San Francisco 49ers head coach Jim Harbaugh is already in the mood for Thanksgiving. He had turkey on the brain following a dominating 24-3 win over the Arizona Cardinals on Monday night, but it had more to do with his quarterback carving up a defense than someone carving a bird.
Alex Smith looked as sharp as he has all season, torching the Cardinals for 232 yards and three touchdowns. He completed an astonishing 18-of-19 passes and finished with a near-perfect passer rating of 157.1. The performance inspired one reporter to ask Harbaugh if a game like this helps lay any confidence issues Smith may have had to rest.
“I don’t think there was ever a question there,” Harbaugh responded. “I think it’s just a lot of gobble, gobble, turkey.”
I beg your pardon?
“Just gobble, gobble, gobble, turkey from jive turkey gobblers,” he continued. “I think that paints a pretty good picture of it. He’s a very confident guy.”
Harbaugh has backed Smith since the day he took over as head coach in San Francisco, even vehemently denying that the Niners ever had any interest in Peyton Manning this past offseason. Like last season, the Niners have arguably the best defense in the NFL. Smith has done a solid job of protecting the ball and is completing nearly 70% of his passes. If he continues to play well, all the jive turkeys out there could be questioning him all the way to the Super Bowl.
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