Everyone is passionate about the quarterback controversy, and a lot of people feel that Alex Smith was done an injustice.

I’m not here today to argue one way or another. I would like to point out one thing to keep the discussion grounded in fact.

Pro Football Focus grades quarterback performances game-by-game. A “zero” is average, a positive number is a good grade, and a negative number is a bad grade.

Alex Smith’s best game according to PFF was the Bills game. Smith posted a +5.3 pass rating – an astronomical score on their scale.

Smith’s second best game was against the Packers – he posted a +2.0 pass rating. His average pass rating per game this season is 0.49.

Since Kaepernick became the starting quarterback, he has posted a pass rating above +2.0 in every single game. He had a +4.8 pass rating against the Bears, a +2.7 against the Saints and a +3.2 rating against the Rams in what has become a very controversial game.

That’s a +10.7 total pass rating over the last three games – the best rating in the NFL over that stretch.