Niners' Smith Probably Washed Up
Well, it appears that the San Franiso 49ers' oft-injured and badly managed quarterback Alex Smith probably saw his prospects for a recovered career come to a crashing halt today. Making some of the poorest throwing decisions I've witnessed in many years of watching the game, Smith threw away opportunity after opportunity as the Niners managed to lose to the lowly Tennessee Titans. Smith, who's been as badly handled as any No. 1 draft in NFL history by a team with fewer football smarts than any but the Oakland Raiders and the Detroit Lions in the past half-dozen or so years, threw three crucial interceptions. Only one of them was a bad throw that led to a clean pick; the other two were tips that were picked off in mid-air by Titan defenders. But none of those passes should have been thrown at all. They were into double coverage. They were on poor trajectories. Smith also held the ball too long on several other occasions. In general, he did the kind of job you'd expect from an inexperienced quarterback. Trouble is, that excuse has been used on his behalf for five years. He is now destined to be dumped into the dustbin of history along with other highly disappointing first picks. It is clear that Smith is not the QB of the future for the Niners. It only remains to be seen if he can become the QB of the present. So far, as a starter of late, he's strung together six straight losses.
