How The 49ers Will Win The West With a Crazy Head Coach

(Photo by Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images)

There is no way to evaluate potential success in life without first looking at potential obstacles. The less foreseeable obstacles you have, the more you can focus on the task at hand and create momentum.

For the San Francisco Forty Niners, understanding their obstacles might be the most difficult part in evaluating them, making their potential success as likely as their potential failure. Standing in their way are questions about effort, coaching, defensive pass rush, and offensive line play, but their is one obstacle that is at the forefront of any conversation involving the 2009 San Francisco 49ers.

That is, of course, at the quarterback position. That's as obvious as saying Michael Vick has an image problem. The problem is the 49ers currently employ two second-string quarterbacks who are competing for a starting role.

On the one hand you have Shaun Hill, who has done a markedly better job than Alex Smith when given the opportunity to play. He's a gamer, but sadly can only throw the ball about 40 yards.

This is somewhat limiting when trying to scare a defense. He has the ability make plays, gets the ball out quickly and seems to inspire teammates.

Alex Smith, on the other hand, is coming off physical issues that have somewhat derailed his career. He broke off a bone in his shoulder last year climbing out of bed.

My guess is that is not a good sign. Also, many fans refer to him as "Cabbage Patch Hands," due to his incessant habit of putting the ball on the turf. Not only that, but as the number one pick in 2005, he has shown little progress mentally and physically on the football field.

With that said, Smith was thrown to the wolves by Mike Nolan in his rookie year, on what was possibly the worst team in NFL history, the 2008 Lions notwithstanding. Also, Smith has had a different offensive coordinator in each of his first four years in the league.

Physically, Hill is no match for Smith. Smith appears to not have the leadership ability or gamesmanship of Hill.

So, in the end the 49ers are going to battle with two guys who both have glaring weaknesses and some strengths.

Obviously, the quarterback position is extremely important, but as recent history points out, you can be successful with a limited signal caller. The caveat is, you must play great defense, run the ball well, and be efficient on special teams.

When asked to, your quarterback must make plays for you, but more times than not, you are asking him to not turn the ball over. San Francisco has begun to establish this as their identity, but there are still some hurdles to jump.

The team will finally be rid of Mike Nolan, who for all intents and purposes, seemed like a nice man. He had an impeccable tan and was very Obama-like in terms of his media savvy. He always said the right things and kept everyone believing that next year would be better.

In his defense, Nolan did an excellent job of bringing stability to a franchise that had spun-out and was on its way to becoming Detroit West. But, as a coach, Nolan was always over-matched, always.

His mid-season swoon was as predictable as spring to summer. He would get this team ready for game's one and two and then promptly lose six of seven. He has been replaced by a man with a burning inferno in his stomach, named Mike Singletary.

The question is, however, will this team respond for an entire season to such an intense guy? I believe the answer is yes, but there has not been this big of a demand on the current roster over the last few years. Nolan talked about working hard, Singletary just flat out works them hard.

Things had gotten so bad under Nolan that all Niner fans wanted was a consistent effort and good work ethic. That is not something that has been seen since 2002.

Under coach Singletary's direction at the end of last season, the team began to play crisper. The defense, which had surrendered 29 points or more in five straight weeks (weeks four through eight), gave up only 20 points or more twice in the last seven weeks. The defense was allowed to be aggressive and hit people in the mouth, something that was severely lacking with Nolan.

Defensive coordinator, Greg Manusky and coach Singletary seem to be on the same page, deciding on a 3-4 defense that will focus on physicality and speed, rather than deception.

What isn't known is if the 49ers will be able to apply enough pressure on the quarterback to be an effective defense. Over the last four years, San Francisco has been unable to stop teams on third down and has consistently been blistered in the passing game.

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