Jets Should Learn From Smith, Flacco’s Failures

By Leslie Monteiro

There were a lot of heroes in yesterdays NFC Championship game for the New York Giants, but perhaps none were bigger than San Francisco quarterback Alex Smith

Go ahead and talk about Kyle Williams’ error that helped Eli Manning  put Lawrence Tynes in a position to kick the game-winning field goal, but it should have never came down to that.  The San Fran defense was shutting down Manning and the Big Blue high-flying offense. Had Smith made plays, the 49ers win the game and Manning does not get a chance to add another heroic moment on his resume.

The Niners defense deserved better. They put on a heroic effort all day, getting to Manning and hitting his receivers. To hold Manning and his cast of playmakers to just 20 points in 4+ quarters is an accomplishment in itself.

For all the talk about defense wins championships, this one was about the offense. The NFL requires a quarterback with a strong passing game to win. Teams can’t get by with an average quarterback. They need a playmaker that will be a difference maker in a quarterback. That is why the Giants and Patriots are advancing, since they have Manning and Brady, while their opponents this weekend had Smith and Joe Flacco.

Skeptics point to the Super Bowl rings of Trent Dilfer and Brad Johnson, but the truth is these game-managers were exceptions to the rules, and they played for historically great defenses, both better than any defense in the league this season.

Smith failed to generate anything in this game. He was worse as the game went on. He converted just one of 13 third-down plays.

It’s a good bet the 49ers will explore their options at quarterback this offseason. There is no way they can go further with Smith, who took them as far as they could. He hasn’t made plays in his career, and to think he is going to is asinine. He has not showed signs of progress this year. Even when he had a good year, the 49ers relied on him to not mess up and let Frank Gore run the offense by running the ball.

The final quarter of the Saints game was an instant classic, but the fact that Smith’s 299 passing yards were his high for the season says it all right there. To put it in perspective, Mark Sanchez had three games this year of over 300 yards.

Speaking of Sanchize, any Jets fans who watched yesterdays display by smith should be inspired by the idea of trading for Eli’s older brother. They can’t waste another year with a game-manager like Sanchez, just like the 49ers can’t waste another year with a game-manager like Smith. They should forget about his development and all while the window of opportunity is still there. Sanchez has had his chances, and after three seasons he has failed to meet the expectations of a top draft pick.

The Conference Championship games, and the play of the losing quarterbacks specifically, will not only improve the trade stock of Peyton, but Green Bay Packers back-up Matt Flynn as well. Flynn, set to be a free agent, looks set to be the next Kevin Kolb or Matt Cassell; paid like a proven starter while barely proving anything. Like a young athletic big-man in the NBA, exciting QBs will be bought high on the idea of potential. Teams want to find the next Brady, Rodgers, Eli, Peyton, Roethlisberger and Rodgers, and they will do whatever it takes to find them.

These teams know quarterbacks like Smith, Sanchez and Tim Tebow can win games in the regular season, but that winning games in January is something completely different. They know a running game and a strong defense can only go so far.

The 49ers know it too well after this tough loss. The question now is if the Jets have learned this lesson as well.

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Tags: afc championship game, new york giants, new york jets, NFC Championship Game