SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) - If Alex Smith can't get a grip, the San Francisco 49ers' future might not be in very good hands.
The No. 1 draft pick acknowledges he's having trouble holding onto the NFL ball, as evidenced by his three fumbles in Sunday's 41-3 loss to the Seattle Seahawks, San Francisco's 11th defeat in 12 games.
The Seahawks capitalized on one of the fumbles for a one-play scoring drive that essentially put the game out of reach early in the second quarter. Smith also overthrew several passes, partly because he couldn't get a good grip on the ball.
He even asked the officials to change footballs at one point because of the strange feeling - although, as Smith noted on Monday, Seattle's Matt Hasselbeck didn't have any trouble gripping the same balls.
``If I want to play quarterback here, I can't let that happen,'' said Smith, 9-of-22 for 77 yards and an interception. ``Inexcusable. I didn't give this team a chance to win. It's something I've never had a problem with at any level until now. I've got to find a remedy, got to get it fixed.''
In his four NFL starts, Smith has fumbled nine times, losing three. He also has thrown nine interceptions, yet still doesn't have a touchdown pass.
Smith won't accept any excuses for the mistakes. Not his inexperience, his offensive line's struggles or that mysterious, strange feel of the ball. He said his hands are medium-sized, not abnormally small - the reason often cited for certain players' propensities for fumbling.
But Smith's fumbles, interceptions and general confusion are just small parts in a huge mosaic of offensive incompetence for the 49ers. Smith clearly needs much more seasoning before he'll be ready to handle the demands of his position, but coach Mike Nolan has committed to providing that experience for the rest of the year.
``I don't know if you could point out a quarterback that started hot in his career and stayed hot forever,'' Nolan said. ``Certainly it didn't have a lot to do with the defense when he dropped the ball out of his hand, but he's going to have good days and bad days, ups and downs. (Sunday) was a down day.''
Smith is one of four quarterbacks who have started on a San Francisco offense that's closing in on several franchise records for futility. In the first year of offensive coordinator Mike McCarthy's quest to return the West Coast offense to its birthplace, nearly everything has gone haywire with the hallowed scheme.
The 49ers' 113-yard performance against the Seahawks was the franchise's absolute worst since Bill Walsh took over in 1979, but it was the seventh time this season they've failed to reach even 200 total yards.
Want more numbers? Consider these:
- The 49ers have gained just 2,725 yards this season. They must gain about 441 yards in each of their final three games to avoid the franchise's lowest 16-game season total in a non-strike year since 1978, when the 2-14 Niners gained 4,047 yards.
- The 49ers aren't even certain to avoid the lowest yardage total in franchise history. The 1960 squad only played a 12-game schedule, but actually went 7-5 with quarterbacks John Brodie and Y.A. Tittle despite gaining just 3,260 total yards; the current Niners need 535 yards over the next three games to surpass that mark.
- San Francisco's average yards per game (209.6) and per play (4.0) both are easily the worst in the NFL, and they've even run 58 fewer plays than any other team.
- Their third-down conversion rate (23.8 percent) is the league's worst, and their average time of possession is 26:37, 2 seconds worse than No. 31 Miami.
- They've passed for a league-low 1,545 yards and just seven touchdowns, five by Tim Rattay, who was traded after playing four games. Their completion percentage (52.5) is a fraction better than that of the Dolphins, who have completed 73 more passes than the Niners' league-low 168.
Despite the overwhelming statistical evidence to the contrary, both Nolan and Smith say they see progress in the offense. But with just three games left, only spectacular progress will prevent this season from standing in franchise history as a record for futility.
``There's always signs that things are going to improve and get better for that offense,'' linebacker Julian Peterson said. ``Hopefully, they can just turn it around. There's going to be better days for them, and Alex, too. He's a good kid, and he's better than that. Maybe next week he can bounce back and hold that standard.''Copyright © 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. The information contained in the AP News report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press.
