The chances of the 49ers making good officially died at around 4:00pm Pacific time, December 11th 2011.
They will not beat ANY team that they play in the playoffs, IN ANY ROUND, ANYWHERE with that offense. They started drives beyond their own 40 yard line FOUR times in this game. In this game in which they were playing the Arizona Cardinals. They scored 19 points. Repeat, 19 points.
Their defense, whom we have overrated a pretty good amount (they are quite far from the once/decade-type defense that is actually so good that it can carry a team), has given up no fewer than 20 points to the good offenses that it has played this year (Dallas, Philadelphia, Detroit, New York). The offense will probably have to produce 25-30 points, minimum, to beat any of these teams in the playoffs. Can you see that happening right now? I cannot.
More importantly, the 49ers will be playing over the wildcard weekend, where they'll have to get some lucky fumble-based heroics to beat whatever mediocre NFC wildcard team they will host.
New Orleans plays at Minnesota, then finishes the regular season with home games against the Falcons and Panthers. The Saints just beat a game Tennessee team on the road in a very non-juggernaut performance. They can win on the road when they are not at their best. And Atlanta is not very good, nor is Carolina. They're going 13-3.
The 49ers, on the other hand, are going 11-5 or 12-4. At this moment, it's hard to see them beating the Steelers or the Seahawks on the road, who are playing very good football right now. Not when they are incapable of scoring a touchdown in the redzone, after their defense put them there or near there. It's like striking out at teeball. Not just once, but repeatedly.
What I'm trying to say is that, if they're very lucky, they'll make the second round, where they will lose by 20 points to a team that has a real offense (and a real quarterback).
Also, I'm done with Alex Smith. No pocket presence, can't throw a spiral, can't make the big play, doesn't know when not to throw the ball to the D-Lineman's hand and instead run through the wide open hole in front of him, can't throw accurately on any sort of consistent basis. It doesn't matter if Jesus Christ was the head coach, you can only cover up this guy's liabilities so much. You drop Aaron Rodgers in there in this game, the team scores no less than 30 points. Alex Smith can't make plays.
Here's to Colin Kaepernick in 2012, or maybe Aaron Rodgers' backup QB. Seriously, the Alex Smith nightmare has to end. They need someone who at least might become a franchise quarterback. The sooner they cut Smith loose and and make this happen, the better. I don't want to watch them lose to Drew Brees and Aaron Rodgers in the playoffs for the next 5-8 years.
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