Jon Beason Responds to 49ers QB Alex Smith's Comment on Panthers' Cam Newton

San Francisco 49ers' quarterback Alex Smith may have barked up the wrong tree when he took his stance on the yards per game category in the NFL.  It was not his stance on the subject that was the problem, but who he cited as the main culprit of the statistic.


Here is what Smith had to say on Wednesday.

"I could absolutely care less on yards per game," Smith said. "I think that is a totally overblown stat because if you’re losing games in the second half, guess what, you’re like the Carolina Panthers and you’re going no-huddle the entire second half. Yeah, Cam Newton threw for a lot of 300-yard games. That’s great. You’re not winning, though."

It was really Smith's only answer to the question, although he could have left out Newton's name from his answer.  Of course Smith would not care about statistics or yards per game because he rarely has any games where we stand in shock of his game totals.  The 49ers were 13-3 and the overall consensus seems to be that the team won so many games despite their quarterback play and not because of it.

That is why it was strange to see Smith have a response to a question like that.  How could he not, though?

Smith is on the top of the world right now.  His team went to the NFC Championship last season, his coach loves him and he was just given three key weapons to throw to in addition to what he already has.

Life is good for Smith and the 49ers these days.

That is until Carolina's Panthers linebacker and Newton's teammate, Jon Beason, took to Twitter on Thursday to repsond to Smith's comment on Newton.

"Alex smith, don't hate on Cam Bc your stats would've gotten u cut if Peyton decided to come 2 San Fran.Truth b told..That's after a 13-3 yr."

A fair point, although many quarterbacks in the NFL would have lost their jobs to Peyton Manning this offseason -- not just Smith.

Beason has every right to stand up and say something in defense of his quarterback, who happened to pass for almost 1,000 yards more than Smith in 2011.  However, Smith starts on a team that happens to be a Super Bowl contender, and Newton will have to rearrange his game to do that anytime soon.

Whether or not Smith responds to Beason is irrelevant at this point, although knowing the way Jim Harbaugh works we can expect the end of this topic.

Both points are well-taken, but it is rather unsatisfying that the 49ers and Panthers do not play each other this season.  That way, we could see which point truly wins -- a game-managing quarterback with a stellar defense or a highlight reel quarterback whose team is stuck at the bottom of the NFL cellar.

The bottom line here is that Smith has a tenacious defense on the field when he is off it.  For now, that is all he needs.