Niners Wednesday: Baby Turds & Other Assorted Items

Was Steve Young the best running QB of all time? Or at least the best who isn't currently in prison for dog fighting?

 

• Power Rankings are out today for most sites:
  • ESPN
  • CBS
  • Extra Mustard
    
  • USA Today
  • Check these out if you want some perspective on the current team
    

• Matt Maiocco offers another take on Alex Smith's performance against STL. It might not have been the big turd that 11 of 17 for 126yds would lead you to believe. It was more like a cute little baby turd.

• Alex Smith gives his take on 49ers.com. Some excerpts:
  • "I know that the receivers would like to get more balls and as a quarterback, I want to throw the ball too and get us to that point, but those guys are also very selfless. They realize how big these wins are and how important they are. We know we need to throw the ball to win, and we’ll get to that point. It’s a long season."

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  • "All in all, we got the victory and it feels great to be 2-0, and the encouraging thing is we know we can play so much better on offense. We know we can become more balanced and really increase our production but at the end of the day wins are what count and we are 2-0. I think pulling out two wins like that says a lot about this team. I’d rather have the game we did that was ugly and not a lot of productivity than be the Rams at 0-2. They’ve thrown for a lot of yards and put up some great numbers but they’ve got back-to-back losses. I’d rather be in our position at the top of the NFC West. We want to get it going and get it clicking and we know that’s something we’ve got to do to meet our expectations this season, but I’m also confident that it is going to come."

So everyone's saying the right things. That's all well and good, but I'll believe it when I see them actually open up the playbook this Sunday. The dropped balls will have to be caught, and the O-line will need to give protection, especially on the play action. If those 2 things happen, though, I feel good about putting it in Smith's hands. At the very least, we'll find out what we really have in #11.

• Matt Barrows of the Sac Bee agrees, and notes that on all 5 plays the 49ers had 1st and 14 or greater they ran the ball. Not exactly aggressive playcalling.
  

And last, but certainly not least:

• Frank Gore is Kige's MVP! Congrats, Frank. Your trophy is in the mail.