MissoulaHawk
New member
He seemed to handle pressure pretty well in NFCCG last winter. I may even call that performance clutch.SalishHawkFan":2tph776m said:Welcome to Net and it's nice to see a respectful post by an opposing fan. The Hawks will never move ET into the box to help with the run and it's not necessary. We're stuffing the run without stuffing the box. That's what makes our D so dangerous. We stuff the run almost like it's just a side effect. An afterthought. Teams just can't run on us. Period. I've seen Smith play this year and he has been beating teams with his arm. In fact, the one thing that's worried me this season is that Smith has looked so much better now that he has some deep threats. I think we need to bring pressure on Smith to stop the deep passes. Our defense is fine giving up short passes and letting the opponent drive down to the red zone, then holding them to a Field Goal. I think the key to this contest is getting pressure on Smith and creating turnovers.cccrew":2tph776m said:Good analysis. Except for the part about blitzing Smith I couldn't have said it better myself. Surprisingly, the numbers say Smith is one of the better rated qbs when the opposition blitzes. I'm a Niners fan and I think that Seattle's defense might be better than ours. They definitely are in the secondary. Which is why I don't think it's necessary to blitz Smith. You could even move a safety into the box to help with the run and dare Smith to beat you with his arm. I think Seattle has the corners to win most of those battles. Yeah, we have some speed at WR but Smith doesn't have much of an arm and his deep accuracy is awful.
This is a huge game for Smith and the Niners. They definitely don't want to go up to Seattle at the end of the year already having lost to this team. And with the way Smith played last week, he's got to perform better and get a win. Seattle's defense is good but they're young. Smith is a veteran now and finally in an offensive system that he was in the year before. He's got the most weapons he's ever had at his disposal. There are no more excuses. Yes, the Seahawks are a talented up and coming division rival but he has to find a way to win this game. The back up qb is starting to steal snaps and the pressure is squarely on Smith's shoulders. I know from past experience that Smith doesn't handle pressure very well but I've got to think that the Niners defense, special teams and running game find a way to bail him out and they squeak by with a tough win. Niners 20-16.