SAN FRANCISCO -- It's not the most elegant way to begin a game story, but it's the 500-lb. pink gorilla in the room, so why prolong the agony? Jim Harbaugh's decision to take the 55-yard field goal (which David Akers booted so convincingly that it would've been good from 65) instead of accepting the 15-yard "leveraging" penalty on Dallas that would've given the 49ers a 1st-and-10 from the Cowboys 22-yard-line with a 21-14 lead and 11:12 left in the game was A) wrong B) asinine C) indefensible D) short-sighted E) telling and F) overblown.
It was not the reason the 49ers lost to the Cowboys 27-24 in overtime, though it's so convenient and easy to think that it was.
It was wrong because being up 24-14 with 11:12 to go is not as good as being up 24-14 with eight minutes and change to go, which is precisely the situation the 49ers would've been facing had they simply accepted the penalty and ran Frank Gore up the gut three straight times. Even if they don't gain an inch, it's a 39-yard field goal for Akers, a man who can split the uprights with bowel movements longer than 39 yards. It was an unusually hot day by Candlestick standards and the only wind was coming from the press box, so yes, I think Akers could be trusted to deliver there.
It was asinine because the team faced almost the exact same scenario last week, when Akers was roughed on a field goal. Then Harbaugh accepted the penalty, they ran three fruitless plays, they wasted two minutes of our lives and Akers kicked again. The decision worked, they won the game, so why fix something that wasn't broken? Alex Smith has referenced the Albert Einstein in the past about the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results, so how do we define the 49ers, who willfully deviate decisions that worked?
It was indefensible because the only scenario where that decision backfires is if you have a turnover on a running play or a string of holding calls to back them up from field goal range to San Jose. However, that kind of negative thinking doesn't jibe with the mentality of a team that got a 21-14 lead on the Cowboys in the first place. The three touchdown drives didn't materialize out of thin air. Ted Ginn didn't return three kicks to the house. Smith played well, made good decisions and threw the ball accurately to move the sticks. If you trusted him to do it for the first 48:48 of the game, then you should trust him for the final 11:12. That goes for every situation, from not committing holding penalties (they didn't), to Gore not fumbling (he didn't), to center Jonathan Goodwin not having any bad snaps (ditto). The same guys that got you the lead with were in the huddle, and they deserved the rope to hang themselves with.
It was short-sighted because even if they had won the game, Harbaugh's decision would've been a big neon sign Smith, to the offensive players and to the rest of the football watching world that read, "I DO NOT TRUST YOU." It simply does not bode well for future games. Why would the quarterback have confidence in himself if his coach doesn't? Why would the linemen? For that matter, why would the players trust each other or their coach? It's better to lose and show the players you have faith in them, even if you don't, than to win by hedging your bets and being openly petrified.
It was telling because a coach can hype up and praise and defend his players to the media all day long, but they're just words. Actions are more telling and Harbaugh sure made it appear as though he doesn't think he has much to work with. It's very simple, the way people view Harbaugh's decision. The ones who think it was wrong simply think that Smith is a mediocre starting quarterback. The ones who agree with Harbaugh (I'm not naming names but they're easy to find) view Smith along the lines of those Charlie Brown cartoons where he's pitching in little league and getting his clothes knocked off, with every one of his pitches producing line drive -- think Smith is so incompetent that he can't even be trusted to execute three hand-offs without something, anything, going wrong. They view every single positive play in his career as a residue of luck and all the negative ones as indicators of his true wretchedness.
It's worth noting just the fact that all our hypothetical scenarios deal with Smith just handing the ball three times goes to show how little our expectations are. It's simply unimaginable to contemplate Smith being allowed to throw from inside the 20-yard line with a fourth quarter lead. There's that little trust and faith in him, both from inside and outside the organization. The same people who are happy with Harbaugh's decision to take the points are the ones who wouldn't trust him to kneel down in properly at the end of a game without it going wrong.
However, given all of that, the decision was overblown because what lost the 49ers the game was the fact the same two units that led to most of their losses in the Mike Singletary era while Smith and the play-calling took the blame: the offensive line and the secondary.
Whatever adjustments the Cowboys made in the second half, the line was a nightmare. Smith was sacked on six of his 30 drop-backs, a ratio of 20 percent that's unspeakably awful. Gore was limited to 47 yards on 20 carries. On a line with three first-round picks, a high second-round pick and a two-time Pro Bowler at center, it's mind-boggling how they generate so little push, how they continue to get blown off the ball on snaps, and how often they let people through completely unblocked.
Harbaugh did everything he could to buy Smith time for his receivers. He kept six and seven guys in to block, including Vernon Davis on most plays (Davis was decidedly unhappy about it). He called as many running plays he could in the hopes of keeping Dallas pass-rushers honest. It didn't matter. The Cowboys snarling front seven simply assaulted Gore on their way to Smith. Without Michael Crabtree (inactive) or Braylon Edwards (out after two plays with a knee injury) Smith didn't have people who could get open consistently, as the Cowboys did a good job of guessing who the hot routes were going to be and making him go to the second option. By then Smith was on his back.
The only way Gore will have room to run is if defenses start respecting Smith, and the only way they'll start doing that is if he burns them repeatedly on blitzes. Having Crabtree and Edwards healthy would help, but what would help more is to actually pick up the blitzes in the first place and to fire off the ball once in a while on those runs. Mike Iupati in particular had a bad game but Anthony Davis, Chilo Rachal, Jonathan Goodwin and Joe Staley all had afternoons to forget.
Defensively, the pass rush started off strong enough to fracture a couple of Tony Romo's ribs and forced him to throw off his back foot quite a bit in the first half. They also had the fortune of playing against Jon Kitna for most of the third quarter, and Kitna threw some horrific passes, leading to a pair of interceptions; one each by Donte Whitner and Tramaine Brock. As usual, they completely took away the running game, holding Dallas to 45 yards on 20 useless carries. At this point it's a wonder why anyone ever bothers calling a run against the 49ers. They're just doing them a favor.
Eventually Dallas tightened up their protection, spread the 49ers defense out and Romo checked back in and started clicking with his receivers -- mainly Miles Austin (who had three touchdowns) and Jason Witten, who were both playing hurt themselves. Romo repeatedly abused all the backups forced into prominent roles on the 49ers secondary, guys like Tarell Brown, Madieu Williams and Reggie Smith. However, it's not like this secondary played any well last year when they had Dashon Goldson and Shawntae Spencer, so expecting those two to be saviors might be wishful thinking.
Whitner is a useful player in that he's good at stopping the run and can do a decent job against most tight ends, but against the cream of the crop like Witten, he's not gonna come out on top. The best player in the secondary, and someone who looks to be a great free agent signing, is corner Carlos Rogers. The team actually had him in the slot against Witten quite a bit and he won some of those battles and lost some. He actually played quite well in the game and got his hand -- and his helmet -- on some balls, and had the deflection on Brock's interception. Unfortunately, Rogers' worst play came in overtime, when both he and Whitner bit on a play-action fake and froze, allowing Jesse Holley of all people to get behind them for the crushing 77-yard reception and the winning field goal.
It's crazy to think the 49ers were one play from winning this game on two separate occasions. Dallas had to convert a 4th-and-5 late in the game, which they did on a sideline pass to Witten. They also had to have Dan Bailey make a 48-yard field goal at the gun when he had missed a chip shot early in the game. Still, for the second half they completely dominated both lines of scrimmage and outgained the 49ers in the game 472 yards to 206. In many aspects both teams were lucky to even get to overtime, and the Cowboys took advantage of their luck while the 49ers did not.
For his part Smith played quite well, and I'm sure going into the game most fans would've gladly taken two touchdown passes, one interception, no fumbles and a 99.1 QB rating from him. He wasn't the problem. Smith had a Romo-like play in the second quarter when he completely missed the shotgun snap, caught the ball on the bounce while running backward to retrieve it, rolled to the right like Montana against Dallas 30-years ago, and found Gore in the end zone 40 yards downfield. It would've been a touchdown had Gore not been interfered with by a desperate Cowboys defender, and the 49ers scored on the next play from one-yard out all the same.
The next drive Smith had a series of third-down conversions and found Kyle Williams in the left corner on a beautiful 12-yard pass over Mike Jenkins' shoulder to make it 14-0. His one bad decision in the second half, trying to force a pass to Davis early in the third quarter, was intercepted and led to Austin's second touchdown which tied the game at 14, but Smith made his best pass shortly after, after Brock's intercepted Kitna. He found a mismatch with tight end Delanie Walker against Dallas' Anthony Spencer, nominally a pass-rusher and hit him in stride on a looping 29-yard score to make it 21-14. It was the only drive in the second half and overtime that didn't have one negative play, and that was probably because it lasted all of one play.
If Smith is to be criticized for anything, except not making better blocking audibles to counter Dallas' pass rush, it's that he didn't challenge Harbaugh for accepting that field goal. A better quarterback wouldn't have even look his coach's way and simply jogged out onto the field. Smith should've at least pushed for it, demanded it. That he doesn't have the personality to do so is why he never meshed with Singletary and why he can never be an elite player. It's just not in him to be the forceful, dominant personality you need at that position.
For now, that personality remains Harbaugh, for better or worse. He said he'd know more about his team after a game or two, and the same is true of his players knowing more about him. Right now he knows he's got some real problems at offensive line and the secondary and some health issues at receiver. His players know he coaches scared, playing not-to-lose instead of going for the throat, just like the last guy and the guy before him.
They'll have 14 games this season to learn more about each other, and for now, it appears, only 14.
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