Too Little Too Late for San Francisco

“He's (Alex Smith) done well whether he's under center, he's done well whether he's got two backs in the backfield.”--Head Coach Mike Singletary

By Larry Garcia-BASD 11/23/09

Sunday was not a good start for the 49ers during the first half vs. the Green Bay Packers in Lambeau Field. By the end of the first half, the 49ers trailed 23-3 and it looked like it was going to be a blowout and an easy victory for Green Bay.  As the saying goes, “too little too late”, that was just the case for San Francisco as Green Bay stays ahead for the NFC wild card race.

 The 49ers did pick it up a notch and more during the second half to close the gap by six, down by 20 and by the end of the game; the scoreboard displayed 30-24 Packers.  The 49ers now stand at 4-6 with six games remaining for the season.   Alex Smith had terrible stats during the first half collimating (3-for-7 passing for 5 yards).  Is Alex Smith the answer for the 49ers? “We're continuing to learn his (Alex Smith) strengths. We're continuing to have him communicate to us what works for him and what doesn't. I think, as we go forward, we have to really look at what's working for him and what works for the offense and continue to do more of those things, “said head coach Mike Singletary.

Being that Alex Smith did do very well under the shotgun, head coach Mike Singletary was asked if he plans to use Smith more often from shotgun. Mike Singletary said, “I think for him, when-and I just went back to look at all of his time from Houston to yesterday - he's done well whether he's under center, he's done well whether he's got two backs in the backfield, he's done well whether he's got two or. I think the biggest thing for him is having time. I think that's the most important thing for him. It's to have time.

For the second half of play Alex Smith played lots of shotgun and threw 26 passes for 227 yards, 3 TD’s that collimated 16 of 33 attempts. Gore had 7 rushes for 59 yards with one TD; his longest of the day was for 42 yards. Vernon Davis had 6 catches for 108 yards with one TD. Crabtree was 4 for 77 yards with one TD.  Joe Nedney contributed 6 points.  Green Bay totaled 484 yards to San Francisco’s 284 yards. Rodgers was 32-45 attempts for 326 passing yards. The 49ers totaled 69 rushing yards to Green Bay’s 158.

Next for the 49ers is Jacksonville Sunday, November 23, 2009 at 1:15 pm.

49er injuries: [RB] Michael Robinson has a stinger. That's going to be MRI'd today. [SS] Michael Lewis, quad strain - left quad strain. [WR] Arnaz Battle, right leg strain. [WR] Jason Hill, left ankle sprain. [TE] Delanie Walker, forearm contusion. [LG] David Baas, right ankle sprain. [LB] Patrick Willis just has a trap spasm. [CB Marcus] Hudson, back strain. We'll see how he looks today and MRI it this week. [CB Tarell] Brown, left knee contusion. [S] Reggie Smith, abdominal strain non-related to the groin injury.