It Doesn't Matter

"Yeah, but who's gonna throw me the ball?"

While the Braylon Edwards signing is a significant upgrade for either the No. 1 or No. 2 wide receiver slot and the Niners did manage to pick up a decent center and shore up their defensive backfield, none of it will matter much in 2011.

As long as #11 is taking snaps, the 2011 season is doomed. A new quarterback should have been priority #1 for this franchise heading into the offseason. Instead, they chose to answer the "who's the quarterback?" question the same way they have since 2005.

Maybe Jim Harbaugh will learn how Alex Smith is a coach-killer (history doesn't lie, facts are facts). In the meantime, he's looking foolish when he says the fans have thrown Smith under the bus.

This is the NFL - if you can't lead your team into the postseason for six seasons while constantly underachieving, then you get "thrown under the bus."  It's insulting to even use the term "thrown under the bus" in these circumstances. When you don't perform to expectations time and time again, your paying customers will complain and demand changes or they will stop consuming your product. That's business, pal.

To put the Smith era into perspective, consider this: he's been the starting quarterback during the majority of this franchise's worst run since the NFL's Super Bowl era, dating back to the mid-sixties.

Remember how we all think of the '70s as the absolute low point in the history of the 49ers? Guess what - the Niners of the '70s had more playoff appearances (3) than the 49ers did during the '00s (2). The current streak of non-playoff seasons equals the same streak that began in 1973 before a guy named Joe Montana ended the drought by leading the Niners to a Super Bowl title following the 1981 season.

So Jim, you can call it whatever you want - "throwing Alex under the bus," "booing," "unfair criticism" - it doesn't matter. Fans have purchased their seats on this bus for a hell of a long time, and it's been going nowhere for the past eight years.