The San Francisco 49ers and Minnesota Vikings meet in a pre-season game in San Francisco

The San Francisco 49ers and Minnesota Vikings meet in a pre-season game in San Francisco.

The San Francisco 49ers looked very good in their opening game at Indianapolis, especially the defense, but there were definitely some areas that needed some work.  Alex Smith was 3 for 9 for 37 yards with an interception as receivers had trouble holding on to his passes but back ups David Carr and Nate Davis had just three incompletions between them as the Niners appear to be in good shape this year. Frank Gore didn't play and back up Glenn Coffee retired in just his second year as he had no desire to play the game. Anthony Dix on was impressive carrying the rock 21 times for 100 yards and a touchdown and Michael Robinson had five carries and a TD. The backfield will have a different look this week as San Francisco sign Brian Westbrook. Nate Byham had three catches for 52 yards to lead the team and Tony Curtis caught a touchdown pass. Reggie Smith, Mike Balogun, Diyral Briggs, and William James all had an interception while Bruce Davis had a sack and Nate Clements forced a fumble. Overall the Forty Niners looked like the contenders they are.

With all of the talk surrounding the Minnesota Vikings being based on whether or not he will return, now it will be when and how much will he play. Personally I would think Favre sees at least some light action in this game though I will update when we know for sure. In the meantime Tarvaris Jackson was two for four for 11 yards and Sage Rosenfels was a star throwing for 310 yards and three touchdowns. Joe Webb also had a touchdown pass and I think we see him possibly convert positions and makes the team because of his versatility. Webb ran three times for 24 yards while Toby Gerhart had eight carries for 24 yards and Ryan Moats had three carries for 16 yards. Garrett Mills had four catches for 106 yards and a touchdown, Marko Mitchell had a 71 yard TD catch, and Logan Payne had seven catches for 52 yards and a touchdown. Jayme Mitchell had two sacks and Erin Henderson, Letroy Guion, Fred Evans, and Rhys Lloyd all had sacks in the winning effort. The Vikings look ready to avenge last years Championship Game loss to New Orleans and with Brett Favre back in the fold they are that much closer.

While Favre will be a factor long term, I don't expect him to be a factor in this one as I really like the depth both teams have at Running Back. I like the Niners at a field goal, at anything more it gets cloudy but I still like San Francisco's chances.

In each of his first five years he had a different coordinator. First it was Mike McCarthy. Then Norv Turner. Jim Hostler. Mike Martz. The revolving coordinator trend has stopped with Jimmy Raye. No wonder Smith has a newfound comfort zone.

He compares learning a new offense to a new language, with the additional pressure for a quarterback being the need and expectation that he is the best student.

"It's nice to feel like I am really fluent in this," Smith says. "If you're going to take ownership in something, you have to have that."

Raye senses the difference, too. During the offseason, the coordinator and quarterback spent more time breaking down defenses than they did last offseason when the priority was learning the offense.

Says Raye: "You can just see him flourishing, growing. It's becoming second-nature."

Whether this increased awareness translates into a better quarterback will have to be proven. The 49ers' season could hinge on whether Smith can finally live up to his lofty draft status. After finishing 8-8 last season and steadily adding key building blocks in recent years, San Francisco is a sexy pick to overtake Arizona and win the NFC West.

Much depends on Smith, who had a shaky outing (3-for-9, 37 yards, INT) in Sunday's preseason opener at Indianapolis.

"The next step is that leadership," says 49ers coach Mike Singletary, mindful of the morale-boosting effect of performance. "Being able to take an offense that might be stuck at some point in the game and being able to rally those guys together into believing in what we're going to get done."