So what will we remember about the most entertaining 49ers home game since they defeated the Giants in the wildcard playoffs back 2002? We could remember quite a bit if the 49ers can build on this loss offensively.

I was one of the first media members to slip into the locker room after the loss, and I could hear coins in my pocket rattle it was so quiet. But once you started to talk to players, they opened up, particularly about Alex Smith. “Alex put the team on his back and carried them all the way down the field,” safety Dashon Goldson said. “He stepped up big time for us, a lot of credit goes to him.”

“I’m excited about his future and his career here as a 49er,” Vernon Davis said. “But, we have to make him right. He can’t always make us right. … We have to be there for him as far as receivers, and in the blocking game, we have to protect and give him time to get the ball out.”

Smith was a completely different player Monday night than he was eight days earlier in Seattle. After watching the replay of the opener, I thought there was something wrong with him mechanically because of his high passes. He had more high balls in that game than a Mad Men marathon. But in this game, it all disappeared. He was on target, even leading receivers with his passes.

We’ve seen this before. Smith playing horribly one game and then well the next. But could this be the game he falls into a groove and becomes worthy of his first overall selection?

Another development in this game was the offensive line, which was horrible in Seattle. The line dominated the Saints. One starter on offense was excited about the line play. He said they might have had the most fun in this game than they’ve ever had. And the difference? Trash talk.

“I’ve never heard them do that before,” Smith said.

Wide receiver Josh Morgan said it was time for the offensive line to get nasty.

“Nobody wants a nice offensive line,” Morgan said. “Other teams trash talk, other teams hit you late, why shouldn’t we? You got to do it to them before they do it to you. That’s football.”

The line played with a swagger and a confidence they rarely exhibited. But again, can they continue to do so?

In the next three games, it will be difficult to maintain swagger. They go to the den of din Sunday with a game at Kansas City. Then off to another tough match up in Atlanta and they finish with another difficult home assignment against the Eagles. They will need all the offensive swagger they can muster in the next three games.