Count San Francisco 49ers Hall of Fame quarterback Steve Young among those who think the 49ers can still make the playoffs, despite their 0-4 start.
"We have to essentially go 8-4 to get into the playoffs," Young said, in an appearance on KNBR's Razor and Mr. T program available online. "This division could be won at 8-8. I can't imagine this division being won at 7-9."
"I can!" joked co-host Ralph Barbieri.
Young thinks the secret to a 49ers 2010 season rebound is to let Alex Smith air it out, take more risks, and throw deeper downfield.
"Alex, in my mind, is so careful," "Young said. "You get so careful that nobody's open."
"So you drop it off, you drop it off, you drop it off," Young continued. "You can't score enough points dropping it off."
David White notes in the San Francisco Chronicle that Smith's passes average only 3.6 yards per attempt. That's the shortest average for any NFL quarterback since that statistic has been tracked beginning in 1992.
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"A lot of the time, there are shots built into every play," Smith told the Chronicle, "but as a quarterback, you're taking what the defense gives you."
But if you keep just settling for that 3.6 yards, Alex, you won't even manage the weak 7-9 record that could win the NFC West.
Joe Kukura is a freelance writer who could foresee this year's weak NFC West division actually being won by a roster full of 53 dead beached whales.
