice — Tue, 20 Nov 2012 14:27:38 +0000

Smith’s play has earned him the right to keep his job, period. The 49ers now know that they are set at the QB position and Kap is more than capable to take over if Smith falters.

But I think we need to see that happen before he’s benched.

And to the guy that says sending Smith into the Superdome to start next week would be career suicide- Ummm……have you seen the Saints defense?

By: jbuckland0421

jbuckland0421 — Tue, 20 Nov 2012 14:13:58 +0000

I’d like to site an example of a backup coming in a wreaking havoc on a team that was supposed to destroy them, and that would be the Vikings and Joe Webb against the eagles a couple years ago. The eagles didn’t have the film they needed on Webb and struggled against his dynamics throughout the entirety of the game. Now a couple of things I want to point out being that Joe Webb is not the same caliber of a quarterback compared to Kaepernick but it is somewhat of the same situation aside from the fact that the niners do have a much better football team than the Vikings did. I really liked what I saw from Kap and I’d like to see more. He’s got great field vision and instincts and I believe he’d add more of a threat than Alex Smith while running the offense. Alex Smith is very conservative where as Kap can loosen up a defense like we saw last night. I think it’s a very interesting situation and I’m looking forward to seeing what becomes of the QB position in San Francisco.

By: silasw33

silasw33 — Tue, 20 Nov 2012 14:06:58 +0000

I can see that Kyle had an excellent group of plays put together for him on his home field and with limited tape on him. All of these things working heavily in his favor.

But, consider this…that was the Chicago Bears Defense. No one does that to them…but he did!

By: SOBEIT

SOBEIT — Tue, 20 Nov 2012 14:01:54 +0000

Yes, Colin looked great passing, running, escaping, etc. But what was most impressive were his adjustements at the line of scrimmage while evaluating the defense. That to me showed the level of maturity most young players struggle with. But it is just a few games…and still Alex’s to lose…but the rope just got a lot shorter.

Bottom line, this is Alex’s last year as the starter unless he goes and wins the SuperBowl. His contract is not guaranteed the next 2 years. I think the receivers were finally excited to be a part of the game. Colin’s timing to receivers was really perfect. If you watch the game again and other games by Alex…see how many times the receivers are catching while running in motion. With Alex, they have to jump, dive or are flat footed and limited to no RACs.

The future is bright…especially for Niner fans who believe that all the championship pieces are on the team and just one tweak make the team from really good to great!

By: worldwidebleater

worldwidebleater — Tue, 20 Nov 2012 13:56:35 +0000

Then Harbaugh punched himself in the scrotum, to remind everbody what a tough guy he is.

By: jeffharwell3

jeffharwell3 — Tue, 20 Nov 2012 13:55:23 +0000

Harbaugh knows what he is doing once again.. by not naming a starter he is keeping a Aints guessing as who to game plan for… my guess is Smith starts because he has earned it. Harbaugh once again puts all the attention on himself by creating a “qb controversy”. He is a genius when it comes to these things. Best coach in the nfl in my opinion

By: spharrgcs

spharrgcs — Tue, 20 Nov 2012 13:50:57 +0000

No sympathy for A Smith here. He has has multiple opportunities to secure his job and his uneven performances continue to allow for coaches to look for more out of the position. He seems like a good guy but the fact is Kaepernick make faster decisions and better decisions, and his ball was tighter and more on time. It was clear watching the receivers that he was getting the ball to them at the prime spots in their strides and with velocity. The offense looked like it added 2 cylinders, and clearly this makes Harbaugh very interested in what it can do with the right trigger-man at the helm.

By: samapoc

samapoc — Tue, 20 Nov 2012 13:38:10 +0000

Harbaugh is putting too much effort into generating a qb controversy to confuse the historically bad Saints defense.

By: smoothjimmyapollo

smoothjimmyapollo — Tue, 20 Nov 2012 13:37:46 +0000

As soon as teams notice that Kaepernick stares down and throws to his first read 95% of the time, he’ll have a 4 pick game, and the honeymoon will be over. There’s a reason this guy couldn’t beat out Alex Smith.

By: whatjusthapped

whatjusthapped — Tue, 20 Nov 2012 13:19:42 +0000

Keep Smith in there. Against a good team in the playoffs, he will disappear right on schedule and then Harbaugh will have all off-season to think about it.

By: alewatcher

alewatcher — Tue, 20 Nov 2012 12:54:38 +0000

Once again, the Bears failure to address their O-line and backup QB positions has come back to bite them in the @ss. (And I say that as a Bears fan)

CK was awesome last night, no way around it. The 9ers are in the enviable position of actually having two QBs that can win games for them. CK has a great future ahead of him. Alex Smith has turned into a decent QB, after having been jerked around his first few years in the league. Harbaugh has definitely gotten the best out of Alex.

Which guy do you go with? Tough call, but it’s a good problem to have.

By: tdrundmc

tdrundmc — Tue, 20 Nov 2012 12:50:45 +0000

I didn’t know Alex Smith ever had a hot hand, he’s captain check down. Pretty obvious who the starting QB is going to be next week, Harbaugh just didn’t want to hurt Alices’ feelings.

By: jaxuar

jaxuar — Tue, 20 Nov 2012 12:28:55 +0000

I have to admit…I thought this guy would be garbage. Wow, how he has proven me wrong!

By: jm8ch10

jm8ch10 — Tue, 20 Nov 2012 12:24:48 +0000

It would be premature to put him as the starter at this juncture. By the time the playoffs start, they will get a beat on his strengths and weaknesses. He hasn’t been battle tested but Alex has and will provide the best chance for a Super Bowl birth this season.

By: lionsdraftguy

lionsdraftguy — Tue, 20 Nov 2012 12:22:50 +0000

Kaepernick may be a good quarterback, but Jim Harbaugh is still a whiny little girl and the Niners team is still the least classy team in the league.

By: garyk66blog

garyk66blog — Tue, 20 Nov 2012 12:10:40 +0000

Kaepernick looks much more comfortable even after 1 start than Smith has looked all year. I’m not talking about results, because both have had success. I am referring to the timing and movement of the offense. It was absolutely beautiful last night!

By: z0inks

z0inks — Tue, 20 Nov 2012 12:04:32 +0000

Jeez….talk about indecisive. I mean, Harbaugh had all of what….maybe 5-10 minutes in between the end of the game and his postgame comments?

Given that much time to reflect on Kaepernick’s performance and the team’s overall outlook over the remainder of the season, it’s ridiculous that he was unable to provide a definitive answer for such a relatively minor detail….like who the team’s starting QB will be .

By: Matt-NC

Matt-NC — Tue, 20 Nov 2012 11:35:49 +0000

There’s no game film on him. Teams couldn’t study him. Plus the teddies are overrated.

That being said, he did a great job. But let’s not anoint him just yet.

By: arrows80

arrows80 — Tue, 20 Nov 2012 11:26:28 +0000

This is why I’ve always been in favor of drafting and developing young guys instead of keeping a Jason Campbell-like retread around. In the NFL, the Campbells end up having to play eventually.

By: bcjim

bcjim — Tue, 20 Nov 2012 11:12:05 +0000

What is with all the tats btw? Have to admit, not seeing him here on the Coast, I didn’t even know he was black. He did look good for sure.

By: mungman69

mungman69 — Tue, 20 Nov 2012 10:42:55 +0000

Alex Smith has played well in the playoffs and is playing well this year. They have to go with Smith.