[TomWilkinson]

The Number one pick in the NFL draft last season has looked totally lost in San Francisco. The latest problems for Smith is that he can’t even hang onto the ball.

Smith fumbled three times in Sunday’s 41-3 slaughter against Seattle. The 49ers have lost nearly every game this season, and Smith is providing little hope for the future.

If I want to play quarterback here, I can't let that happen," said Smith. "Inexcusable. I didn't give this team a chance to win. It's something I've never had a problem with at any level until now. I've got to find a remedy, got to get it fixed." In his four NFL starts, Smith has fumbled nine times, losing three. He also has thrown nine interceptions, yet still doesn't have a touchdown pass. Smith is not the only problem on offense. The rest of the unit looks almost as lost as Smith. Could it be that the 49ers got caught up in all of the Alex Smith hype before the draft? He was in a unique system at Utah under Urban Meyer and doesn’t seem to have any clue how to read defenses under center and can’t seem to throw the ball anywhere close to receivers. It has been a long time since a #1 pick has looked this lost.

"I don't know if you could point out a quarterback that started hot in his career and stayed hot forever," head coach Mike Nolan said. "Certainly it didn't have a lot to do with the defense when he dropped the ball out of his hand, but he's going to have good days and bad days, ups and downs. (Sunday) was a down day."
The 49ers' 113-yard performance against the Seahawks was the franchise's absolute worst since Bill Walsh took over in 1979, but it was the seventh time this season they've failed to reach even 200 total yards.