Alex Advances

Alex leads his team to a playoff win.

Alex Smith looked every bit the ProUte of the Year against New Orleans on Saturday! Alex was 24-42 for 299 yards and 3 TDs, including the game-winner to Vernon Davis. Smith led two game- winning drives, capping the first with a 28 TD run with 2:11 to play. After Drew Brees connected with Jimmy Graham for a 66 yard TD to retake the lead, Alex did it again. With only 1:37 on the clock, Smith drove the 49ers 85 yards (61 in the hands of Davis) for the win. When everyone expected Alex to manage the game, setting up the league's leading kicker David Akers for a tying field goal, Coach Harbaugh dialed up a play called "Vernon Post" which the team executed perfectly.

Clearly this was a team victory, and the defense played its' part, starting with the hit safety Donte Whitner laid on Pierre Thomas at the two yard line, forcing a fumble and denying the Saints an opportunity to score early. The defense and special teams came up with four turnovers in the first half, yet San Francisco only led 17-14 at the break. Defensive end Justin Smith made one of the most physical plays of the year, driving Pro Bowl tackle Jermon Bushrod back and reaching over him to drag Brees down. Brees continued his record-breaking ways, completing 40 of 63 passes for 462 yards and 4 TDs, but he also threw two interceptions, ending his own record streak of none in the past five years of post-season play. In the first post-season appearance of his career, Alex Smith did not throw an interception. He did fumble twice while being sacked, losing one of the two. Alex's passer rating for the game was 103.2, better than Brees's 93.5, and he now has a signature play to call his own, thirty years after "The Catch." Home field advantage was definitely a factor in this game; the weather in San Fran was fine (it won't be this weekend for the NFC Championship Game), but the Saints are a different team away from their dome. Credit Smith's steady hand all season long for earning that advantage, and for using it to advance as a player and as a team.

In the other playoff match ups, Brice McCain (no stats) and the Texans couldn't overcome the rookie mistakes of their quarterback, falling to the Ravens and Paul Kruger (no stats). Tim Tebow was no match for Tom Brady, as the Patriots overwhelmed the Broncos. Zane Beadles had his name mentioned for a personal foul on a rushing TD early on, and OC Mike McCoy's name has been mentioned as a candidate for the head coach position in Miami.