Troy Smith had a lot of things going against him going in to last Sunday’s game against the Broncos. He had to travel half way around the world, start an NFL game for the first time in years, and had not even practiced the 49ers playbook until days before the game. Overall I say he did well enough to play the Rams. Now he will have two weeks to prepare for the game with all the support he needs. However, there are two advantages Troy Smith had against the Broncos that he will not against the Rams: The element of surprise and the legs of Frank Gore.

The Broncos and the rest of the world did not know what to expect from Troy Smith. They knew they would see a lot of Frank Gore, but that was about it. The Rams will have two weeks to watch film on Troy Smith to know and practice against his tendencies and the reduced playbook he has been given. That reduced playbook seems to include a lot of rushing plays, some play action roll outs, and a lot of designed quick passes to the sidelines. Don’t expect any of these to be available against the Rams.

Troy will not be able count on Frank Gore to move the chains rushing the ball like he did last Sunday. Unlike the awful rushing defense of the Broncos (ranked 31st in rushing yards per game), the Rams defense against the run has been solid (ranked 8th).

The Broncos defensive ends did not do a good job keeping Troy Smith between the tackles. As a defensive end, you are responsible for making sure no one gets outside of you. They are supposed to push the play to the inside and get help from others in pursuit. Troy Smith was very effective running and throwing the ball on these rollouts. The Rams defense will be prepared.

The designed quick pass to the sideline will definitely not work. I expected to see the Rams corners playing close to the line of scrimmage and possibly trying to jump the route and take it back for six.

So what does that leave?

Now that Troy Smith has two weeks to practice, Mike Johnson really needs to open up the playbook. Troy showed glimpses of what he could do with more plays at his disposal. The quick slant to Vernon Davis was perfectly timed and on target and the double move fade route by Crabtree was on the spot. On both these plays Troy Smith stayed in the pocket and hit the right man.

Now opening up the playbook has its risks. Troy Smith got very lucky with that hailmary pass off his back foot into double coverage. I know Mike Singltary is risk adverse, but opening up the playbook is the only way we are going to beat the Rams.

Or do you think the playbook we used against the Broncos will work against the Rams?

I was blown away by the two unnecessary roughness calls on 49er defenders for hitting the quarterback during last Sunday's 49er-Bronco game. I understand the need to protect the quarterback and I agree that helmet to helmet contact is unnecessary and can lead to serious health issues. However, both hits that received unnecessary roughness calls did not involve a helmet to helmet hit, but rather the defender’s hand grazing Orton’s helmet.

On the first call, Manny Lawson was rushing the edge. Since the offensive tackle was pushing him away from the pocket, the best Lawson could do was extend his arm and hope for an arm tackle of Orton. It’s clear that Lawson’s arm was level with Orton’s mid-section when he made his move for the sack, but once Orton saw he was in trouble he ducked down and sat on his butt. This caused Lawson’s hand to hit the top of Orton’s helmet and give the Broncos 15 years and a first down. Orton was unhappy about the hit to the head and lobbied for the unnecessary roughness call, even though it was obvious that the blow to Orton was minor.

On the second call, a 49er defender (Lawson again?) was chasing down Orton as he rolled out toward the side line looking for an open receiver. Orton had the ball up by his head and was ready to throw so the 49er defender tried a tomahawk chop to force the fumble. Again Orton felt the pressure and turn away, which caused the defender to hit Orton’s helmet. Like the previous hit, Orton was unhappy and got the unnecessary roughness call.

So I have two questions about unnecessary roughness (not the current wording of the rule, but how you think it should be defined):

Does intention matter?

In both cases the penalized 49er defender was in no way trying to make a big hit on the quarterback.

Does it matter if the quarterback took a hard hit (I understand a hard hit can be difficult to define)?

In my opinion, neither hit caused Orton any more harm than a legal hit to the midsection. I’m sure Orton would rather have his helmet slapped a hundred times before taking another blow like the one that nearly knocked him out of the game, which was legal (as it should be).

What do you guys think?

I was very impressed with our defense last year. Only three out of the 32 teams in the league allowed fewer points per game than our 49ers defense. We lead all NFL teams with 21 forced fumbles and were tied for third in total sacks, which is incredible because pressuring the QB had been our main defensive weakness for many years.

Our offensive on the other hand is in need of some help. Last year we ranked 27/32 in total yards, 29/32 in first downs per game and 29/32 in third down conversions. We did manage to rank 18/32 in points per game, but as I'm sure you remember, the 49ers scored many of those points only after the game was out of reach.

So my point is this: We need to address offense yearly and often in the draft.

I see many mock drafts out there have the 49ers taking Haden with the 13th overall pick. Haden is a great corner and our depth at corner is looking weak. However, our needs on offense are much more desperate. I see our main offensive weaknesses as the following:

Quarterback: Alex Smith has never looked comfortable in the pocket, he stares down his primary target and he has games where he can’t hit a wide open target (MNF 2009). However, Alex is slowly getting better and I don’t see any QB in draft that will be available to us that I think will be able to step in opening day and perform better than Smith.

Offensive line: Since our QB is still getting in his groove, the best thing we can do for him is give him lots of time to scan the field and find the open man. Offensive tackle is the team’s biggest need. Not just a massive wall of bull rushing meat, but an athlete that can pass block. It would be a little crazy, but I wouldn’t mind the 49ers taking two offensive linemen in the first round. However, there are other options for our remaining first round pick.

Depth at RB: We all love Frank the Tank and want him to play many more years. In order for that to happen we can’t have another year of Jimmy Raye holding up a sign that says “Here comes Frank!” and then sending him up the middle into 12 angry men (at least it feels like 12). Raye needs to mix it up and a big part of that will be adding a change of pace running back. The kind of guy that scares the hell out of defensive coordinators. I’m talking about CJ Spiller. He may even be able to return the ball. Is it crazy to draft a guy in the first round that won’t play every down? If that guy can make the change from losing to winning it is definitely worth it.

Depth at WR: I like Josh Morgan and company so I’m not too worried about our number two wide receiver. However, Having Dez Bryant or Golden Tate across from Crabs would make Alex happy. If we stick with the three receiver sets we could keep Morgan on the field as well.

My big hope is that we draft for the offense in the first round.

Do you agree? Or do you think Haden is good enough to make us win more so than another offensive player maker?

Note: It’s nice to talk about the draft, but by far the most important thing the will affect the number of wins the 49ers get next year is the play calling of Jimmy Raye. He showed some glimpses of brilliance toward the end of last year (play action on 4th and short), but on many plays he still made it very obvious we were going to run the ball straight up the middle. The fate of the 2010 49ers is in the hands of Jimmy Raye (no napping during practice!).

After watching our quarterbacks get pressured and sacked at an alarming rate the last several years, I have been a big proponent of adding quality offensive linemen to the team. I was always happy to see the 49ers draft high round and well respected offensive line men; only to see our pass protection remain among the worst in the league. I just assumed we either have horrible coaches, bad scouts or are very unlucky. After reading Florida Danny's post yesterday, I see now that we have been drafting big scary linemen that excel at run blocking while ignoring the slightly less enormous tackles that excel at pass protection.

So given the 49ers' desperate need for a quality pass protecting offensive tackle, who should we draft with our first pick? I don't watch much college ball so all I have to go off of is all the analysis and opinions floating around the internet. Based on my research (over the last few minutes while I have been eating my lunch), Russel Okung is the best all around OT and a great pass protector. However, he will not be available when we pick. Then there is Bruce Campbell (who Al Davis will likely grab), Anthony Davis (who is mostly a run blocker and has a questionable work ethic), Bryan Bulaga (who many at niners nation like, but he too is mostly a run blocker) and finally Charles Brown.

Good ole Charlie Brown. If Lucie pulled the football away at the last second, he would kick her through the goal posts. Charles Brown has been an elite pass protector for the Trojans since he got on the map protecting the blind side of Mark Sanchez. So if he is so great, why is he not ranked higher on draft boards? As Florida Danny explained; the NFL is in love with size, especially when it comes to O-linemen. Charles Brown was reported to be 6-5 and 290 pounds by the Trojans.

Sadly (for the 49ers at least) Brown gained 10 pounds and performed well at the combine so he may not be available when the 49ers pick.

So assuming the 49ers take a OT with their first pick, who do you think it should be?

Note: Some may question the worth of getting a pass blocking OT to play right tackle. Recall that many of the sacks on our QB last year came from the right side.  Maybe Staley would eventually move to RT. There are lots of possibilities. The fact is that our QB is not changing this year (like it or not) so the only way our horrible pass offense will get better is if we have better pass protection. Until our pass offensive is taken seriously, we will not be able to run the ball no matter how great our O-line is at run blocking (they can’t block everyone when all the LBs and safeties are in the box).

Disclaimer: Sadly I had to move out of California, so I only get to watch nationally televised 49er games. Therefore my current thoughts on team needs (i.e., QB) are based mainly on the Thursday night offensive suck-fest against the Bears, the Alex couldn't hit the broad side of a barn MNF game against the Cardinals and the highlight (more like lowlight) reel after the other games.

So what do the 49ers need most to make them a playoff team or even have a winning record? The defense is up and down, but has had flashes of brilliance, especially lately. Our receivers look a whole lot better now that we have Crabs (I take it all back Mr. Crabtree, you were worth the wait. That TD catch you made on MNF where your arms had to grow a few inches to pull in another of Alex's way off passes, amazing.) Frank the tank is still the man as long as Jimmy Raye doesn't advertise to the opposing team when Frank is going to carry the rock. The O-line could use some help, but the number one need by far is a QB that can scare the defense. We haven't had one of those since Jeff (the antique road show) Garcia.

So who is going to be our QB? Alex seems like a great guy. He keep his nose clean, works very hard, does what he's told, gives to charity and signs LOTS of autographs. Sadly, he is not meant to be an NFL quarterback. As you can tell by screen name (ShaunhillQB1), I was for Shaun starting over Alex this year. It wasn't because Shaun was a great QB, it was because he was a good QB that could bridge the gap until we could find something better. Well the time has come for something better: Case Keenum.

Who the "site decorum" is Case Keenum? He is the QB for the Houston Cougars (yes they are division one). He threw for over 5,000 yards and over 40 touchdowns in his junior year. A fluke? He also threw for over 5,000 yards and over 40 touchdowns in his sophomore year. These numbers are ridiculous. Nobody else is even close. My head is still spinning just thinking about it. His freshman year he put up a more human 2250 yards and 14 TDs with a 68.5 completion percentage. The coaching staff changed between his freshman and sophomore year and he actually improved significantly even though he had to absorb a whole new system. Alex supports should think long and hard about that. We need a QB that thrives under pressure because, lets face it, the 49ers are all about adversity.

I admit that I just learned about this kid so there is still a lot I don't know. I don't follow college until draft time, which for the 49ers seems to already be here. Case Keenum runs the spread offense, which is supposed to be the kiss of death when trying to get drafted into the NFL. Because of this, he will likely slip down the draft boards allowing us to draft him relatively cheap after picking up other needs first (e.g., OT and CB). This is important because nobody wants to spend big money on drafting a QB and relive all the talk of  “potential” that we had and are STILL having with Alex Smith.

I don't have my heart set on this guy for QB (although I am leaning strongly his direction), so I am open to other suggestions. Hopefully some of the Niner's Nation are college fans and you guys can give some comments on who should be our future QB. The only thing that is out of the question is keeping the QBs we have. Alex and Shaun have had their chance and failed. However, if you want to give Nate Davis a shot, I'm open to that.

Final note: Watch the Armed Forces Bowl on New Years Eve to check out Case Kennum in action. I know I will.

I’m not an NFL offensive coordinator, but I’m going to critique one anyway.

Where’s the play action pass?

It seems to me that when the defense is convinced (rightly so) that you will run on first down, you have the perfect opportunity for a play action pass. If our offensive line can’t hold the 9 men rushing for long enough for Hill to fake the hand off and make the pass, then line up in the shotgun. Send two receivers deep and keep the third close on a hot route in case the defense in breathing down Hill’s neck.

I’m all for the 49ers’ hard nose, no none sense approach. I agree that Frank the Tank is the man, but Walter Peyton couldn’t run up the middle with 9 guys in the box. Give Frank a chance.

So please Mr. Raye, make your play calls based on what the defense is giving you. Shaun Hill isn’t great, but he is good. If the defense has 9 guys looking for the run, Hill should be able to find a guy open.

I’m sure Seattle will stack the box next week, so lets open the game with a play action pass followed by a screen. It might not work, but at least it might loosen up the defense.

I grew up in San Jose, but last summer I moved out to Virginia. Last fall I was homesick and could not take not seeing my 49ers play, so I spent the ungodly amount of money to get NFL Sunday Ticket. This year I just can't afford it, which is driving me crazy because I think they really have a shot of making the playoffs!

I will get to see the Monday night 'Cards game and the Bears game, but that may be it unless the NFL Network is kind enough to replay some of the '9er games. I know last year the NFL Network replayed 5 of the most exciting games from the previous Sunday.

Are there other people out there in my situation?

Does anyone know if the NFL Network plans on replaying games like they did last year?

Does a service exist where you can watch previously aired games online?

Please help!