AWESOME article by S.I. about Alex Smith

How can anybody hate on Alex with everything he's been through? RESPECT!
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1193912/1/index.htm

I hope the 49ers win the Superbowl and Alex wins the MVP.

GO NINERS!!!

Not trying to bust your bubble on Smith, as I think he proved me wrong when I called him a bust a while back, but I think the media is getting too caught up on him. If the Super Bowl is Flacco vs Smith, they'll be digging everywhere to try and make it into a QB vs QB, cause the media would rather have shoot outs than acknowledge the facts of how great these defenses are.

Yeah I guess that's somewhat true. The media does love a good shoot out. But if the SB is gonna be Flacco vs Smith, the media will make it Jim vs John. The brothers story is too good to pass up.

Well I'm more of a defensive kind of guy. Guess if I was a coach, I'd want to be like Jim, a fiery leader, that don't take chances and has the defense as the back bone.

I guess with the younger fans, you gotta be a real observer of the game to appreciate great defenses. Even in the old Super Bowls, I get the opinion that the 49ers great defenses under Bill Walsh are extremely over shadowed by Montana, specifically their 1984 team that finished 15-1. That team seems all but forgotten now, but the 49ers defense today is probably the closest they have ever come to the #1 ranked unit from '84 that absolutely destroyed Marino in the Super Bowl.

I absolutely agree. That defense didnt get nearly the credit it deserved. They had as much to do with that season as the offense did. I always hold that '84 team near and dear to my heart because that's the team that made me a Niner fan when I was just a youngin.

But back to the topic, Alex is really a great story. As much as our fanbase has dumped on the guy for all these years, I always maintained that proper coaching is what he lacked. Its one of the main reasons I wanted Jimbaugh from the jump. No one will dispute the strength of our team is our defense. But the offense, switching from the digit system to the WCO I knew would take more time to the devlop. That's where the lockout hurt us the most......offense. But we've only scratched the surface offensively, Alex included. Add a few more peices to that side of the ball and we will become more of a complete team for the forseeable future.