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I am always looking at the big picture.  One of the big pictures is that the 49ers are 2-4, and the offense is last in the league.  No getting around it, that’s just the way it is.  I also see other teams languishing with their starting players healthy.  The Philadelphia Eagles are also 2-4, and everyone expected them to be better this year, too.

Alex Smith is 2-1 this season as the quarterback, Trent Dilfer is 0-3.  That is a big picture concept that cannot be overlooked.  Why is this so important?  Because Trent Dilfer is a bad NFL quarterback.  Trent Dilfer cannot read defenses.  Trent Dilfer does not have a pump fake in his arsenal.  Trent Dilfer is just plain bad.  He also is not a good leader on the field.  Nothing about Trent Dilfer instills confidence in anyone.

How do I know Smith is any better of a leader?  Simply put, this team believes in him.  Look at what the 49ers did early on against Pittsburgh, and compare it to the very next week.  As soon as Alex Smith went down, the entire team just fell to pieces.  From the players to the coaches, everything was out of sorts with Alex Smith out.  Smith presents a very calm and cool demeanor, and certainly instills more confidence than Trent Dilfer.  When you look at the gutsy performances of late last year and in the 4th quarter against Arizona, Smith has shown time and again that when he takes the game over he has success.

I saw criticism of this team rise to new heights, as if playing with Trent Dilfer was anything to be helped, or anything to be built on.  Why do I keep harping on Trent Dilfer?  Because it has to be understood that this team cannot go anywhere with him as the quarterback, and judging this team’s chances for the future based on games with him as the starter is futile and a true picture cannot be ascertained.

Let’s look at the most recent game and see first why the 49ers lost.  The most glaring issue is turnovers, hands down.  Dilfer’s two interceptions were horrible decisions.  The first was on the possession following the bad handoff that gave the ball to New York.  Opportunities were squandered in only a few offensive plays.  The second was a squandered opportunity after the blocked punt and safety.  The Giants scored 17 points off those turnovers, about half of New York’s point total.

The offensive line was not expected to play very well against this vaunted pass rush, and Jonas Jennings allowed his primary assignment, defensive end Osi Umenyiora, to come free on Trent Dilfer when he returned the fumble 75 yards for a TD.  Jennings proved himself to be a liability to this team, and when Adam Snyder finally came in, he didn’t give up a single sack.  Snyder has proven, in the last two games, that he deserves to start at left tackle.

Jim Hostler further cemented the idea that he might not be the best option for offensive coordinator.  He called the game like he might if Alex Smith were playing, but Dilfer is no Alex Smith.  He seems incapable of understanding that you have to establish the run against a team like New York.  Gore and the line found good holes in this game, and had Gore been given 25 carries he would have easily had 100 yards in this game, if not more.

You cannot give Trent Dilfer 38 pass attempts, and only give Gore 14 carries. People will say the score of the game required it, but they had opportunities in the 2nd quarter to force Strahan and Umenyiora to stay honest and they didn’t do it.  A botched handoff cannot be allowed to make you tentative, but Hostler allowed it to happen.

What are the positives?  In the first half the Giants had 244 total yards, while in the second half they had but 52.  The 49ers had 96 in the first half, 148 in the second, so they adjusted well at halftime.  The Giants first half TOP was 20 minutes, only 11 in the second.  The 49ers had 10 in the first half, and nearly doubled it with 19 in the second half.  Trent Dilfer missed outplaying Eli Manning by one interception.

This game was in reach until Umenyiora’s forced fumble, and I think the key was Vernon Davis’ big drop on the opening play of the 2nd half.  If he catches that ball, it’s almost assuredly 6 points.  Another key to that play is that Dilfer’s arm floated that ball so that Vernon had to lean back slightly to get it.  Alex Smith would have hit him right in stride.  A late deep attempt to Lelie was poorly thrown out of bounds.  Smith would have kept it in the field for the jump ball.

Would Alex Smith have done better against that pass rush?  He is certainly more aware of pressure than Dilfer, and almost too much sometimes.  Three of the sacks could have been avoided with Smith’s legs.  Smith almost certainly would have called a timeout when the Giants loaded the line at the 15, or at least called an audible to max protect or a run.  Dilfer’s a gutsy guy, but not the brightest.

So what can we expect for the future?  Well we can expect Gore to run better if he gets the touches he needs.  If he doesn’t get 25 carries against New Orleans, Hostler should be fired, and owner John York should be in Mike Nolan’s ear to do so.  I think we can expect Adam Snyder to start at left tackle.  We can expect more open receivers, as they showed it today.  We can expect Alex Smith to be smarter, quicker, and more accurate than Trent Dilfer any day of the week.

Going into this game, my prediction of a win was based on Alex Smith getting the start against New York.  This game would have been closer with Smith in the lineup, and if that is in question then you severely overestimate Trent Dilfer’s ability to play quarterback.  If I sound like a broken record, so be it.  That detail has been ignored for too long.  Ask Buccaneers and Browns fans about Trent Dilfer.

Smith will be back next week against New Orleans, who almost lost to the Atlanta Falcons today.  They have no pass rush, and a ridiculously weak secondary.  With Deuce McCallister out, the Saints have no real run threat, and we can expect the defense to play much better than they did today.  The positives are there, and if Trent Dilfer can improve week to week, one can only assume Smith will be even better next week.