Willis' role as peacemaker in Smith-Panthers Twitter twit

SANTA CLARA -- Alex Smith made a comment. Jon Beason responded. And Patrick Willis, seemingly, provided the final words.As you know by now, Smith answered a few questions on Wednesday after 49ers practice in Santa Clara.Smith, on the 49ers' 2011 passing game, said, "We were inconsistent when we had to throw the football." He pointed to the team's problems on third downs and in the red zone.As a follow-up, I cited the 49ers ranked 29th in the NFL in passing yards and asked Smith where he expected the 49ers rank this season.ssssssAnd, yes, I understand that passing yards can be overblown. But, at the same time, the top five quarterbacks in passing yards last season were Drew Brees, Tom Brady, Matthew Stafford, Eli Manning and Aaron Rodgers. Coincidence?Smith responded, "I think that's 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 and, yeah, Cam Newton threw for a lot of 300-yard games, that's great. You're not winning, though."Smith made his point.But Smith is also savvy enough to know that the moment he singled out Newton, who was selected to the NFC Pro Bowl team as a rookie, he would subject himself to backlash from the Panthers.Smith was taking a shot, specifically, at the Panthers' 6-10 record and he mentioned Newton by name. That is one sure way to create a mini-controversy.Smith, obviously, didn't care how his comment would be perceived. And that can easily be considered as a good thing for a quarterback who spent the first six seasons of his NFL career trying to please everybody.
Then, Jon Beason, the Panthers' three-time Pro Bowl linebacker, responded in a way that was predicatable. He basically told Smith to mind his own business while delivering a shot -- some would say a low blow -- directly at Smith.On Twitter, Beason wrote: "Alex smith, don't hate on Cam (because) 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."Truth be told, Smith was not under contract when Peyton Manning decided on the Denver Broncos over the 49ers, so the 49ers would not have cut Smith. But, OK, he made his point, too.Now, leave it to Patrick Willis, the 49ers' best player with a Twitter account, to not get caught up in the twit. On Friday evening, Willis made a statement clearly designed at putting this whole thing to rest.Willis wrote on Twitter: "Wins are Wins I stand with My Qb Alex Smith and all my teammates. I can't wait for the season."In other words, let's just turn the page.And that is a statement in which all can agree.