Alex Smith vs. Aaron Rodgers: Is That Even Fair?

When you take a look at the box score for Sunday's game, here's what you see:

SF 24    GB 30

Alex Smith: 16/33   227 yds  3 TD  1 INT  Rating 88.8

Aaron Rodgers: 32/45   344 yds  2 TD  0 INT  Rating 108.0

Those numbers combined with the way the first half turned out lead most people to believe that Rodgers is definitely better than Smith. Personally, I'm not that certain. I'm not saying that Smith is better; I'm just not sure that those numbers tell the complete story.

I know that the 49ers offense was basically nonexistent during the first half while the Green Bay offense was going up and down the field with relative ease. There are two points that need serious consideration:

1. What weapons are the two QBs playing with?

2. How much time is each QB getting?

The first question is more obvious than the second. Rodgers is throwing to Donald Driver and Greg Jennings. Both receivers played well last season. Jennings caught 80 balls for almost 1,300 yards and Driver caught 74 balls for over 1,000 yards.

Smith, on the other hand, is throwing to Michael Crabtree, Josh Morgan, and Vernon Davis. While both Crabtree and Morgan are great receivers, they are both extremely young and have not developed the same chemistry with Smith that Driver and Jennings have been able to develop with Rodgers.

Vernon Davis is a possible Pro Bowl Tight End and he is a definitely a good target for Smith. But Davis is only coming on this year. Prior to this season he was simply a freak athlete with a lot of potential. If you compare the receiving options and had to choose which you would take for a game or even a season, the Packer receivers would probably be your best bet.

Don't get me wrong, the Niners have great options for the future because as years go by, these receivers will continue to grow and develop. But as of now, it's advantage an for Rodgers.

I know that both 49er fans and Packer fans complain about their respective O-lines but the 49ers O-line is definitely worse at pass protection. The article on ESPN discusses the length of time that Rodgers and Smith hold the ball before they get sacked (these numbers were calculated prior to Sunday's game).

It shows that when Rodgers was sacked, he held the ball for 3.45 seconds, while Smith held the ball for 2.9 seconds on his sacks (the numbers are averages). That combined with the QB hits statistic on the box score help demonstrate the poor play by the 49er O-line. On his 45 pass attempts, Rodgers was hit four times, while Smith was hit nine times on his 33 pass attempts. Here's some quick math:

45 attempts/4 hits= Rodgers was hit once every 11.25 pass attempts

33 attempts/9 hits= Smith was hit once every 3.67 pass attempts

When you are constantly under duress you completion percentage will be lower, your interceptions will be higher and you'll (probably) perform poorly.

When Smith was in the shotgun he had a greater ability to see the field and threw the ball more effectively.

Maybe the 49ers should look into that more. When you look at the second half numbers for Smith you also have to consider that there was no secret to what the 49ers were going to do: they were down by 20 and were throwing the ball on nearly every play. So if you implement the shotgun and run out of it a few more times, it will open up the pass that much more.

You can't take anything away from Aaron Rodgers, he is one of the best young quarterbacks in the league and despite all the support I just tried show for Smith, he is probably better. I just want to give Smith a far shot, and hold off the calls for Nate Davis at least until this season is over.

This was my first write up, any feedback is appreciated. Thanks.