FanHouse MichaelRobinson

Another day, another fine handed out by the National Football League. This time, the man on the receiving end is San Francisco 49ers offensive coordinator Mike Martz, who will be handing over $20,000 for his tirade following the teams 29-24 loss in Arizona, as reported by Adam Schefter.

If you'll recall, the 49ers had a bizarre set of play calls in the final two minutes of the fourth quarter, including a dive play by Michael Robinson, the backup running back, on the final play of the game from the three-yard line. It resulted in a bunch of what were they thinking conversations, and ultimately led to Martz proclaiming the refs screwed his team "every way possible."

While I think the league has lost all sense of reality when it comes to who it fines, and why, I'm not going to throw too many papers in the air over this one because, well, I have little sympathy for Martz or the 49ers in this case. They had every opportunity to take that game and win it, only to screw it all up with horrible clock-management and not having any idea where they were on the field. The only people who screwed the 49ers that night were the two Mike's -- Martz and Singletary.

I'll be honest, I didn't expect the 49ers to make that a game last night. I was thinking blowout from the start. To the 49ers' credit, however, they not only made it a game, and put themselves in a position to win the game, but they probably should have won the game as well.

With just over two-and-a-half minutes to play in the fourth quarter, down by five, the 49ers were driving for what looked to be an eventual game-winning score. And this is where the craziness begins.

Facing a third-and-three from the Arizona 18, quarterback Shaun Hill began to scramble as the pocket collapsed around him. At first, it looked like he was going to just tuck it and run for the first down, seeing as how he charged forward without his helmet earlier in the game. As he approached the line of scrimmage, he channeled his inner-Favre and decided to throw some sort of combination shovel-pass, under-handed pitch out into no-man's land where Cardinals safety Adrian Wilson made a lunging interception. Not exactly the best decision from Hill, who was fortunate to have two interceptions returned for touchdowns called back on Arizona penalties. No such luck this time.

At this point, Tony Kornheiser declares the game over.

And things continue to get worse in Alex Smith's professional life. Two weeks ago, the 2005 first-overall pick got the news that he had been demoted to second-team quarterback behind journeyman J.T. O'Sullivan, all while enduring a constant verbal barrage from offensive coordinator No. 4 in his NFL career, Mike Martz.

And today we learn that Smith will be listed as doubtful on the 49ers injury report for tomorrow's opener against the Cardinals.

From the Sacramento Bee's Matt Barrows:

There's been a late development on the injury report. Alex Smith injured his surgically repaired right shoulder this week and is doubtful for tomorrow's game. That means Shaun Hill will be the back-up and that Michael Robinson would be the emergency back-up. I'm told that it was a non-contact injury but there are no other details about the injury at this time. Here's a quote from Mike Nolan:

"Yesterday Alex Smith sustained a non-contact injury to his surgically repaired right shoulder. He will be consulting with his surgeon in Birmingham for treatment recommendations. At this time there are no specifics to the injury or a timetable. "

With their 24-17 victory in San Antonio over Texas A&M last night, Penn State not only gave Joe Paterno his record 23rd bowl game victory, but it also opened a new window to what we should expect from the Nittany Lions next season. Rejoice, Penn State fans. The Anthony Morelli Errror Era is over!

On Saturday night the Nittany Lions reintroduced a facet of their offense they've been missing since Michael Robinson led Penn State to an Orange Bowl victory in 2006 over Florida State: a mobile quarterback.

Part of Penn State's game plan going in was to get junior quarterback Daryll Clark involved in the offense, and they did just that. Clark didn't throw any passes during the game, but he did rush the ball six times for 50 yards, including an 11-yard touchdown that tied the game at 14-14.

Also, while senior Rodney Kinlaw led the Lions in rushing with 143 yards, it was freshman Evan Royster who broke free for a 38-yard touchdown that would prove to be the difference in the game.

So heading into 2008 there's a lot to be optimistic about in Happy Valley. Yes, the defense must deal with the loss of Dan Connor, but Penn State is Linebacker U, so I feel safe in my assumption they'll find somebody to fill that void. They also face the possible loss of corner Justin King, who is yet to decide whether or not he's going to return for his senior season.

Still, given the fact that Michigan may drop off a bit next season as they get accustomed to Rich Rodriguez's new offense there's an opening at the top of the Big Ten. It's not going to be easy because Ohio State will still be Ohio State, and the rest of the Big Ten continues to improve, but at this point a conference title and BCS berth should be the NIttany Lions goal going into next season.

With Clark under center, and Royster toting the rock, it's a goal that's very much within reach.

What's worse than losing to the Atlanta Falcons? Hearing those Falcons -- the Falcons -- rub it in.

"All week on tape we saw that they really couldn't block as well as they probably needed to, so a lot of us were excited about our (blitz-heavy) package going in," Lawyer Milloy said.

If by "needed to," Milloy meant "not only prevent Alex Smith from getting sacked twice, but also give him any semblance of time to do anything with the football other than throw it wildly to prevent a decapitation," yes, the line didn't block as well as they probably needed to. Anyone who's seen a 49ers game this season had already reached that same conclusion, but to hear it put so plainly from another player ... it just stings, doesn't it?

Well, it's getting worse before it gets better. Left tackle Jonas Jennings, who has already missed the last two games with a high ankle sprain, isn't getting back into the lineup this year. Potentially joining him in the near future is guard Justin Smiley. Smiley suffered a torn labrum in his shoulder diving to recover a Michael Robinson fumble yesterday. He tore the labrum in his other shoulder last year and missed no time, but this injury is considered much worse. To confirm, he'll visit THE MAN for a second opinion.

So the 49ers are pretty much completely out of the race in the NFC West. But they're in a fun little cold war of sorts with the Rams for most injured offensive linemen, eh?

Mike Nolan got a pretty intense reaction from a statement he made after the 31-10 loss to the Saints that attempted to point the finger at the team's relatively young age. Nolan insists it wasn't an excuse, but John Crumpacker at the San Francisco Chronicle wasn't so sure.

Crumpacker rattled off a list of critical errors and poor play that have played a part in the downfall of the 49ers, all by veterans, and found some commendable work from the youngsters, debunking Nolan's "young team" theory. Nolan responded:

Yesterday, I asked about his assertion that the 49ers are a young team. I noted that the team has a veteran defense and an offense with a number of veterans interspersed with some younger players.

He did stop me before I could point out that the Colts, Packers and Cowboys are the three youngest teams in the league. He noted the "key" guys on offense are young: Vernon Davis, Alex Smith, Frank Gore, Delanie Walker, Michael Robinson, Joe Staley, Justin Smiley and Adam Snyder.

"So when you ask the question don't just pick out Larry Allen and Walt Harris, be accurate," he said.

Right, but that still doesn't explain how Robinson had the only really positive, potentially meaningful play in the loss to the Saints, nor how Davis, Gore, Staley, and Patrick Willis have been the best players on the team this season. The fact remains: the veterans aren't getting it done. The "young" excuse doesn't work.