Mike Singletary flip-flopped his Smiths’ again, re-anointing Alex the starter and relegating Troy to backup again this week. The move would be surprising if not for San Francisco’s on-going signal-caller carousel this season.
"It was definitely my first question: 'What's changed?'" Alex Smith said Wednesday, according to David White of the San Francisco Chronicle. "That was definitely something that was on my mind and he made it very clear that was his thinking, that we're going into this game and I gave us the best opportunity. He made the decision, I'm going to get ready to play. We're all going to get ready to go play."
The Niners were 3-2 under Troy Smith but after last week’s Green Bay game, it had become apparent that the ex-Ohio State Buckeye was incapable of reading an entire field and thus, incapable of operating out of the entire playbook. The Niners had to rely too heavily on plays where the reads and decisions were essentially already done for Smith (such as play-action or, especially, bootlegs). Smith has an 80.2 passer rating on the season, but he has had a passer rating below 65 in each of his past three outings.
Alex Smith is no stud, but he at least gives San Francisco a chance to open up the entire offense. With Frank Gore out of commission, it’s vital the 49ers maximize their opportunities in the passing game.
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