Hypotheticly, if the Niners don’t fumble those two balls in the NFC Championship and go to and even win the Super Bowl (which would have potentially tied AR for SB wins) are we even having this conversation? I am guessing no, not by a long shot. And yet here we are, with things that happen outside of Alex Smith’s direct control and he is out of a job and on the bench. What is your take there?

Colin’s biggest mistakes are game management mistakes. Not related to quality of play as a passer, and running QB.

Stay in bounds, don’t even make that pitch, just take the sack, etc. These can easily be learned. You can’t learn the intangibles he has.

“If Smith had started it would have been worse.”

You must be joking. 13-3 last year, John. You must have been away.

1. There were several plays that CK made that AS could never make in his dreams(not just the long run but several throws to the WR’s). I suspect that is why Harbaugh is sticking with him.

2. The lateral play that was turned into 6 points by the Rams was about as boneheaded a play as I have ever seen. For both the QB who executed it and the coaches who either called it, or allowed it to be called.

3. What’s the deal with all of the penalties? Forgetting a few questionable calls against both teams, it seems like the niners were determined to self-destruct with penalties. I think this would have had a greater impact on victory than any so-called QB controversy. Is this coaching or did the Rams really get under their skin?

4. I hate to nitpick on the defense as they managed to only allow a few points in this game, but what happened to the takeaways? Was last year’s # of takaways a fluke? Has the rest of the league learned how to gameplan the Defense to take what the Niners give them and not give up the turnover? Where is Carlos Rogers?

5. Intersting blog, and many great comments by the posters here.