Smith blames self — not line — for punishment

BOX SCORE

HOUSTON -- OK, so maybe 49ers quarterback Alex Smith isn't an expert in the offense, after all.Smith was sacked twice and took a couple other hits in his 21-play outing Saturday night. And he blamed nobody but himself for the punishment.
"Most of it was self-inflicted by me," Smith said following the 49ers' 20-6 loss to the Houston Texans. "The O-Line played good. First play was a miscommunication with me and the other 10 guys in the huddle, and that resulted in a hit."Really felt like the offensive line played great."So how did the miscommunication occur?"It's tough to explain. Stupidity," Smith said. "I got things mixed up in my head a little bit."On Thursday, coach Jim Harbaugh declared Smith had already reached exalted "expert" status in the offensive system after just one full year. Smith completed 5 of 9 passes for 49 yards on Saturday.Smith played two possessions. David Akers booted a 50-yard field goal to cap Smith's first drive. The 49ers moved the ball 53 yards on 13 plays on their next drive. Anthony Dixon was stopped for no gain on fourth-and-1 to end Smith's night.
Colin Kaepernick entered after Smith and immediately led the team down the field with a no-huddle approach. On the second play, Kaepernick kept the ball for a 12-yard gain. The seven-play, 40-yard drive ended with Akers' 36-yard field goal."I feel comfortable with everything we do," Kaepernick said. "That's something they've asked me to do the last couple of weeks. It's similar to what I did in college, so obviously I'm going to be comfortable with that."Kaepernick completed 4 of 8 passes for 19 yards, and dearly wanted one of his decisions back."There's one throw I wish I'd had back," Kaepernick said. "The hitch route to the right. I wish I would've thrown away from the rotation. But I think I was going the right place with the ball. It was just making the throws."Kaepernick's pass intended for Ted Ginn was nearly intercepted by safety Quintin Demps. Randy Moss was all alone on the other side.On the next play, Kaepernick threw a nice back-shoulder ball to Moss that skidded through Moss' hands for an incompletion.Josh Johnson completed 4 of 6 passes for 64 yards, but misfired on a deep pass to a wide-open A.J. Jenkins. Scott Tolzien completed 4 of 9 attempts for 23 yards.