49ers need to plot course on offense
San Francisco 49ers quarterback Alex Smith throws a pass during the second half of Sunday's game in Green Bay.
JIM PRISCHING / APPublished: Monday, November 23, 2009 at 3:00 a.m.
Last Modified: Monday, November 23, 2009 at 10:48 p.m.
Until the 49ers string together multiple victories in succession, all talk of the playoffs is pointless.
But regardless of whether their season ends Jan.3 or continues into the postseason, the team’s final six games are vitally important for 2010 and beyond.
It is imperative for the 49ers to chart the direction of the offense. And the two people who will come under the most scrutiny in the final month-and-a-half are quarterback Alex Smith and offensive coordinator Jimmy Raye.
The 49ers signed Smith to a new two-year contract in the offseason because the front office could not bear the thought of seeing him to go to another organization before knowing if he was somebody around which the team could build for the future.
Four starts into the The Alex Smith Project II, there is still no clarity for those in charge.
“We’re continuing to learn his strengths,” 49ers coach Mike Singletary said. “We’re continuing to have him communicate to us what works for him and what doesn’t. We have to really look at what’s working for him and what works for the offense and continue to do more of those things.”
Shaun Hill won the starting job over Smith during training camp, and the team had a 3-2 record and 21-0 deficit at halftime against the Houston Texans when Smith was summoned.
Team sources say there is no plan to ever go back to Hill because he was never viewed as more than a short-term solution. Smith, the No.1 overall pick in the 2005 draft, is the quarterback who gives the 49ers the best to win, club officials believe.
The 49ers need to find out in the final six games of the season whether Smith is the long-term answer at the most important position.
And while Singletary has stood firmly behind Raye, there are legitimate questions whether he has what it takes to have more than a one-year run as coordinator.
Raye is the 49ers’ seventh offensive coordinator in seven years. He has made 13 coaching moves since entering the NFL in 1977 as 49ers receivers coach. And while he became an offensive coordinator for the eighth time when Singletary hired him in the offseason, Raye has not lasted long at any of his previous stops.
In his previous coordinator jobs, Raye has lasted just one season three times, and two seasons four times.
The 49ers owned the league’s 23rd-ranked offense — and 13th in passing — last season in Mike Martz’s only year as coordinator. But when Singletary signed a four-year contract after the 49ers’ final game, he fired Martz and hired Raye.
The 49ers’ offense currently ranks 27th overall, with the league’s 23rd-ranking passing game.
49ERS DROP CHARGES
The 49ers have dropped their pursuit of tampering charges against the New York Jets, a team source said. The 49ers filed the tampering charges with the NFL office because they believed the Jets had illegal contact with then-unsigned draft pick Michael Crabtree’s agent, Eugene Parker.
The New York Jets declined comment through a club spokesman.
While it is possible the 49ers came to the conclusion the case could not be proved, the source said the 49ers “have their guy” and have decided to move on. Crabtree signed a six-year contract with the 49ers on Oct.7 to end a 71-day contract impasse.
Crabtree, the No.10 overall pick, has 22 catches for 292 yards while starting all five games in which he has appeared. Crabtree caught his first career touchdown, a 38-yarder, in the 49ers’ 30-24 loss to the Packers on Sunday.
For more on the 49ers, go to Instant 49ers at blog.pressdemocrat.com/49ers. You can reach Staff Writer Matt Maiocco at matt.maiocco@pressdemocrat.com.
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