So much for third year’s the charm

The 49ers lost in primetime last week, falling 24-0 to the Seahawks on Monday night, and a national audience was able to witness the horror that is San Francisco’s offense. The Niners managed only 94 passing yards and quarterback Alex Smith completed less than 50 percent of his passes for the second consecutive game.

While it’s true that running back Frank Gore hasn’t done much on the ground this season after a spectacular year in 2006, Smith isn’t making it any easier on him: No starting quarterback in the league has a passer rating worse than Smith’s 57.2 mark. There are plenty of excuses that you can throw around to defend the third-year signal caller (offensive mastermind Norv Turner is gone, he’s been injured, the whole offense is terrible), but the fact remains that Smith has regressed in his third year, and it’s getting close to put up or shut up time for him.

Since the 49ers don’t even have a first-round pick next year (nice job on that one), it’s too early to think about drafting a replacement for Smith. If he doesn’t show some signs of improvement next season, though, the Niners will have to start over with a rookie again in 2009. Although Michael Vick could be out of jail by then?

Even though the game was one to forget, San Francisco head coach Mike Nolan should be commended for coaching just a day after the death of his father, former Niner coach Dick Nolan. Mike Nolan has occasionally worn a suit on the sidelines in tribute to his late father, and honored his dad last night by coaching in spite of his death. San Francisco has a lot of problems, but Mike Nolan is not one of them.

They can’t play offense or defense, but those special teams are killer!

Raiders coach Lane Kiffin stated before Sunday’s 17-6 loss to the Bears that he would kick to Chicago’s dangerous return man Devin Hester, essentially daring the blazingly fast receiver to beat Oakland’s special team coverage for a touchdown.

Although I thought Kiffin was a moron for even letting Hester touch the ball, apparently he’s a little smarter than his team’s 2-7 record would indicate. The diminutive returner had eight chances to return a kick or punt for a touchdown, but totaled only 48 yards. Unfortunately, Oakland was burned by a much more embarrassing player: quarterback Rex Grossman.

After being banished to the bench earlier this year, Rexy relieved an injured Brian Griese and threw a perfect 59-yard touchdown pass to Bernard Berrian in the fourth quarter to give the Bears the lead. And once a team takes the lead over the Raiders in the fourth quarter, you know there’s no chance that the Silver and Black will make a comeback.

At this rate, the old man will never retire

Brett Favre should have his own brand of anti-wrinkle cream, because he sure is age-defying. The 38-year-old quarterback torched the Minnesota Vikings for 351 yards and 3 touchdowns, and became only the second quarterback in NFL history to pass for over 60,000 yards.

More importantly for his team, though, the Packers plowed Minnesota 34-0 and improved their record to 8-1. Favre will have virtually every important passing record by the end of this season, and maybe another NFC Championship ring to add to his trophy case. The Packers will face the 8-1 Cowboys in Dallas in Week 13, and the winner of that matchup will probably end up with home field advantage in the playoffs. If the Packers can find a way to beat the formidable Cowboys, I wouldn’t bet on them losing any playoff games at Lambeau in January.

Apparently Sunday night’s game was moved from San Diego to the Twilight Zone

Colts quarterback Peyton Manning is supposed to be the smartest and most accurate quarterback in the NFL, and his career numbers are quite impressive: 64 percent completion percentage and a quarterback rating of 94.2. On Sunday night, however, he was worse than the Raider and Niner offenses combined. Manning threw six interceptions, a career-high, after entering the game having thrown only four picks the entire season.

Perhaps more ridiculous than his performance was the fact that the Colts were still in this game in the fourth quarter, and should have won it. They were lined-up for the game-winning 29-yard field goal with less than two minutes remaining in the game, but Adam Vinatieri missed his second attempt of the night. When the most-clutch kicker of all-time misses two field goals and a future hall-of-famer throws six picks, you know it’s just not your night.

San Diego quarterback Phillip Rivers was also pretty awful, passing for only 104 yards with two interceptions, and was booed by Charger fans in the fourth quarter. Rivers has been average at best this season after playing well as a game-manager last year. This year the Chargers have tried to become more of a passing team, even though they have reigning MVP LaDainian Tomlinson in the backfield, and Rivers has floundered with the added responsibility. Norv “franchise-killer” Turner strikes again! NFL Picks – Week 11 Week 10 Picks: 2-2; Season Overall: 23-13 Here are some notable games coming up in week 11 (Odds as posted on Yahoo! Sports Nov. 14): San Diego at Jacksonville (-3) – The aforementioned Chargers looked anything but impressive last week, and will visit a Jaguar squad that is about to get quarterback David Garrard back in the lineup. Garrard is the only starter in the NFL that has yet to throw an interception, and even though he has only played six games this season, he has been very accurate (66.2 completion percentage). The Jaguars will be able to run the ball against a Charger defense that surrendered 296 yards to Adrian Peterson a couple of weeks ago, and should have the game in hand midway through the fourth quarter. My Pick: Jacksonville 20-13 New Orleans at Houston (-1) – The Saints defense was spectacularly bad last week, allowing the winless Rams to score on them at will in a 37-29 loss. Houston has been very inconsistent this season, but has the potential to put up serious points. This game should be a fun one to watch because neither defense could stop a high school offense at this point. I see the Saints winning in a high-scoring game. My Pick: New Orleans 27-24 Tennessee at Denver (-2) – This Monday night game should have been a matchup of two premier young quarterbacks: Denver’s Jay Cutler versus Tennessee’s Vince Young. Although both will play in this game, neither one deserves to be called “premier” at this point. Young has thrown only four touchdown passes to go along with his ten interceptions and often looks like a wide receiver playing quarterback. Cutler has put up mediocre stats and is a big part of the reason why the Broncos score only 17 points per game (25th in the NFL). Luckily for Tennessee, though, the Titans should be able to run the ball against Denver’s soft run defense, which will allow them to eke out a close victory. I put the over/under for total interceptions thrown in this game at 3. My Pick: Tennessee 16-13 “Bet the Farm” Lock of the Week: Carolina at Green Bay (-10.5) – Carolina has been a very strange team this season. The Panthers have yet to win a game at home, where they score only 12 points per game. On the road, however, Carolina has racked up 20.4 points per game and compiled a 4-1 record. Unfortunately, they will have a tough test this week when they visit the streaking Packers. Old man Favre will have another solid outing for Green Bay, and the Packers should roll to their fifth-straight victory. Who says you need to run the ball to win in the NFL? My Pick: Green Bay 24-10 Fantasy Game-Breaker: Minnesota Running Back Chester Taylor vs. Oakland – Now that Adrian Peterson is out of the lineup for at least a week, Chester Taylor becomes the go-to guy again in Minnesota until the rookie sensation returns. This week the Vikings play at home, where they fare much better than they do on the road, and face Oakland’s 29th-ranked rushing defense. The Vikings will have little to fear from Oakland’s nauseatingly bad pass offense, and should be able to control the clock with the running game. Taylor knows he needs to make the most out of this start to ensure that he either gets more carries in Minnesota or gets traded, because Peterson has run away with the starting job for good. Expect 100+ yards and a touchdown. Look for “No Huddle” every Thursday on www.statehornet.com

Fernando Gallo can be reached at [email protected]