Giants vs. 49ers: Alex Smith Neither Hero nor Hindrance in Title Run

After the San Francisco 49ers defeated the New Orleans Saints the other night, a friend sent me a text wondering if Alex Smith would be viewed as the new Rex Grossman.

Of course, in the wake of the 49ers dramatic victory there has also talk of Alex Smith the hero, the miracle worker, the redemption story who finally "made it" after seven years of struggle.

As is generally the case when extremes get thrown around, it's not fair to label Smith as either mediocre or miraculous.

My initial response to my friend's query was that Smith won that game for the 49ers, something Grossman never did when the Bears made their run to the Super Bowl in the 2006-07 NFL season.

And while this 49ers team and that Bears team were similar in that they had a solid rushing attack and played excellent defense, comparing Smith to Grossman simply isn't fair.

In the 2006 regular season, Grossman finished with 3,193 yards, 23 touchdowns, 20 interceptions, a 54.6 completion percentage and a 73.9 quarterback rating.

In other words, the Bears won despite Grossman.

This year, Smith finished with 3,144 yards, 17 touchdowns, five interceptions, a 61.3 completion percentage and a 90.7 quarterback rating.

In other words, Smith has done an excellent job of limiting turnovers and managing the game.

But keeping that in mind, is it really fair to say it was Smith who won that game? Should he really be made a hero after Saturday's performance?

It was a spectacular playcall that saw Smith sprint 28 yards down the sideline, untouched, with only 2:11 to play, giving the 49ers a 29-24 lead.

It was Vernon Davis who raced 47 yards two plays before his unbelievable game-winning catch in the endzone with only nine seconds left, plowing over a defender in the process. The tight end was heroic in his own right, finishing with seven catches for 180 yards and two touchdowns.

And it was the San Francisco defense that took the ball away from the vaunted Saints offense five times, probably the biggest factor in San Francisco's win.

This isn't to take away from what Smith accomplished—with the game on the line, he did what he needed to do and his team came away with the win.

But let's save the redemption segments we're sure to see on ESPN and the talk that Alex Smith has arrived—he's no hero yet.

Show me a Super Bowl and then we'll talk.

It may be boring to fall down the middle, but it's true—Smith isn't mediocre, but he's far from great. In a remarkable season for the 49ers, he's neither the reason they win nor an obstacle they must overcome each week to do so.

He's just managing the game. And that's exactly what they need him to do.

Hit me up on the Twitter—my tweets are FDA approved.