Now we're seeing why Ross chased Harbaugh

San Francisco coach is smart, bold – and on the line with QB decision

Dave Hyde Sun Sentinel Columnist

1:34 p.m. AKST, December 8, 2012

SAN FRANCISCO

You can think what you want about San Francisco coach Jim Harbaugh's quarterback decisions, weigh in however you feel about his starting a young Colin Kaepernick over the experienced Alex Smith against the Dolphins.

You can think a starting quarterback like Smith shouldn't lose his job to a concussion. You can take that further, as NFL commissioner Roger Goodell was asked this week, and suggest Smith losing his job like this will slow players from coming forward with concussions.

Or you can say Harbaugh sees Kaepernick's upside and understands that's needed against the better defenses like the Dolphins. You can realize Harbaugh is making a calculated gamble with Kaepernick to put the 49ers in February's big game.

But what you can't dispute is why Dolphins owner Steve Ross made that ill-fated, cross-country attempt to hire Harbaugh. He's as good and bold a coach as there is in the NFL today. He's the exception to so many tenets about coaching.

They need time? Harbaugh inherited a 4-12 team, took it to the NFC Championship Game last season on full merit and is a prime contender again.

They don't make quarterbacks? Harbaugh turned the dumpy career of Smith into something special. Smith had a 76.3 quarterback rating before Harbaugh. He has a 95.1 rating with Harbaugh.

Coaches shouldn't change winning formulas? Harbaugh did. He did what great coaches do. He ignored everyone else. He dumped Smith in favor of first-time starter Kaepernick in a manner no contending coach has in history.

One suggested parallel is Bill Belichick choosing Brady over an injured Drew Bledsoe in 2001. But that was at the start of the year, not the finish. Another is Don Shula returning to Bob Griese at halftime of the AFC Championship Game over Earl Morrall.

"You're in," Shula told Griese as they walked to the locker room.

But Griese was the starter for years and, while bold, Shula's decision was understandable given the manner the offense was stumbling in the playoffs.

Harbaugh's offense wasn't stumbling until last week's loss to St. Louis under Kaepernick. It scored 13 points. Harbaugh stuck with him for Sunday's game, and that's the real intrigue of today. Can this Dolphins defense muddy the 49ers' season?

"I hope we play well enough to liven up this debate a bit'' defensive end Cameron Wake said of the 49ers' quarterback situation.

That's as far as he goes, as far as the Dolphins season allows him anymore. Sunday is as predictable a game as there is on the schedule, considering the 49ers have the league's best defense (14.3 points a game) and the Dolphins rank 27th in offense (18.9 points a game).

But what isn't predictable is what kind of shape the Dolphins defense leaves the 49ers' psyche. A week ago, the Patriots' Tom Brady entered Sun Life Stadium with the league's top-scoring offense and left with his lowest quarterback rating (74.8) of the year.

Now comes Kaepernick off the worst of his three starts.

"You see on tape, Kaepernick moves around a little more, gains some yardage with his legs," Dolphins defensive end Jared Odrick said. "Alex Smith was the type of guy that would stand in the pocket, take some more hits than Kaepernick. That's something you keep in mind in your rush."

This isn't just about Kaepernick, though. It's more about Harbaugh. He hasn't lost consecutive games in his 30 games as the 49ers coach. He has made his team a favorite for the Super Bowl. And he makes this kind of aggressive decision that makes this season about him.

Ross was naive to think he could secretly woo Harbaugh without it leaking. But he understood before anyone else that Harbaugh had the makings of a great NFL coach.

Belichick is as good as there is, too. But the question for him of late is if Brady is propping up Belichick's average defense. Harbaugh isn't propped up by his quarterback. He's going all in on him. Let's see what the Dolphins defense does about that.

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