San Francisco 49ers Alex Smith

The San Francisco 49ers ended their season on a positive note this past Sunday against the Houston Texans, as rookie quarterback Alex Smith gave himself a tremendous confidence booster in the final game. With 18 seconds left in the first half, on a third-and-5 from the Houston 14-yard line, Smith rolled to his right and spotted Brandon Lloyd in the corner of the end zone. The play helped the 49ers end their year on a positive note with a win, and should give Smith some momentum heading into the off season. Smith apparently saved the best for 6 Sanchez Purple AFL50th jersey
last as he had his finest game of the season. The throw to Lloyd was the very first touchdown pass of his career.This time last year Smith was heading into his final game with the Utah Utes in the Fiesta Bowl. In that game he showed many that he was a great quarterback with a lot of abilities. The 49ers believed he was talented as well, as they took him No.1 overall. Even though he had a lot of promise in his final year at Utah, he still was depicted as a system quarterback who benefited from Urban Meyer's innovative offense. Once he started his rookie season with San Francisco Smith found it hard to adjust to the pro game. In his rookie season he was shuffled around more than a jack in a deck of cards, due to his inconsistent play, and the team's inability to protect quarterbacks. Smith headed into the preseason as the starter, then was held back a while to give Tim Rattay the starting job. Then once Rattay didn't work out, they decided that it was time for Smith to go in and take his lumps. Smith endured the lumps and then some, as he threw 11 interceptions in nine games played and suffered the fate of being a young quarterback on a team with a very bad offensive line. In 2005 Smith was sacked 29 times and faced tremendous amounts of pressure as a result of that struggling offensive line. The pressure at times was too much for Smith to take as he made mistakes and didn't break 100 yards passing in a game until December 4th against the Cardinals. Smith did have a tough rookie year, and must improve when his sophomore season with the 49ers begins in August. The Niners passing game finished dead last in the NFL after their 16 game schedule in 2005, which indicates the necessity for improvement from their No.1 draft pick. Smith didn't play up to expectations, but he shouldn't take the entire load of blame head on. The offensive line and other components of the offense need to do a better job protecting the signal caller. Without that protection no quarterback 4 Brett Favre Purple jersey
could survive, not even Joe Montana or Steve Young.The role of the quarterback in the San Francisco offense has to change quickly, which means the weight on Smith's shoulders is tremendous. He has to elevate his game, and should train in this offseason to be better prepared to endure the tests of the NFL schedule. San Francisco has a long way to go, but ending the year on a positive note should give Smith and the 49ers faithful a silver lining on this disappointing season.