The Rams are one of the pleasant surprises of the 2010 NFL Season. 1-15 last year, starting their rookie #1 overall draft pick at QB Sam Bradford, they look a lot better than they were expected to be this year, which if nothing else is one more nail of overkill in the coffin of "LOL The NFC West Is So Bad the 49ers can't help but win it this year." Several days late, several dollars short, and in the tearful words of that kid in the Simpsons episode where Homer dresses up as a Krusty the Clown mascot for Krustyburger and beats their off-brand Hamburgler to death mid-burger robbery, "stop, stop, he's already dead! He's already dead."
Except, technically, if you walk past the casket and stick the 49ers with a pin or put a mirror under their nose, you will find the 49ers, at 2-6, are Not QUITE dead. This is almost annoying, since it means people still call in local talk radio shows and talk about "well if they get on a run here, they can still win the division and get in the playoffs." While technically true, it really is gauche to talk about making the playoffs when your team is in last place and in the middle of a quarterback controversy.
Oh yes, the 49ers have a quarterback controversy. Usually this is a thing to dread, but in the unique case of the 49ers, its a good thing. They brought in David Carr to be the backup not despite his being too lacking in talent to run the offense in an emergency/injury situation, but BECAUSE he is so lacking in talent as to not threaten or put any pressure on Alex Smith. Meanwhile cutting Shaun Hill to make room for him because he was the reverse of that. Nate Davis made some great plays in preseason that got fans excited about his future, so he was cut, put on waivers, ripped in a post game press conference by Coach Singletary wherein Coach all but called him lazy and stopped just short of pejoratively calling Nate Davis by his learning disability (he's dyslexic. Or has diganosed ADD. One or the other, I can't actually remember, honestly, but the point isn't which one he has, but that he has one) and thus buried so completely they were able to reclaim him and put him on the practice squad. Troy Smith is just brought in to be the new 3rd String QB because he looked as inoffensive as David Carr; like just another Heisman QB turned NFL washout who the Ravens needed to see only 13 pass attempts in 3 years from before cutting the cord on.
But while Alex Smith has gotten injured, and the 49ers have fallen on their face so completely that Mike Singletary has been feeling the "oh shit I gotta pull something out of my ass to save my job" pressure since Week 3 (when he sacrificed his Offensive Coordinator to Quetzalcotl), pulled the plug on David Carr after just one relief appearance, Troy Smith has gone from Clipboard Holder to Backup to Starter to He Has As Many Wins In One Start As Alex Smith Had In Seven Starts to Catalyst Of A Quarterback Controversy in just one bye week. It's about damn time the 49ers had a Quarterback Controversy. Alex Smith has, for whatever reason, been insulated from controversy and competition since he was drafted #1 overall in 2005 (instead of Aaron Rodgers, btw, more on THAT when the 49ers @ Green Bay game comes up on the schedule in a couple weeks).
Troy gets the start again this week, at home, against the Rams. He looked decent but not great against the Broncos, but the bottom line is they won. If they win again with him at QB, the controversy will really heat up. Also, the 49ers will be 3-6, or as we call that in NFC West land, "one game out of first place". When the mirror under the nose fogs up that thickly, you pretty much have to stick with Troy Smith, don't you?
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