Niners Tuesday: Lots of Good Questions

Nolan & Co. are feeling the heat for the incredibly conservative anemic offense (as well they should) and now have they bye week to figure it out. Here's a roundup of the news coming out of Santa Clara:

• Assorted shorts from the Chron. Alex Smith is improving rapidly. Jonas Jennings will be back. And Harvey Dahl has been signed off our practice squad by the Falcons. Harvey, you will be missed. Not really by me. But I'm sure you've got some friends on the team or something who will probably miss you. At least I hope you have some friends. Otherwise I just kinda feel sad for you.

• Not only is Alex Smith rapidly improving, but it's 100% he'll be active for the NYG game says Matt Maiocco of the Press-Democrat. Hooray, Alex.

• John Crumpacker, beat reporter for the Chronicle, is a curmudgeon. Crumpacker=Curmudgeon. Think about it...

• More from Señor Curmudgeon. Offensive ineptitude: is it fixable?

• Here's the best piece I've found on the lack of production from Matt Barrows at the Sac-Bee. Mike Nolan doesn't seem to like Ashley Lelie, or else he's just fooling everybody by keeping him as a secret weapon:

• Asked today why Lelie hasn't played more, Nolan went from cautious to coy.

  "Good question," he said. "We've got a week to work on that.

  -- Are you saying he could see more playing time?

  "I'm saying, 'Good question. We've got a week to work on that,'" Nolan said. "Good question."

  -- Why hasn't he been in before?

  "Good question. We're going to work on that this week"

  -- Do you think he should have been in before?

  "Another good question."

• Glenn Dickey breaks it down. Basically: bad play calling + bad quarterbacking + mediocre blocking = Big problems on offense. When you put it that way, it all makes so much sense.

• So we all knew it was bad, but reading this re-cap of all the games on Sunday makes clear just how bad it was to an outside observer. Some choice excerpts:

• "The 49ers/Ravens game is underway, and the 49ers are punting (Trent Dilfer's not off to a hot start, I guess) ... Punter Andy Lee gets off a beautiful, high punt, and Shawntae Spencer is down at the goal line waiting for it, on his knees, fielding it like a ground ball. Ravens take over at the 1 ... that may be the best play of this entire game."

• "San Francisco punter Andy Lee is on again ... and holy fuck, this one goes for 74 yards and is downed at the 2. That is beautiful punting. Andy Lee is a one-man show ... I'm so glad this wasn't a Punjabi Prison Match."

• "Trent Dilfer at the half: 2-of-6, 8 yards. The 49ers, at the half: 26 plays, 56 yards. Punter Andy Lee is the 49ers best player, and everyone else is tied for last."

• "49ers punter Andy Lee is on again ... and this one's boomed for 64 yards. This guy's in the zone ... I don't know if I've ever seen a punter take over a game before."

• And finally, some good news. The Santa Clara stadium plan looks like it's hitting some serious road bumps in timing and additional money needed. Let's hope Mr. Policy can work some magic at the ballot box and the Hunter's Point plan can get some serious momentum.

Today's 49ers look alike: Alex Smith from Mount Union College. Not much information is available on Mr. Smith, but he sure looks like a fun guy to hang out with. Keep it up, Alex.