Steve Young spoke about Jim Harbaugh’s 49ers yesterday afternoon on the Razor and Mr. T show on KNBR.

Here’s what Young said.

Q: Talk about the 49ers.

YOUNG: Well this is a phenomenal story. I actually don’t care what happens from here. What we wanted to do – and I do care, I’m over stating it – but what I’m saying is, what we wanted to do – we, now I’m we – what they wanted to do this year was set up camp, base camp, to bring back some of the 49ers way and invoke kind of the quarterback-centric system, focused system whereby you tell the quarterback: “Everything’s about you. Not because you’re the most important but because we’re going to call plays that will make you successful, make you comfortable. We’re going to protect, we’re going to figure out ways to get you in a good place, because if you play well everyone plays well.” That was Bill’s philosophy. And that’s back.

We wanted to set up a base camp where we – ah, we! – they looked like they knew what they were doing. And they’ve done it in spades. They go on the road in a game they’re supposed to win, that, to me, the Redskins are kind of fallen backward, and they have to go cross-country for the fourth time, and they just go do it. I was thinking about it before the game, I was like: “So, a nice little 20-10,show that you’re in control…” You almost can predict what the 49ers are going to do! You say, “That’s how they should go handle this one,” and they go do it.

Think about where we were a year ago, two years ago, four years ago, eight years ago. There was nothing positive to predict. You could predict negative. Oh, you could do that every week, but now we’re at a place where we’re a team that I think we can believe in, have faith in. We can believe that they’re going to take care of business. I applaud everyone involved for what they’ve accomplished.

Q: This wasn’t supposed to happen this way with the lockout.

YOUNG: In fact, we thought, “Give them a few weeks just to get to know each other.” And early on when they won but it wasn’t pretty and they lost to the Cowboys , we talked about it. They’d been together for six or seven weeks. What if they were together ten weeks? Or Twelve weeks? But I do believe it’s not going to be smooth sailing. They’re going to get punched in the mouth, but I think we can predict what their reaction is going to be. They’re not going to capitulate to the moment. They’re going to fight and they might get beat, but they’re going to be a tough out, and I think they’re going to be a tough out in January. They’re going to be in January. They’re going to waltz to the division title. So, it’s a lot of fun.

Let’s talk about where we go from here to make it an even greater story, and that’s offensively. Defensively, let’s just keep doing this. Let’s force the turnover. Let’s hold people under three touchdowns. Pack it up when we go on the road and carry it with us. Let’s do all that. Ok, great. Defense.

Now, offensively, is where if we’re actually going to threaten – and we might as well, we’re 7-1, let’s go deep! Let’s do it! – I talked about this a couple week ago, at some point as we have some games to, not waste, but some games to toy a little bit, not toy, what’s the word, we have games that we have to really push the envelope, let’s do it offensively, let’s throw the ball 40 times just once, just to see how it goes. Let’s go no huddle. Let’s go win it with the passing game. Let’s say, “That’s what we’re going to do.” Because if we can develop another kind of set – because we can run it, obviously, we’ve got a great running game, we can pack it – I don’t want to be greedy, but I want it to be useful, because if everybody agrees that they’re more predictable, we know what we’re going to get week to week, then why not? Why say: “Good year. We went to the playoffs. We went one-and-out. But, boy, next year! Look what we can do!” No, we’re here!

Q: Eli Manning is really playing well, isn’t he?

YOUNG: Yeah, he is. There’s certain personality traits that I love, and I think they’re common in the great players I’ve known – Dan Marino, John Elway, Troy Aikman, Jim Kelly, my generation, Joe, and then this generation, Peyton and Tom – there’s a lot of differences but there’s one common trait, it’s that over-my-dead-body, that kind of, take it in the context I mean, the assassin. There’s a personality trait that comes out and makes sure that things get done. And Eli, he doesn’t come across that way to me. He’s kind of milquetoast as a personality. He’s kind of: “If it goes well, great. If it doesn’t go well, great.” But what I think’s happened is enough time has gone by and he’s built his own resolve with his own personality. I don’t think he has that trait that all those guys had, but he’s taken his own unique personality and developed his own steely resolve. I think it’s just taken that much time to put it all together. Someone asked him in the preseason, “Are you an elite quarterback,” and he answered, “Yes.” And I applauded him. Eli, good job! If you don’t think you are, then no one else is going to think you are. I don’t know that he would have said that before. So the fact is he is, mostly because he says he is.

Q: Alex Smith is really spreading the ball around. How difficult is that to defend?

YOUNG: This the perfect scenario. As a quarterback this is perfect. You’re 7-1, head of the division. You’ve got a defense that’s handing the ball back to you. You’ve got a running game that people have to pay attention to. They put the extra man in the box. You can put the ball in Frank’s belly and pull it back out and people are going to pay attention. And now you’ve got this committee that’s out there willing to work hard to get open. You’ve got some real star players at tight end. You’ve got people that can really do some stuff.

I feel like with Alex, we worried about him just surviving without getting booed off the field early on. Big mistakes, people wouldn’t put up with it. Now he’s at a place where he can literally take the 40 balls and spread them out and expand the field. And then what will happen is, if we can start to do that and put people back and on their heels, then Frank’s going to run for 150 yards not even trying. Remember the years when we led the league in passing, but we also led the league in rushing and we led the league in defense.

They have a great foundation. It’s almost like an artist with an open palette – you can go create. It’s the perfect, wonderful scenario for Alex. I’m excited for him that he’s in this spot. I hope they give him that opportunity to continue to grow.

Q: Will the Niners beat the Giants?

YOUNG: I actually feel like the 49ers can, should beat the Giants. I don’t want to put pressure – and again, no one cares what I think – but I feel like we’re that good of a team now.

Q: It seems like the best thing Harbaugh does is accentuate the strengths while minimizing the weaknesses of the roster. Would you agree?

YOUNG: You’ve got to add what Bill did, and no Jim does, and that is break down the cultural barriers that keep people from appreciating or loving or respecting each other. What he’s done is he’s gotten into the locker room. He’s done the work not on the field or tactically, he’s done it in the locker room where he’s broken it down and he’s used techniques that Bill used to use to make sure that he integrated everyone from position, from religion, from race to socioeconomic background to geography – all the things that separate people he starts to tear them down so that they’re forced together. They’re forced to have a relationship. They’re forced to interact. There are teams in this league that the older players have no idea who the younger players on the team are. They don’t know their names. Jim has broken that down and that’s what Bill was always great at. To me, that’s half the battle. That’s the easy work to do, but no one does it, and I’ve got to give Jim credit for it.

Q: It really seems like 90 percent of the Niners success is because of Harbaugh.

YOUNG: What’s happened is for ten years we dismantled everything that we were to where it was just flat on the ground. And now Jim is starting to use those things that are now kind of a commodity in the NFL – the 49er way. I see it when I go watch Green Bay play, when I watch Baltimore play, when I watch New England play. That’s not the Bill Walsh tree, but the things that we did, that we introduced, that Bill introduced, that Joe introduced, the way they practiced, the schedule, the meeting times, the speeches, the offense, the techniques, the tactics, the artistry, all that stuff, it’s everywhere now. And that’s what made me crazy that last few years, it wasn’t here! I’d watch the Saints play, I’d watch the Falcons play, all of them had these elements that I was familiar with, that I would say: “That feels good. That looks good. It sounds good.” And then I’d come home and it’s like, “This is a nightmare.” But now, we’re invoking all that good stuff again. It’s relieving, to be honest with you.

LANDOVER, Md. — Before I post my grades, here is an all-time great postgame transcript from Braylon Edwards. He was the last player in the locker room and he lingered with a few reporters to explain why this 49ers team hasn’t come close to reaching its full potential.

Enjoy.

EDWARDS: It didn’t have anything to do with it being DeAngelo Hall. I just assessed the situation. I tried to put a hurt on someone. I saw the safety coming over the top, so I didn’t think I was going to be able to get into the end zone. So at that time I said: “Okay I got the first down. Let me try to inflict some punishment on somebody and see what happens after that.” It wasn’t a personal vendetta against him. That was just whoever was there. I figured I’d inflict pain as opposed to him pulling me down.

Q: Were there any words exchanged after the play?

EDWARDS: He was a little upset. He gave me a little elbow flipper, but it’s part of the game, nothing over the top.

Q: It seemed like all four wide receivers each played a lot for you guys today. How’d you like that rotation?

EDWARDS: It was good. I think you’ve got guys in there doing different things, making some plays. I would like to see us be more consistent in that, but it’s something that’s new. I’m finally back – it’s only my second game back. Kyle Williams is starting to play a little bit more, coming along well for us. Ted, you’ve got Crab who’s making plays, and you can tell his foot doesn’t really bother him anymore because he’s out there making plays. If we just keep it going and get more consistent at it I think it’s something that can be special for us and we really can hurt some team with it. But right now, it’s still new.

Q: It looks like after every play there’s four or five guys on the sideline waiting to come in the game. Is that pretty much the way it is? You don’t know from play to play if you’re in or out?

EDWARDS: That’s exactly what it is. You have to pay attention to the personnel. That’s something that, as a wideout, you really have to, after every play, pay attention to the sideline and see what signal they’re going to give you, because it could be different personnels but could have something tagged to them so it’s a different player. If you go regular, that’s me and Crab. If you go regular 19 to X, now you have Ted coming in and replacing me. If you regular 19 to Z, Ted’s replacing Crab. If you go Buckeye, now you have Kyle and Crab coming in, so you really have to pay attention to the sideline, and the people coming in have to do a good job of relaying the personnel.

Q: You left a winning situation and now you’re in another one. Are there similarities and differences? And when you came here did you sense that this was something you guys could do? Because, obviously, the 49ers haven’t had this kind of success in a long time.

EDWARDS: When I came here I saw the defense’s potential, and I saw that we did have some offensive weapons. We were just young and the new coaches and staff was going to have to bring that out of us, but I did see the defense’s potential. In terms of the relevance between last year and this year, in terms of both teams of both teams starting hot – we ended up being 9-1 last year – with the Jets, we were already at our potential. We had already reached our peak. We had everything in place. We had been running offense for a couple of years that was in place and we were at our peak, and if we lost a game it would be: “Okay, we didn’t come to play that game. Or we got outplayed. Or we got outcoached.”

We’re in a situation right now where we’re 7-1 and we haven’t even yet begin to touch the surface of what we can do. Right now on offense we’re making the plays down the road to win games. We’re closing out, but we’re struggling in that middle part. We’re struggling in that third quarter. We’re struggling in the beginning of the fourth. But we’re making the necessary plays to win because of the talent level, and because of the coaches’ decisions towards the ends of games. But just pay attention when everything comes together: “Okay, now we know Braylon’s back, we got him, how are we going to work him in? Crab’s feeling good, we’re going to work him in.” Ted Ginn’s probably one of the fastest people in the NFL. How do we incorporate that with Delanie and Vernon? You have Frank going over 100 yards five games in a row. Now we have a running game. We have young Kendall Hunter who can run just as well.

So now we get consistent, we get better week to week, now you’re talking about being unstoppable because our defense pretty much is our cornerstone right now. We’re banking on the defense and we’re getting better as an offense, but when the offense puts it together and we say: “Ok, this is it. Now we believe in it. Now we’re consistent. Now we can move Braylon to Z, move Crab to F, move Crab to Y, move Delanie to Z.” Now we start doing things like that, now we confuse people and now we just really destroy teams. We’re not anywhere near where we can be, and that was difference between here and there. We were already at our peak. We haven’t come close.

Q: Does the five game divisional lead help your offense be this creative?

EDWARDS: Yes, but at the same time we’re not banking on that. When you start looking in that direction, “Okay we have a lead,” you’re setting yourself up for failure when you think like that. You say: “Okay, well we can do this and we have room to play with. Well, now we lose a game. Now we lose another game. Now we lose a close game. Now you look up it’s whoa, we only have a one game lead. Now we’re tied.” So we just have to play it from the standpoint that every game is a must-win game. Every game we have to put the best offense that we have out there in order to win.

Q: Harbaugh chose to go for it on fourth down early in the game. Would he have made that same decision earlier in the season?

EDWARDS: He’s a different character. You don’t know and that’s his character and as a team, we’re steadily learning about him. That’s just confidence. That’s something that as an offense we have to take and say “He’s giving us the confidence, now we have to continue to earn that confidence. We’ve got to show him that he can do those kinds of things and we will make him right. We will make him look good to the press or whoever wants to say it was the wrong call.” We’ve got to get that.

Q: You guys are undefeated in the Eastern time zone this season. How?

EDWARDS: One, we don’t use the time zone as an excuse. A lot of teams, that’s something that they bank on: “Well, it was a different time zone game. Our bodies weren’t used to it and adjusted.” We don’t use that and he (Harbaugh) won’t allow us to. Two, we travel two days before. A lot of teams try to come out that day before. That is hectic if you’re coming from the East to West or West to East and you only have a matter of hours to adjust your body to that schedule. Coming out that Friday, getting here, getting accustomed, going to sleep, waking up in a the time zone, having a light walk through, keeping on schedule, that helps a lot and that’s what we do. He’s very smart when it comes to allowing us the allotted time to get adjusted.

P.R. DIRECTOR: Hey guys, we’ve got to wrap this up, I’m sorry.

EDWARDS: Whoa, whoa, whoa. Don’t cut my interview short, I’ve been waiting for some action!

P.R. DIRECTOR: Coach just walked out. Do you want to be the last one on the plane?

EDWARDS: Okay, last question (laughs). It’s getting real.

Q: You played on Eastern teams. Did you sense that lull from West Coast teams when they traveled out to play you?

EDWARDS: I did, especially in Cleveland. Teams were struggling, and if we were a better team in Cleveland we would have been able to take advantage of that. But we allowed them to hang around and by then determination and will takes over. But I remember going out to the West Coast a couple times when I was in Cleveland. We played Oakland and we left that Saturday. The game happened and we all lethargic, kind of like off. And you lose. That year we were 10-6 and we lost to Oakland and they weren’t a very good team, but we were lethargic, we were lacking energy and by the time we said, “Okay, let’s go do it,” now it’s too late. Now it’s seven minutes left in the fourth quarter. The way he (Harbaugh) does it definitely helps and I don’t want to get left so I’ll see you guys.

SANTA CLARA – Here is the transcript of Greg Roman’s Thursday press conference, courtesy of the 49ers.

Opening Statement:

“We’ve got a tough opponent on the road. Every game is tough, every opponent is tough. These guys are really well coached. Play a 3-4 scheme, very aggressive, very physical. They had Dallas down late, haven’t won a game in a few weeks but they’re a very good team. The team defense really starts in the 3-4 with the outside guys. They’ve got a great pass rusher to our left and they’ve got a very physical presence to our right. The inside three players are stout, two-gappers. The linebackers, [LB London] Fletcher has been playing forever at a high level, sideline to sideline, as is 52. Secondary is extremely active, you never know what you’re going to get from them. Very multiple defense, but we’re in the depths of preparation and I’ll throw it out to you.”

Given your college connection, do you have a relationship with London Fletcher?

“London? London was after my time, but I was well aware of him. He’s a super guy. I was able to, on a bye week one year, when he was playing back in the mid-90s, I went back to one of their practices and I saw him running around and he’s an amazing athlete. I think he’s 5’9’ or so and he’s really had an incredible career.”

Head Coach Jim Harbaugh called this a ‘Greg Roman Offense’ like it was at Stanford. What are the hallmarks of a Greg Roman Offense?

“That’s not true in the sense of it’s our offense, it’s a 49ers offense. Taking a coaching staff and working together with [Offensive Line Coach] Mike Solari, [Offensive Line Coach] Tim Drevno with the line, [Wide Receivers Coach] John Morton, [Quarterbacks Coach] Geep Chryst, [Running Backs Coach] Tom Rathman, [Tight Ends Coach] Reggie Davis. Our goal is to take all these guys who are great coaches and some of our parts just to add up to something the best we can possibly be. The hallmarks of our offense is teamwork. That’s what it is, it’s teamwork. It’s taking all the different facets of what we have as a staff and the players and trying to create the greatest production. We, as a staff, try to set a great example with our teamwork. As far as our offense, we have a great staff. It all comes down to the players. We have players that want to win, that winning is the most important thing to them, and they’re very talented and totally dialed in. So, not going to talk about scheme, we’re not going to talk about any of that stuff but that’s what we’re about: teamwork. It’s a player-coach teamwork, it’s coaches, us working together to create the best offense we possibly can.”

Have you, I know you don’t want to make it about you, I understand, but have you had more influence as the years have gone by with Harbaugh within this or has it always basically about the same? Just with you and his ideas.

“It’s been pretty similar from day one with Jim. Jim has a very vast experience of football. He’s done it a lot of different ways. He played for Bo [Schembechler], he played for Mike Ditka, he played for Lindy Infante, he grew up with his father. He’s been around, he’s seen a lot. He was with the Raiders system. He understands that the prime directive is to be successful and that’s what we’re trying to do. We are constantly interacting. He’s a great resource for me and the rest of the staff to bounce things off of. We just kind of shake things as they go. Very open, any idea could be developed, you know what I mean? It’s always been that way.”

It’s similar, it’s working similarly, to the way it was at Stanford?

“From day one, yeah, very similar.”

You talk about it being teamwork, but were you flattered at all as the head coach said that?

“No. It’s all about this game, it’s all about us working together to come up with the best game plan for this game. Perception is not important to me. The reality of what goes on day to day is extremely important.”

One of the things that Harbaugh credited you with was the throw to DT Isaac Sopoaga. Do you remember when you said to yourself ‘Huh, this guy can probably catch a pass if we threw it to him’; do you remember kind of watching practices and seeing his skills?

“Without question, you watch him throw the ball around in pregame. Credit on that play goes to the players and certainly not me. It’s all about the players executing the scheme. Isaac’s a phenomenal athlete. He made it look easy didn’t he? [QB] Alex [Smith] did a great job putting the ball in the right spot and a successful play and that’s what we’re out for.”

Seems like he could throw it 65 yards or so. Are there any plays where he throws a fullback option or anything like that?

“There might be.”

What did you see in T Joe Staley to put his play in the script for the opening script?

“Every day, Joe,great athlete. Again, great job by the players on the field on Sunday. Every play, guys, you can see, you teach it and then you work through it. It’s never perfect the first time but at some point it will be ready to go. It’s something we work on and the players made it work.”

How did you react when he got the first down, were you able to see it? Did you signal it?

“Absolutely not. I was already working on the next one.”

Some teams wouldn’t go into those kinds of plays. I don’t want to downgrade the playbook. Cleveland at home, you had the lead both times, right? You don’t want to do that, maybe you save it for a time you’re on the road in a tough game, you save it for a playoff game. What’s your view of trick plays like that? Do you want to get it on tape so other teams have to look at it to and be prepared for it? What’s your general view of putting that kind of stuff out there?

“It’s a never ending room of mirrors. If you put it out there, they know you might do it but then you might do something exactly opposite. Then, they have to decide ‘Are they going to do this or are they going to try to trick us the next time to make us think they’re doing this. We know that you know that I know.’ So, we’re just moving on, trying to win the next game. I think you want to run successful plays and then you want to build off that. A lot of different people that are trying to defend stuff like that will interpret that differently.”

Last week you talked about the evolution of the West Coast Offense and how Mike Holmgren factored into it. Does Redskins Head Coach Mike Shanahan also factor in to that evolution?

“Without question. He’s had successful offenses everywhere he’s been. He’s always done a great job of utilizing the players on his roster that work into their strengths and I think he’s a great play caller, as well.”

Was there a main twist, you said that Holmgren went to the I-formation, was there a twist that Shanahan sort of created for the West Coast Offense?

“I think Shanahan, in Denver primarily, he and Alex Gibbs really changed and adapted their running game to the wide-zone running game that’s very prevalent in this league right now. They’re very heavily responsible for kind of shifting the NFL running game with their success with Terrell Davis and really any back that they put in there. Then, building their offense and their play action off that to compliment it. So, he has a very innovative history.”

Do you run much zone blocking?

“We do some.”

What’s your, on the play clock, when you do have to have the play to Jim?

“It varies. You want to get it to him as quickly as possible.”

You don’t have a, you want to get it by the 30 second…

“No, quickly as possible.”

Washington is the fifth straight opponent you’ve played where their pass defense is considerably better than their run defense. Is that something that kind of plays into your wheelhouse and consider it the strengths of your team?

“When you really look at them, their run defense is very strong at times. It all depends how they want to play the game. If they want to load the box, the run defense is pretty good. If they don’t, it’s not as good. It’s just like most teams. It’s a cat and mouse game there. I don’t believe that you can look at it specifically in those terms.”

From the time you first got your hands on T Anthony Davis in late July until now, what have you seen from him?

“Improvement. He’s coming along nicely, really excited about his progress. That’s our goal everyday to get better; really that’s the ultimate goal. We’ve got [TE] Vernon Davis for example. There are times when three guys are covering him in Detroit. There’s times on the touchdown play to [TE] Delanie [Walker] at the end, he’s triple covered essentially. They’re making smart decisions with the ball. Guys like Vernon Davis that are attracting so much attention opens things up for other guys. That’s the kind of attitude that these players have brought to the table day-in and day-out, so it’s a blast to work with. It really is.”

Just one other, are any other guys on defense kind of getting friendly with you to try and hit you up for an audition?

“Very good question. Perhaps.”

Just getting back to the Harbaugh saying it’s a Greg Roman offense, he never said that at Stanford, he didn’t say this earlier when you were introduced here. Is there something to this that he’s recognizing and acknowledging what your impact is on this team?

“I don’t know, but that stuff is so irrelevant to us on a day-to-day basis. Everybody used to say at Stanford ‘who’s in charge’ and we used to say ‘this is pretty good, they don’t know where it’s coming from so this even adds to it.’ People not knowing how you think or where it’s coming from doesn’t hurt us.”

He blew that, though.

“No, it truly is a team effort. We have a great offensive staff that we all lean heavily on each other. Between Mike Solari, Tim Drevno, John Morton, Geep Chryst, Tom Rathman, Reggie Davis, [Offensive Assistant] Bobby Engram. Our goal, it’s exactly like the offense in the huddle, we have to perform at a high level together. We all have to know what the other guy is thinking and we all have to make it as great as we can. If you have that much talent on a staff, then it’s fun because you can get some vibrant ideas and start developing different things and I think we’re getting better as we go. We got a lot of improvement to make, though.”

He wanted to put the offense on you after that reverse call and say it’s your offense, it’s your deal.

“It was a poor choice on my part and my credo is always this: if the play works it was a good call, if it doesn’t it was a bad call. That was a bad one.”

Has Jim Harbaugh vetoed a call of yours during a game this season ever?

“He certainly has.”

Do you remember the last time?

“I don’t.”

Here is the complete transcript of Greg Cosell’s interview from this morning’s Murph and Mac Show.

Enjoy.

Q: What does a Redskins team that was shut out Sunday in Toronto bring to the table?

COSELL: Offensively? I would again answer not too much. And it starts with a revamped o-line that is struggling. And I know I tell you this every week, and every week I just validate it on film – they’re dealing with the best front seven in football. I don’t know what (Ray) McDonald’s situation is. I know he got injured. Is he out or …?

Q: I don’t think he’s playing. He’s got a bad hamstring and he didn’t practice on Wednesday.

COSELL: Yeah, hamstring, you’re usually not back for next week. But still, Ricky Jean Francois, do we go with the French pronunciation with his last name (yes, we do.) I thought he came in and played well. McDonald is having an all-pro-type season, so there’ll be some drop off. But not enough to where the front seven still is not impressive in what they can do. And the Redskins did not run it well last week, and they’re limited at the receiver position. And John Beck – I think they’re a fairly easy offense despite Mike Shanahan being a very good schemer. I think because of his lack of personnel in terms of talent, I think they’re a fairly easy offense to tactically defend. Now, can mistakes be made? That can happen any given week. Look what happened to the Rams vs. the Saints. So any given week, we know something can happen. But if you just look at this game based on tape study and the track record this year, you’d be hard pressed to think that the Redskins will consistently move the ball against that defense.

Q: Tell us a little about John Beck. How good is he?

COSELL: It’s a really hard position, and I’m not trying to defend anybody but it’s really hard. John Beck at his best is a rhythm quarterback. Three step, five step, ball comes out. Play-action, boot action – that’s designed movement off play action. That’s what John Beck is. If John Beck is forced to take deep drops because they’re behind and have to throw the ball at intermediate and deeper levels, then you’ve won. That’s not something he can do with any consistency. He needs to be, as we say, an ‘on-schedule’ quarterback. He needs to be 1st and 10, 2nd and 6, 3rd and 3, and then John Beck’s positive traits can come out. If he’s behind schedule, behind the maker as we say, then he’s not going to well at all.

Q: The Redskins don’t have a big running threat, do they?

COSELL: They don’t have a back you’d consider a great back. Normally with Mike Shanahan over the years the zone scheme has been so efficient that it produces consistency and therefore production. The last number of games they’ve really struggled running the ball. They have issues on their O-line due to injury and moving people around. So therefore they don’t have the continuity. That zone running scheme – that’s like elephants on parade. It’s like synchronized swimming. They move in unison, and they’re not doing that particularly well right now.

Q: Offensively they sound like the Browns offensively. Do they bring anything to the table defensively that might shut down Frank Gore or Alex Smith?

COSELL: Well, they did until a few weeks ago and then they sort of hit the wall a little bit. For their first three, four games their front seven was very, very good and they were getting very solid play from a number of people. That’s leveled off quite a bit. And their coordinator, Jim Haslett, has been known to be very multiple with what he tries to do, and often times there’s a risk factor with that. If there’s a mistake made by one player that’s all it takes. There are busts and breakdowns and that was very noticeable last week against the Bills – there were a number of breakdowns.

Q: I want to talk about Frank Gore and the offensive line…

COSELL: I want to talk about Joe Staley and Isaac Sopoaga!

Q: Yeah, that’s a good call.

COSELL: I gotta tell you – I think Harbaugh is doing as good a job as there is in this league with what he has. And you know how I feel about Alex Smith. It’s not personal knock on Alex Smith. Why do you think Jim Harbaugh is doing what he’s doing? He’s telling you – I don’t have to tell you – he’s telling you what he thinks of Alex Smith. He’s managing him. He’s manipulating him so he can be successful. Look what they did on the Frank Gore touchdown, which they came back to later in the game. You want some real football jargon? We call that a five-man surface. They had five players to the right on the line of scrimmage of the offensive center. Four of them were offensive linemen, and the fifth was Sopoaga. I don’t think I’ve ever seen that in the National Football League. I’ve seen five-man surfaces, but they normally have a couple of tight ends as part of it. They had four offensive linemen and a nose tackle.

Q: Are the Niners redefining what you can do with an offensive line?

COSELL: He’s understanding the strengths and limitations of his offensive personnel, and he’s maximizing the strengths and minimizing the limitations. And you know what that’s called? Coaching.

Q: I see. Smith is a top-ten rated QB, but of those top QBs his pass attempts per game are by far the lowest.

COSELL: That gets back to what I just said. I don’t have to tell you what he’s doing or what he thinks of Alex Smith, he’s telling you what he thinks of Alex Smith. But he’s his quarterback. You dance with the girl who brung ya. That’s his quarterback, so what he has to do is he has to game plan every week and line up with Alex Smith and this offense. He’s doing a phenomenal job.

Q: It’ll be interesting to see what happens with Smith down the road if he keeps winning. His contract is up and they have Kaepernick waiting in the stable.

COSELL: We’ll have time on that, because this team, barring a major meltdown, will make the playoffs and then we’ll see what happens. Normally in the playoffs you get in a game somewhere along the line where your offense has to make plays and your quarterback has to make throws. We’ll see what happens.

Q: It would be difficult to imagine Alex Smith losing his job if he led this team to 12 wins though, wouldn’t it?

COSELL: Trent Dilfer lost his job after being the Super Bowl winning quarterback for the Ravens years ago.