







SAN FRANCISCO – In the heat of the moment, with Thursday night's tight NFC West showdown between two hard-hitting teams hanging in the balance, Jim Harbaugh made one telling decision that spoke to his feelings about two quarterbacks.

With six minutes remaining, his team held a four-point lead over the Seattle Seahawks and faced a third-and-7 in the red zone. At that pivotal juncture, the San Francisco 49ers' second-year coach seemed to experience more shrinkage than a windsurfer at nearby Candlestick Point.

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Instead of trying to put away the Seahawks, Harbaugh green-lit a play from offensive coordinator Greg Roman that called for Alex Smith to run a quarterback draw through the middle of the line. The conservative call gained three yards, set up David Akers' 28-yard field goal and essentially dared Seattle's rookie quarterback, Russell Wilson, to launch a dramatic, end-of-game touchdown drive for the second consecutive week.

Harbaugh's strategy paid off: The Niners (5-2) kept Wilson from crossing his own 35-yard line the rest of the way and held on for a 13-6 victory over the Seahawks (4-3) and a half-game lead over the Arizona Cardinals (4-2) in the ultra-competitive NFC West.

However, as the 69,732 fans at Candlestick Park celebrated San Francisco's bounce-back victory following a dispiriting 26-3 home defeat to the New York Giants four days earlier, it was hard not to view the coach's move as a sign that he lacked faith in Smith. The embattled starter had thrown an end-zone interception to Brandon Browner on the team's previous fourth-quarter drive, continuing a recent slump.

Smith, who has endured far more trying moments during his eight-year career, didn't shy away from that implication when we spoke at his locker after the game.

"I mean, I get it," Smith told Y! Sports. "It was probably a little too far [to get the first down], and you're making it a one-touchdown lead [with the field goal]. Maybe you hit it and catch them off guard and get the first down."

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As Smith continued, he seemed to talk himself into outright approval of the approach, saying, "I didn't mind the call. … I like it. I like the ball in my hands."

Whether Harbaugh feels similarly about the ball leaving Smith's right hand – especially against a terrific defense like Seattle's – is debatable.

After his three-interception debacle against the Giants, Smith played a cleaner game against the Seahawks, completing 14 of 23 passes for 140 yards with a third-quarter touchdown to go with his interception. He was sacked twice and didn't have a completion longer than 18 yards. Were it not for the efforts of halfback Frank Gore, who ran for 131 yards on 16 carries and caught five passes for 51 yards, the Niners might not have crossed midfield.

Wilson's numbers (9-of-23, 122 yards, no touchdowns, one interception) were even worse, though in fairness to the rookie, there were at least five blatant drops by his receivers. And while Harbaugh got away with playing it safe in this particular game, it's hard to envision his team as a bona fide Super Bowl contender if the quarterback isn't trusted to take a shot at the end zone when the opportunity presents itself.

In case you're dismissing this as pure media-driven negativity, consider the responses I got from two key 49ers offensive players in the locker room after the game.

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